YOU'D MAKE A VERY GOOD MOTHER

Chapter 10… YOU'D MAKE A VERY GOOD MOTHER

"You know, you'd make a good mother," he commented and turned to stare outside the window.

Jazmine smiled and glanced at him.

"You think?"

"Yea, I know." Austin returned his gaze to the little child in her arms. "She's usually cold around strangers."

Jazmine blinked and looked at the child before returning her gaze to Austin. "Really?"

Austin nodded.

"She wasn't cold to me," Jazmine mumbled.

Alexander, who wasn't invited into the conversation, decided to make his presence known.

"Yes! She asked if she could sit beside Jazmine. I was surprised too."

Austin looked at Jazmine for a few seconds before looking away. He kept his eyes trained on her reflection on the glass.

"May I ask a question, sir?" Jazmine's voice was timid, careful not to wake the child in her arms. "Alicia," she said, a little unsure if she should continue. But, she continued all the same, "Where is her mother?"

Silence...

Austin did not respond for a while so Jazmine thought that she had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry I asked, sir," she muttered but Austin shook his head and turned to her.

"It's okay. She's around. Alive, though."

"Oh," Jazmine nodded and turned to face the window, staring at the passing streets.

"We're here!" Alexander announced, bringing the car to a halt in front of a hotel.

Austin came down and got a few bags from the trunk and left the others to Alexander. Jazmine carried Alicia carefully and followed Austin.

He stopped to collect a key card from the receptionist before leading them into the elevator. The elevator came to a stop at the penthouse on the top of the building

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Jazmine placed the child in the bedroom and covered her before coming to help Austin arrange the bags in the closet.

"Since we'd be here for a week, it's fine to arrange everything in the closet," Austin said while unpacking Alicia's luggage.

Jazmine nodded and picked the bag containing her bags and undies and placed it by the side of the closet.

She took Alicia's luggage from Austin and began to arrange them. "I'll handle it sir. You don't have to worry."

Austin frowned but didn't say anything. He walked out of the closet in time to see Alexander walking in with the remaining bags.

"Go and help her, Alex. She won't let me."

Alexander laughed, wiping a trickle of sweat off his brow.

"If you want her, -" he peeked behind Austin before whispering, "-you have to work hard."

"Scram!"

Alexander laughed, happy he had been able to rile up his brother before going to help Jazmine. When they were done, Austin thought to order for dinner as they were all tired and jet lagged but Jazmine refused.

"I can cook, sir," She smiled. "Not much, though. But, I'm good."

Austin did not look so convinced. He glanced at Alexander who nodded before turning to her with a single warning, "Don't get burnt."

Jazmine chuckled and nodded.

"I'm not a novice sir. I have a diploma in culinary arts."

"You do!?" Alexander jumped to his feet in shock. Even Austin stared at her with wide eyes.

His personal assistant had a diploma in culinary arts…? Now, that was something he had not seen in her resume.

Jazmine nodded again and headed for the kitchen.

"Yes. Figured I'd do something with my little kitchen skills. So, I turned them into a professional's."

"Woah! I'm dying to eat something made by you now!" Alexander clapped happily.

Austin too was eagerly waiting for the meal of the night, even though he would not admit it.

Jazmine grabbed an apron and began to busy herself in the kitchen. She was almost done marinating the chicken when her phone started to vibrate in her pocket.

She pulled it out to see that it was Ariel calling. A smile bloomed on her face as she received the call and placed it on speaker.

"Hey, miss PA!" Ariel yelled over the phone.

Jazmine dropped the phone on the table and continued her work.

"Hi, Miss Secretary! How are you?"

"Oh, Jazmine! How I have missed you!" Ariel sighed dramatically, causing Jazmine to chuckle.

"How many hours did it take you to practice that script?" Jazmine asked sarcastically.

Ariel hissed. "Killjoy! I hate you!"

"Aw," Jazmine mocked, "I love you too! I've only been gone a day and you miss me? Huh?"

Ariel chuckled and said, "I did. No one to go to lunch with. Oh, I forgot, Mark offered to take me on a date later. Got to go! I love you!"

She ended the call before Jazmine could reply. Shaking her head, Jazmine smiled and continued her work. A few hours later, she was proud to present a table full of her signature dishes to the brothers and Alicia.

Alexander looked pleased when he saw the full table. Even Austin had a visible smile on his face. He placed Alicia on a chair before sitting beside her.

Jazmine sat across Alicia with Alexander by her side. She watched as Alexander dished out a sumptuous amount of coconut rice to his place and as Austin placed a decent amount of pasta on Alicia's plate like a caring father. She also dished some pasta on her plate and waited for them to begin.

Of course, Alexander was the first to begin. He closed his eyes as he chewed the good slowly, savoring every taste. When he swallowed he whistled loudly.

"Bro, you have to try this," he turned to Austin, excited. "You can literally feel the milk slide down your throat. Also, you can chew on the coconut."

Jazmine smiled and turned to Alicia. "Do you like it?"

Alicia nodded and swallowed before looking up at Jazmine's face.

"Will you teach me how to cook?" She asked. "Daddy's a bad cook."

Alexander and Jazmine laughed while Austin frowned and looked at his daughter.

"I'm a bad cook?" He asked and she nodded. "Me or Grandma?"

She pointed at him and smiled.

"You! Grandma's a good cook."

Jazmine shook her head and smiled at Alicia. "I'll teach you. In Fact, I'll teach you how to make it before the weekend. You like that?"

Alicia nodded and turned back to her food.

Jazmine waited patiently for Austin's remark but the latter was just eating with no expression on his face, causing Alexander who sat across him scrunched his face and frowned.

'Tsk, tsk, tsk… how inhuman!' he thought.

Austin soon realized the meaning behind the gazes that were perching holes through him. He raised his head and saw Jazmine who was watching him intently.

"It's delicious, Miss Roosevelt," he praised her with a small nod.

Jazmine clapped her hands happily and began to eat. She wasn't disappointed at his reply. She felt proud and even more confident in her cooking.

"Can I be the one cooking all through our stay here sir?" She asked.

"Yes!" Alexander yelled, earning himself a glare from Austin. He clamped his mouth shut and continued to eat in silence like Alicia.

Austin raised his head and looked at Jazmine. "Why?"

"Well," Jazmine looked at the wall as if a reason was written there. "It saves expenses, you know? Yes, so you can save expenses."

Austin was silent for a long while. He simply looked at her with a blank and impassive expression.

"You're a personal assistant, Miss Roosevelt, not a cook," he finally replied to hear her release a deep sigh.

"Please sir," Jazmine begged, hoping he would buy it.

"Okay."

"Huh?" Jazmine wasn't sure if he said okay as in okay to cook or if he said it to get her to shut up.

Austin continued to eat. "You can. I'd add it to your paycheck."

"That's not needed sir," she quickly retorted. She had her own reasons and a higher income wasn't one of them. "I don't need that. I just love cooking."

Austin watched her begin eating her food with a surprise look on his face. She just rejected an increment in her paycheck. Who did that?

All the same, he didn't argue or say anything and went back to his meal. He would know what to do when the time comes.

After dinner, Jazmine cleared up the table with Alexander's help while Austin busied himself, reading Alicia a storybook.

When she was done, she went to take a bath and change into her pajamas before returning to the living room to find Alexander preparing to leave the room.

"Are you going out?"

Alexander nodded.

"Yes, my room is just below yours. Take care Jazmine."

"Oh, goodnight then, Mr. Alexander," she said with a smile.

"It's Alexander. Just Alexander," he replied and left the room.

Jazmine closed the door behind him and knocked on the other bedroom door. Since there were two bedrooms in the penthouse, she figured she'd be using one alone while Austin and Alicia shared the other.

Austin opened the door, already dressed in his pajamas. She peeked into the room to see Alicia already asleep.

"I came to say goodnight to her, didn't know she was already asleep."

Austin turned and had a glance at the child in the bed. She looked beautiful.

"She slept off immediately after bathing."

Jazmine nodded. "It's okay. Goodnight, sir."