A/N: The thingies on Jay's plate are creamy biscuits 😉.

Chapter 30 (Jay)

Six years ago, Sensei Wu's Academy (between the FB scenes from chapters 2 and 11)

Returning to the school from our morning run, the guys and I have to pass by the dining hall where our students are already enjoying, i.e devouring, their breakfast.

This not only means we've taken longer than expected (and without a doubt will receive a dressing down from Sensei Wu and no pizza for at least a week), but also that by the time we've showered and gotten dressed, all the good stuff will be gone.

Such is life for a Ninja-turned-teacher.

But even though we have defeated the Overlord (the public may consider this to be Lloyd's achievement alone, but we know this is not true) and Ninjago is at peace, our Sensei keeps reminding us that 'evil never sleeps' and that we still have to keep up with our training, besides our day job.

And, truth be told, we are all rather desperate for a little fight, so we can't really argue with him about this, even if that means having Sunrise Exercise four times a week now. Unless it's our turn to supervise breakfast, which is why our Samurai hasn't joined the rest of us this morning.

Mmmh, maybe I could ask her to save me a couple of creamy biscuits...

I let my gaze wander around the room until I finally spot my lovely girlfriend sitting at a single table in the far corner, a large mug of coffee between her small but strong hands, her gaze fixed at the steaming black liquid inside.

This is why it takes me a while before I actually notice the expression on her face – the raven haired beauty looks upset and angry at the same time.

This deeply worries me, and I am very tempted to go over, pull her into a hug and find out what the matter is.

Yet I hesitate.

Under no circumstances does Nya want our students to find out about our relationship. And while I sometimes find it hard not to express my feelings for her when we are in public, I know that she's absolutely right – it is difficult enough to get those ex-Darkley's brats to respect us as it is.

So, chances are, especially if it's just a minor thing - possibly school related - that has caused her upset, me attempting to comfort her will only make things worse. For both of us.

So I eventually decide to exercise patience – no, not my biggest strength at all – and follow my teammates up the stairs to the second floor where the teachers' rooms are. Before I head to the shower, I send a quick message to my girlfriend, wishing her a good morning and casually asking her if she is well.

I don't mention the creamy biscuits. Having seen the love of my life being so miserable, I've lost my appetite anyway.

And unfortunately, I very soon find out what has transpired earlier when, on my way to my class, Nya pulls me into a supply closet to inform me that the students have found out about us and that we need to be more careful.

I seriously hate boundaries.

Present day, Cliff Gordon's mansion

When I return home from my early morning run – it's been over six years, and I still haven't gotten rid of some old habits, no matter how much I used to complain about Sensei's training regime in general and Sunrise Exercise in particular – I find the house to be all silent. Nya (unsurprisingly) and Abby (very surprisingly, no matter how tired she was last night) must still be asleep.

Before I get to take my well-deserved shower, I pass by the kitchen to drop off the shopping I've done on the way back and to check my phone.

Just before leaving the house earlier, I had sent a message to Katherine: Just learned that that you have broken our agreement (BTW, THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!); does that mean I'm also allowed again to set you up on dates?

And I find that she has replied while I was gone: Absolutely not. And you're welcome, very happy for you. To show your eternal gratitude, you can buy me lunch on Monday and tell me everything (okay, maybe leave out some details 😉!). Say hi to Nya and Abby for me xx.

I send a brief response to confirm before I quietly make my way up the stairs to the first floor. Passing by my daughter's door, I can't resist but take a peek inside.

"Daddy." A pair of wide awake blue eyes looks back at me.

Abby, in her pyjamas, is lying on her stomach on the floor, crayons spread out all over the carpet, and colouring in a picture.

Yes, she really needs a little desk in her room here. I think.

"Good morning, Abby." I say. "You're up already?" It's more a statement than a question, but she answers it anyway.

"Yes, I've been awake for aaages. But mummy said I can't wake her before the sun comes up." She points at the screen of her baby monitor, which is still glowing in a blue light, the display showing a moon and a couple of stars. Nya has programmed it to turn yellow at eight o' clock, which won't happen for another forty minutes. "Can I watch telly?" She asks cheekily, knowing all too well that I am more likely to give into her requests than her mother.

But I really don't want to risk getting into trouble with Nya.

"No, Abby." I decline. "It's way too early for that. But..." I continue before she can get upset – or worse, throw a tantrum that will undoubtedly wake up the woman in the room just opposite hers. "If you give me a few minutes to freshen up, you can then help me make breakfast for mummy. I've bought fresh eggs and croissants."

Mentioning food to her usually provides a perfect distraction, something she's definitely got from me.

"An' cweamy biscuits?"

"And creamy biscuits." I confirm, suppressing a chuckle. There's no doubt either where she got that from.

"O-kay. I'm hungry." Abby's gaze is back on her picture, which tells me that this conversation is over, and I'd better hurry up.

Which I do.

Following a quick shower, I slip into a pair of navy joggers and an old t-shirt. I may not have had a lot of experience as a father, but not only common sense but also my time as teacher and young Lloyd's babysitter (No, you should never ever ask the Master of Energy to stir the tomato soup – to this day, I have absolutely no idea how we actually managed to get our deposit for the hero suite back.) have taught me to not wear your best clothes when cooking with a young child. Or Cole.

My daughter, however, seems to disagree. For when I return to her room, I find that she has also got dressed and is now in the brand new outfit for our lunch date with the grandparents, a short light blue dress over a pair of white leggings.

"You like it?" She asks as she proudly spins around.

"You look lovely." I reply, carefully avoiding to mention that she is wearing her shirt backwards. "And this looks almost like Spinjitzu."

"You think so?" She beams at me.

"Absolutely." I nod. "Now, I bet my little Ninja must be starving."

"Absolutely." She echoes, taking my hand and leading me down the stairs.

We have a little snack – one creamy biscuit shared (more or less equally) between the two of us – before we focus on our job.

"What do you want to do first?" I ask. "Set the table, or prepare the mixture for the scrambled eggs?"

"Squ'ambles eggs." Abby replies. "An' I wanna cwack the eggs, please."

"Okay." I nod. "But you'd better put an apron on for that."

"But I don't neeeeed one. I know how do do that, I've helped uncle Zane sooo many times already."

"But even the professional chefs wear aprons. As does uncle Zane." At least he used to; I hope he still does...

"Oh yes, even though he never gets it dirty." Abby confirms. Phew. She giggles. "It's pink."

I join into her laughter. Some things really never change.

"So, if even uncle Zane wears one, then we should as well, okay?" I say, tapping my chin. "Let's see if we have any pink ones..."

"It's okay if you don't, daddy." Abby pats my arm. "I like blue better anyway."

Although Zane really has taught her quite well, one eggs still ends up on the floor and another one on her front. And on her hands which she then wipes on my apron.

But we still end up with more than enough egg mixture. We set it aside and, after taking off our sticky aprons and washing our hands, start setting the dining table.

Well, Abby starts setting the table, while at first I am busy bringing plates, glasses, cutlery etc. from the kitchen into the living room. Carrying the final tray with different kind of homemade jams (courtesy of my mum), I stop in the doorway and watch her as she carefully folds the napkins in half before putting them onto the plates, while singing a little tune to herself.

The Oni march in two by two, hoorah, hoorah! The Oni march in two by two, hoorah, hoorah...

Without a doubt my daughter has also inherited my musical talent, for she appears to be just as tone deaf as I am. I do recognise the lyrics from school though, so I join in, both into the song and into the work.

"Good morning." A cheerful voice snaps us out of our routine. "Wow, this looks amazing."

"Mummy!" With a loud clatter, Abby drops the cutlery she's been arranging on the table and sprints to the door to give her mother a hug. "Daddy and I are making b'eakfast for you. But it was supposed to be a su'prise, an' now you're too early an' we're not finished yet." She adds accusingly.

"Sorry, sweetie." Nya bends down to kiss her cheek. "If you want, I can go back to sleep..."

"Nooooo." Comes the immediate reply. "I'm hungwy."

"No surprise here." Nya ruffles her hair, laughing. "But I might just get a coffee from the kitchen and let you 'finish your surprise'."

"We're almost done here anyway." I say. "Abby, can you do the rest on your own, then I'll go with mummy and start cooking."

"'kay." She nods. "But I wanna stir the eggs."

"Alright. I'll wait for you with that."

We awkwardly keep our distance while walking across the hall next to each other, but as soon as the kitchen door closes after us, I take Nya's hand and pull her against me. In response, she wraps her arms around my neck and lifts her face to kiss me.

"Good morning." I whisper against her lips when we break apart.

"A very good morning." She replies, smiling at me. "Although I missed you when I woke up and you were gone."

"I didn't want to leave." I say apologetically. "I just woke up really early and didn't want to disturb you. Also, I wasn't sure whether it would be a good idea to have Abby find us sleeping together."

"Probably not." Nya agrees. "Just wh-when I realised that you were gone this morning, I-I got a bit worried that you might have regrets about... what happened last night."

"I could never regret us." I put my hand under her chin to lift her face. "D-do you?"

"Of course not."

"Good." I wink at her. "Can't break our new rule on the first day already, right?"

"No, we can't." She laughs as she rests her head against my chest. "I love you."

I wrap my arms around her. "I love you too, Nya." I say softly.

"So, what are we gonna now?" She asks.

"Well, considering our daughter will very soon burst through that door and claim that she's starving, we'll better start making our coffees and switch on the stove for the eggs."

"That sounds like a very good plan, but I was more thinking about us. C-can we maybe take things slowly?" She requests.

I smirk. "Not sure last night qualifies as taking things slowly..." I tease her, but then realisation hit me. "You want to keep things only between us, don't you?"

"Just for now." Nya confirms. "But it's not because I think that we won't work out anyway or that Kai and the others wouldn't be happy for us." She sighs. "It's just that... the situation is complicated enough as it is – we're still getting to know each other again, you're still patching things up with the guys, and Abby's still getting used to having a mum and dad, plus there's my parents who aren't your biggest fans right now – I just want to enjoy us being together without adding all that extra pressure."

"So do I." I agree. Truth be told, it is mostly the issue with her parents though that has convinced me... "I might have already told Katherine." I admit.

"That's fine." Nya smiles. "We owe her one, so she really deserves to know."

"And she couldn't be happier about it." I inform her. "What about Abby?"

"Oh, I'd love to tell her, but I don't want to burden her with yet another secret. It's hard enough for her to keep all the Ninja stuff from her friends, but she's never had to hide anything from our family..."

"Then let's keep it that way for now." I suggest. The last thing I need is for the little chatterbox to accidently spill anything during our lunch with Ray and Maya. "We can take all the time we need, because I intend for this relationship to make it for the long haul."

"I want that as well."

"But unless we want Abby to find out, we really should get to work now." I remark, reluctantly letting her go.

On the way to the stove, I stop mid-tracks and turn my head to look back at Nya.

"So, boundaries?" I smirk.

She groans. "I hate you."

I grin. "No, you don't."

"You're right, I don't." She laughs. "I really don't hate you."

And suddenly, I really don't mind boundaries at all anymore.