Song: morning playlist by cee

Ambrose groaned, slamming his hand on his phone to quiet the annoying alarm. He compared his slow ascent to rising like the dead as loud pops and cracks emerged from his back. With one hand rubbing the crick in his aching neck, he sluggishly trudged towards Cameron's room to wake him up.

Sunlight pierced through the small window in Cameron's room. Illuminating the white walls and ugly green carpet. Cameron was face down in his dark blue pillows. Drool seeped into the fabric and Ambrose made a mental note to change his sheets and wash his bedding later.

"C'mon buddy," Ambrose gently shook Cameron, "time to wake up."

Cameron whined, making incoherent sounds and Ambrose nodded in understanding.

"I know, school sucks. But you still gotta go." More whining. This time with some indistinguishable words from English and Italian. Unrecognizable to the untrained ear. But comprehensible for a parent like Ambrose. "Fine. I guess Jelly can't take you to school with me, then. What a pity because—"

Cameron landed with a thud, legs caught up in the blanket he dragged down with him. Ambrose snorted, hauling the kid over his shoulder and running into a sleepy Jill.

"I heard a noise," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. They were swollen which meant that at one point in the night, she woke up crying before going back to sleep. Ambrose bit his bottom lip to keep the forming frown at bay. "Is he ok?"

"I'm always ok." Cameron huffed, slithering out of Ambrose's arms and shuffling into the bathroom. The door closed behind him and the shower sputtered to life. Jill turned to Ambrose with a raised brow, amused.

"He's gotten moodier in the morning the older he gets."

"I can see that," she replied, chuckling at Cameron's cuteness. While Ambrose made a pot of coffee she rifled through the fridge. "Does he still hate eggs?"

"Nope." Ambrose filled her cup with cream and sugar. "He got over that. But he likes sunny side up eggs more than scrambled."

"Cool." Jill emerged with full arms and carefully placed the ingredients on the counter. Heat and sweetness filled her mouth as she sipped the hot coffee. "Mm. Is that mocha?"

"It's a phase," Ambrose muttered in a voice that was raspy and deep. He ignored her teasing smile. "Do you need help?"

Jill shook her head as she started whipping up the batter for buttermilk waffles. "Can you get me a hair clip from my bag, please? Thanks."

Ambrose looked through two bags before finding a collection of colorful clips. He plucked out the biggest one and when he returned Jill had three eggs cooking in a pan. Another one was frying six slices of bacon and she had the waffle maker out, hot and ready.

While she poured the batter Ambrose gathered her long hair into a low bun and secured it at the nape of her neck. "There you go."

"Thank you." Jill swallowed thickly, annoyed by the way her heart melted by his sweet voice and kind gestures. Logically she knew that the only reason she was latching onto him was because he was treating her well. Better than Noah had in the past couple of years. She couldn't help her messy feelings but boy did she look forward to the day when they finally went away. "Can you get the plates?"

After seasoning the eggs and poaching it so that the yolk was soft and still a little runny, she began plating. Jill added a layer of fresh spinach onto the waffle then added two strips of bacon and the egg. Topped with another waffle, she passed the sandwich to Ambrose, pleased to see his gaze locked on the food.

"This looks good. Thanks."

Jill nodded, making a half sandwich for her and Cameron. She remembered that his appetite wasn't that big in the morning for breakfast. He was more of a lunch and dinner type of kid.

Ambrose placed two cups down in front of Cameron's chair. One was half full with orange juice and the other was a tall glass of ice cold water. Ambrose was aware that it looked like some kind of restaurant setup. But Cameron was particular about these things.

He liked juice but couldn't drink more than half a cup. He loved water but always had to have it cold. His quirks were many but nothing too extreme and Ambrose didn't mind indulging them.

Cameron entered, dressed in dark blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. He held up the towel with a blond brow arched. "Help, please."

Ambrose rubbed the nape of his neck (a spot Cameron always missed) and made his way upwards. He was gentle as he massaged Cameron's scalp and dried the fair locks while Cameron's eyes slipped shut.

Of course Cameron could dry his own hair. He was more than capable. But he also enjoyed having someone else do it for him so he liked to take advantage of it whenever he could.

"There," Ambrose said, running the towel through Cameron's hair a few more times for good measure. "All done."

"Thanks!" Cameron scampered to his room and tossed the towel wherever, making Ambrose snort. "Morning, Jelly."

"Good morning," Jill replied, smoothing out his wild hair as she placed his plate before him. "Dig in."

With light pouring in through the window, Cameron could see the bruises now that she wore no makeup. Jill's back faced him and when he turned to his brother the older man gave a subtle shake of his head. Cameron knew what that meant. The bad man had hurt her again and he wasn't allowed to talk about it.

"Bubba," Cameron's blue eyes drifted away from Jill when she joined them at the table, "can I have carrots?"

Ambrose hummed, taking a large bite out of the breakfast sandwich and savoring the taste. "You know where they are."

A giddy feeling filled Cameron as he retrieved his blue step stool and yanked open the heavy fridge door. He pushed the stool closer, aware that Ambrose was watching him like a hawk out of the corner of his eye. Taking his container of baby carrots out, he put his stool back and climbed onto his chair with a grin.

Jill watched as Cameron opened his mouth as wide as he could then took a bite out of the sandwich. He hummed a little tune and with each bite he pushed more and more of the bacon and egg out of the waffle sandwich.

"You cook better than Bubba," Cameron chirped.

"Disrespectful," Ambrose mumbled around a particular thick slice of bacon.

It was a pleasant breakfast filled with simple conversations. Jill couldn't have been more than happy. Her cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing at Cameron's colorful anecdotes. By the time she and Ambrose were cleaning up she almost couldn't believe how much Cameron had grown up.

"I can't believe he has a girlfriend," she said as she passed him a wet plate to dry. "He's too young to have a girlfriend!"

Ambrose scoffed. "Says the girl that dated Vincent when she was seven and he was six."

"That was completely different!" Jill laughed, tossing the wet rag at him. "Vincent was figuring out if he liked girls. I wanted to see if kissing was as romantic as the Disney movies said it would be. We had an arrangement."

"And?" Ambrose asked with a smirk, placing the last plate in the cabinet and closing the door. "Was it all that you hoped it would be?"

Jill wrinkled her nose as she recalled the slobbery smooshing of lips against hers. "Remember when we were twelve and Bobby De Luca tried to kiss me after the middle school dance?"

"Mhm."

"I rejected his kiss because I was scared it would be as bad as my first one with Vincent." Jill's cheeks turned pink when Ambrose laughed with his whole body, even going as far as to tip his head back. "Please don't tell him I said that."

"Next time I see him I'm telling him."

"Ambrose—"

"It's on sight." Ambrose smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkled as he knocked his shoulder with hers. "Before he can even say hello I'm gonna tell him he ruined your first kiss."

"He didn't ruin it!"

"Y'know he always thought that kiss was sweet, right? Said it wasn't that bad compared to other first's he's had."

Jill grimaced. "I think Vincent and I remember that kiss very differently."

Ambrose opened his mouth to say something but then stopped when he saw the time on the microwave. 8:10.

"Ah, shit," he muttered under his breath, "we gotta get going in five. Cameron! Get your backpack and put your shoes on!" Ambrose glanced at Jill's panicking state and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just go like that, it'll be fine."

"But my makeup—"

"Do it in the car. It takes 25 minutes to get there."

Ambrose vanished inside his room, kicking the door shut and pulling out his work uniform. He tugged on black underwear, dark jeans, and tucked in a tight white shirt. Once he had his dark jumpsuit over his normal clothes he pulled on a pair of gray wool socks and slid them on. Running his hand through his hair, he let it flop over his eyes as he jammed his feet into his steel toe cap boots.

"Fuck." He was out of contact lenses. Ambrose tossed the empty pack on his dresser and sighed. He'd just have to wear his glasses and then those stupidly uncomfortable goggles over them.

"Ready!"

"Yeah?" Ambrose glanced at his empty hands and asked, "Where's your lunchbox?"

"Not ready!" Cameron sped off and opened the fridge again. He retrieved his Iron Man lunchbox and Ambrose's boring blue bag with his prepped meal. Running back into the living room, Cameron scrunched his face up. He watched Jill use hair ties to roll up the bottom of her sweatpants to hold them in place. "Why are you doing that?"

"Because I'm short," Jill replied. She made sure that the strings were tied as tight as they would go around her waist so the pants wouldn't fall down. Slipping into her white shoes, she winced when she saw her stained coat from when Cameron hugged her. "I'm really gonna look like a hot mess."

"You act like the women there are supermodels. It's the morning, Jilly. 99% of them roll out of bed in pajamas and call it good." Ambrose shoved his glasses on, curious as to how they were suddenly so clean and pristine. Noticing the way Jill frowned at her dirty coat, he shrugged off the thick denim jacket he was putting on. He wrapped her in it, ignoring her protests and jerked his head at Cameron. "Out the door."

Cameron clambered down the stairs with a lunchbox under each arm. His backpack bounced against his back. Jill followed close behind with an armful of makeup. Ambrose carried Cameron's forgotten coat.

Ambrose passed Jill the keys and said, "Turn the car on, please." With the doors unlocked he heaved Cameron into his booster seat and buckled him in. "Good?"

Cameron nodded with a pout. He hated this thing but Ambrose said he had to use it until he got taller. At least 4'9". Cameron sighed, he had a long way to go.

Ambrose slid into the front seat and buckled in. They were five minutes late as he pulled out of his parking spot and onto the street.

Jill was on autopilot as she used up the last of her makeup to conceal every bruise that covered her face. Primer, foundation, concealer, highlighter, and she opted for a nude lip gloss instead of a red lip. She brushed out her thick eyebrows and swept a thin layer of mascara through her lashes.

Jill's stomach tightened into a ball of nerves as they pulled up. A line of cars led up to the school in a single file and she rushed to smooth down any stray hairs.

"You look fine." Ambrose said, clueless to her internal turmoil as she smoothed out the creases in his jacket. "Stop worrying."

Jill sighed. "Men understand nothing."

"Can Jelly meet Mrs. Black?" Cameron butted in.

Ambrose glanced at the rearview mirror, shocked by the request. "Mrs. Black?"

Cameron nodded, fiddling with his lunchbox.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Jill asked, hazel eyes flicking between the brothers and their odd behavior.

Ambrosse hummed, pulling out of the drop off line to search for an empty parking space. "He doesn't really like her."

"I never said that," Cameron said, legs swinging as they found a place to park.

"Could've fooled me with all the talking back you do in her class."

Cameron huffed, peeved but not having a good enough retort to throw back. He unbuckled himself and shimmied out of the car, ignoring Ambrose's hand. He could do it himself!

Spoiler alert: he couldn't.

Cameron gasped as his foot missed the ledge exiting the car. He sank down quicker than he expected. Before his feet could slam into the ground and get all tingly, Ambrose was there. His strong arms gripped Cameron underneath his armpits and set him down.

"Coat." Ambrose let Cameron put it on himself since he knew the kid was annoyed that he needed help getting out. "Backpack."

Once Cameron was set Ambrose took his hand and they rounded the car to meet up with Jill. The three of them walked through the parking lot with Cameron at the center. He zoomed off once they were on the sidewalk and raced towards a tall older woman with her silver hair up in a low bun.

Jill smiled timidly as she passed some lingering parents. She couldn't help but think she was being delusional and imagining the sour looks some people sent her way. Actually, no, not the people. The women.

"I've been here two seconds and people already hate me," Jill whispered.

Ambrose took his gaze off of Cameron and Mrs. Black to see what she meant. He had to hold back the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes once he saw what was going on.

Ambrose placed a hand on the small of Jill's back. He grinned from ear to ear as he greeted the single (and not so single) moms that were loitering around.

"Good morning, Emma." Ambrose nodded at the blonde's twittering friends, holding back a laugh. How ridiculous. "Jilly, this is Sadie, Peyton, and Leah. Cameron's friends with their sons."

"And we're friends too, silly!" Emma giggled, blue eyes shooting arrow hearts at him. They turned to partially concealed daggers when she zeroed in on Jill. "Jilly, was it? How do you know Ambrose?"

Well, that wasn't subtle at all, Jill thought to herself. Vincent really wasn't lying about the level of lust going on around here.

If Jill was thirsty then these women were certainly parched.

She fought the urge to cower as the women eyed her like a piece of meat and smiled instead. "Actually, it's just Jill. And I've known Ambrose since we were little kids. We grew up together."

The ringleader's crimson smile, Emma, dipped but her "kind" appearance stayed intact. "How cute."

"Jelly!" Both Ambrose and Jill weren't religious. But they thanked God for Cameron's perfectly timed interruption. "This is my teacher, Mrs. Black. Mrs. Black, this is Jelly."

"Jill," she corrected him and shook Mrs. Black's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

A knowing smile spread across Mrs. Black's aged face. "It's nice to finally meet you, Jill. I've heard so much about you. I hope you're here to stay."

"Oh?" Jill and Ambrose locked eyes but neither of them knew what she was hinting at. "Uh, well, I plan on sticking around. For a long time."

"Good." Mrs. Black smiled, revealing a sparkling row of straight, white teeth. She chuckled as she turned to the group of women watching. "Ladies. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Nope," Leah replied, brown eyes flicking towards her son then back to the first grade teacher. "We just wanted to see the kids a little longer before we left."

Mrs. Black hummed, knowing they were full of shit. "I see."

Cameron's eyes lit up once they landed on a little girl with cute box braids. Vibrant pink beads decorated the ends of her hair and she wore a thick red dress with knee high socks.

"Bye!" Cameron hugged Ambrose and Jill then slipped away as he shouted, "Cora!"

Ambrose grabbed Jill's elbow and took the opening to get out of there ASAP. "Well, gotta go to work. See you guys later."

Jill stumbled as Ambrose led her back to the car. At least half of the women in the nearby vicinity stopped and wished Ambrose a good day. A few even made sure to wave from their cars.

The dads were not amused.

"Wow," Jill said as they pulled out of the parking lot and sped towards the shop. "That was..."

"It's like that every morning. Every afternoon. Are you sure you still wanna come along now?"

Jill faked a shudder but laughed when she saw Ambrose's miserable face. "If it means I get to watch the circus come to town twice a day, five days a week, then yes. I really do wanna come along."

Ambrose shook his head, saying nothing in return and letting Jill laugh at his misery. When they pulled into the shop Ambrose took his lunchbox from the back and Jill hopped in the driver's seat. They waved goodbye and this time Ambrose really did roll his eyes as the guys wolf whistled.

It was a typical work day for Ambrose and he liked that. He liked not having to think as he made repairs and tinkered with car after car on autopilot. Not even the stupid goggles he wore over his thick frames could ruin his day as he and his men worked in harmony.

The afternoon rolled around and Ambrose wondered how Jill was doing. The sudden thud of heavy footsteps had him looking up from under the hood of an old Toyota, curious.

"You!" Lilah's hands were balled up and thunder darkened her sweet features. "You have some nerve!"

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QOTD: What do you think of the trios first morning together? Thoughts on what Mrs. Black might be talking about? Why do you think Lilah is about to fly off the handle?