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Chapter 66: [Bonus chapter] Stepfather?

Leaning sleepily against Aubrey\'s bedroom door was Serana who seemed to have just woken up.

"How\'re you feeling, little dude?" Mal asked gently.

The young girl smiled bitterly when she heard Mal\'s tone that was still full of concerned affection despite his annoying way of referring to her.

"I\'m fine Malachi, you don\'t need to worry about me."

Serana glanced at Anna and was briefly stunned by her great body and bold tattoos that were normally hidden by baggy black clothes.

"Umm... Did you say something about a house burning down?" Anna asked.

"Yup, mine."

"O-Oh.. I\'m sorry..."

Anna suddenly started looking back and forth between Malachi and Serana like she was putting pieces together.

"So... this must be the reason why we aren\'t going to the guild today."

"Pretty much." Mal nodded as he breezed past her to check on Serana.

"Come into the kitchen, I\'ll make you some food."

Suddenly, Serena\'s pink eyes that were showing pure exhaustion lit up as she followed behind Mal like a little duckling.

Anna moved slowly behind them, but she was inwardly cursing herself for her previous assumptions about Malachi\'s motives.

\'I can\'t believe I accused him of being such a sleezebag... I... should apologize, right?\'

Malachi\'s kitchen was located on a large island that was directly behind his living room.

On one side there was a six burner stove that looked like every chefs dream, and on the other there was a bar with six stools where individuals could sit and watch whatever cooking was taking place.

He invited the girls to either sit on the couch or at the bar as he resumed his task of making breakfast and was surprised when Serana sat right in front of him and gestured for Anna to sit next to her.

"You\'re Annalise, right? I\'m Serana."

"Yea... my friend\'s just call me Anna." She said shyly.

"Oh, Anna\'s much better!" Serana said with her usual friendly smile. "Your tattoos are so pretty, I had no idea you had any!"

"I guess I tend to keep them covered when I\'m in class and stuff, though I\'m not really sure why."

Anna was distracted by the sound of the stove sparking to life and found Malachi looking like he was going to prepare a full spread.

"You... cook?" Anna asked, not even bothering to hide her surprise.

When he offered Serana food, he thought he was just going to give her a pop tart or something.

"I do what I can." Mal said with a shrug.

"He\'s just being annoyingly humble again as usual." Serana said while rolling her eyes. "Mal\'s a great cook, and I fully intend to have him fatten me up a bit now that I\'m staying here!"

Again, Anna felt like she had been completely caught off guard when it came to Mal.

Weren\'t super rich guys supposed to have private chefs and sexy girls in maid outfits?

Why was he so different?

Mal paid the first part of Serana\'s words no mind as he continued to slice into the bread before dunking it into the egg mixture. "It\'s a good thing we\'re going to get you new clothes today then."

Serana\'s smile suddenly faded as she looked at Mal with a slightly painful expression.

"Mal... you know we can\'t let you-"

"Shut it."

"Mmmph!"

Malachi shoved a piece of dry bread into Serana\'s mouth to stop her from talking.

"I already know that I\'m going to have to go to battle with your mom over this, so I can\'t waste that energy on small fry like you."

Serana wanted to comment that she wasn\'t small fry but the bread that had been stuffed into her mouth was really pillowy and delicious.

*Nom nom* "Okay."

With a smile, he continued focusing on his task as he dropped a pad of butter into a heated skillet.

\'He\'s letting her mother stay here too? I knew that they were close from how they acted in class but I didn\'t know they were this close.\' Anna thought in amazement.

"Sorry Anna, I know I had you get up early for no reason and now I\'m dragging you to the mall with us."

The young girl sipped her coffee silently as she tried to avoid Mal\'s sincere gaze. "It\'s no big deal, I didn\'t really have anything else to do anyways..."

The smell of food began wafting into the air and filled the nostrils of both girls.

They stared in wonder at the slices of French toast on the griddle that had turned a mesmerizing golden brown and their mouths began to water.

"H-Hey... you\'ll et me have some too right?" Anna asked shyly.

"I\'m not cruel enough to invite you into my home without feeding you. You can have as much as you want."

In response, Anna\'s tattooed stomach let out a massive rumble and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"...You guys didn\'t hear that."

"I did."

"I have really good ears."

As Serana and Malachi chuckled at Anna\'s expense, the door to Malachi\'s bedroom opened and a soft and sleepy voice played in their ears.

"Honey? Where did you go?"

When Sei came into view, she was wearing the same outfit that she usually wore whenever she went to bed at Mal\'s house. An oversized t-shirt that went all the way to her thighs and black lace panties that were just out of sight.

As the mesmerizing mature beauty rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she realized that there was an additional person here whom she was unfamiliar with.

"Ah!"

Sei immediately covered her chest and ran back to the bedroom, in the hopes of making herself look more presentable.

When she left, Anna turned around to face Malachi with eyes as big as saucers. "Who... was that?"

"My girlfriend." He answered.

"My mommy." Serana confirmed.

Anna\'s head was on a constant swivel between the young man in front of her and the girl sitting next to her as she tried to process what she had just seen.

"He... with your mom... and you just..."

"Jeez, what\'s wrong with you? I thought the whole world knew about Mal\'s relationship with my mom by now."

"I-I don\'t get on social media much..." Anna admitted.

"Then... that would make you her stepfather?" She asked Malachi.

Immediately, Malachi and Serana\'s faces became ugly as they stared at Anna like she\'d just said something horrible.

"No... please don\'t use that term..."

"Even if you\'re our friend now, we\'re putting you out if you say something like that again."

Anna decided that maybe it was better if she just drank her coffee for the time being and did not say anything else.

\'I really... don\'t understand anything about these two at all...\'