Under My Own Roof?

The following morning, one of the three maids could be seen pushing an empty meal cart away from the room the young couple had stayed in the night before. A knowing smile could be seen on her face from the moment Joe opened the door to take the food.

It was clear that he had only just pulled something on so he wouldn't be entirely nude. Clara was still sleeping soundly under the covers. However, her exposed shoulder clearly told the observant maid that she also had not worn anything to bed the night before.

After returning to the kitchen with the empty cart, the maid began moving another meal onto it. Once done, she pushed the cart towards the dinning area.

"If those two don't hurry up the food will have gone cold before they even get down here."

The assertive voice of a father could be coming from just inside the sliding door.

"Dear, you know just as well as I do how tiring the Academy can be. Especially for first years."

"Of course, the first year is the most trying. Better to weed out those that can't handle it early on than waste resources on them only to have them die in their final year."

The married couple turned their attention towards the doors as they were pushed open. Expecting to see their daughter and Joe walking through them, only to be greeted by the smiling face of the head maid.

"See, now the food has arrived and those two are nowhere to be seen!"

"Sir, the young lady and Mr. Merril will not be joining you for breakfast. I have already brought their meals to them in the young lady's room."

"Now why would they ask for their meal to be brought to them up there rather than eating with us?"

Aaron was highly disappointed and was immediately going to label them as lazy before his wife interrupted his thoughts.

"Dear, while on campus, the two are limited in how and where they spend their time together. Would you have wanted to have breakfast with my parents or just me given the choice?"

"If it were up to me then I'd have chosen to eat with you and your parents. Your father was never an issue. Your mother on the other hand…"

Aaron internally shivered at the memory of the first time he'd met his mother-in-law.

"Sir, if I may, neither of the two requested the meal be brought to them. It was done after I saw the state of the room when the young lady had me fix the bed while she bathed."

Aaron could be seen deep in thought at the words of the head maid.

"Oh my. To think those two had already progressed to that stage of their relationship despite the restriction of living on campus."

Hearing the words of his wife, a clear image to the stage she was referring to painted a picture in Aaron's mind. A picture that was aided in further shattering the innocent image he had of his daughter by the next word that came from the head maid.

"I do not believe that to be the case, ma'am. When changing the sheets, it was made evident that this was just their first step into that stage."

Aaron's face turned increasingly darker with the realization that, while he and his wife were in their room, their daughter was being transformed into a woman. It was taking every ounce of his self-control not to storm up the stairs and beat Joe senseless.

"No wonder they did not join us. You showed good judgment in bringing their meal to them without instruction. She may need some time to recover. It is likely they will at least be able to join us for lunch."

"I'm afraid lunch may not be possible for the young lady as well. The state of the room would indicate that the two were highly active for an extended period last night. Even returning to the bathing area after instructing me to clean up seemed to be a struggle."

The sound of splintering wood could be heard coming from Aaron's direction. His attempt to contain his rage had force him to crush the arm of the chair in his hand. A fire was raging inside his glare as his eyes met those of the head maid.

Realized she may have said to much in the presence of a controlling father, the maid excuse herself from the room and quickly closed the doors behind her. As she was hastily walking away from the dining area, she heard the shouts of Aaron.

"Why should I not go up there? She is my daughter and he violated her under my roof!"

The maid could only sigh at the level of anger Aaron was expressing. Although it may have been disrespectful to do such an act in this house, it was the choice of the young couple, and it would not have been possible had the older couple not allowed Joe to remain there that evening.

'The fault is entirely your own sir. You have no right to interfere with the young couple.'

With haste, the head maid went about the rest of her morning duties before returning to the upstairs bedroom to retrieve the dishes that had contained the morning's meal. When she knocked on the door, she was quickly greeted by the radiant smile Clara had been wearing ever since she had woken up that morning.

As she stepped inside with the meal cart, the maid spotted Joe sitting cross legged on the bed in a meditative pose. This initially spiked her curiosity until she was getting ready to leave the room and overheard a part of the young couple's conversation.

"That took longer than usual. To think my core would grow that much from all the fun we had last night."

The maid's curiosity peaked to a dangerous level as she exited the room.