Miss Braxton: Home and Away Fanfic

Chapter 6

On the first day of my week with the Braxton family, I drowsed awake in the comfort of possibly the snuggest bed I'd ever slept in. I'd never had such a good night's sleep and felt incredibly well rested. Sunlight the colour of liquid gold streamed in through the thin veil of a curtain hung over the window of my room. The rays filled the room in a calming honey glow, alighting on the framed pictures and photos which hung on the walls. Most of them consisted of surfers on the waves and long stretches of beach. I noticed that the people in the pictures were actually family members, and realized that I must be looking at some of Ricky's impressive photography snapshots.

A knock at the door brought me out of my stupor and I answered it with a sleepy, "Yeah?"

My bedroom door opened and Ricky popped her head in. She was wearing a pretty silk nightgown that suited her really well and her face had a fresh rosy look to it. Her blonde hair had been tied up in a ponytail.

"Hey, Alex." She said warmly, offering me a pearly smile. "How you feeling?"

"Good." I yawned, stretching the tiredness out of my muscles as I sat up in bed. "I slept great. This place is much cozier than a hotel would have been. Thank you so much for letting me stay here."

"It's no trouble, Lex. You're more than welcome. After all, you are family." She laughed, waving it away. "Anyway, I came in to ask you if you wanted me to make some breakfast for you?"

My automatic instinct was to decline. I had never before been offered breakfast by someone else, so the concept was pretty foreign. "Oh, hey, no, it's okay." I insisted. "You don't have to do that. I don't want to be any trouble. I can make my own food."

"I'm making some anyway for the boys, so it's not a problem if you want some." She told me.

I hesitated, feeling weird about having someone do so much for me on top of letting me stay in their house. This amount of kindness was something I had never experienced before. I raised my brows at Ricky. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Of course." She laughed. "Come on, if it makes you feel any better about it, you can come and keep me company in the kitchen whilst I'm cooking."

That, I agreed to. I sauntered into the kitchen behind Ricky, wearing a pair of my ripped denim shorts and an oversized boys T-shirt that had belonged to Flynn before he'd given it to me. I always slept in it. It was a force of habit. I'd thrown my long blonde hair up into a stylish, messy bun so as to keep it out of my face.

I ended up helping Ricky with preparing food, not just because I felt obliged, but because I also knew better than most people how to cook up the perfect breakfast. Back at the city, my entire morning shift at work required me to make my customers' breakfast. I was a pretty good chef; quick, clean and my food was always bursting with flavor. It was one of the only things I freely admitted to being a bit of a pro at.

When my brothers joined us in the kitchen, they were blown away by my efforts to help with breakfast. They cleared their plates in about five seconds flat, all the while complementing me on how nice it was.

"Where'd you learn to cook like that?" Heath mumbled, his mouth full.

"At work." I answered proudly. "I was kind of a trainee assistant chef as well as a waitress. On busy days I worked in the kitchen. I didn't mind because you usually got longer hours and got paid more. "

"Did they teach you how to cook a lot of things?" Kyle quizzed.

"Yup. I can make loads of different meals. My specialty is Italian sauces and pasta dishes, but I can do other stuff too. Where I worked we sold pub-food, so the menu covered a variety of different dinners. I helped bake the sweet stuff as well for the café, so I'm not bad at desserts."