Settling Down
Settling Down
Jay coaxed Leah and Em, promising they'd catch up soon before they left.
Lee and Helen went back inside followed by Jay who was holding Lou in his arms.
"Welcome home baby." Helen smiled and said. She was so happy she felt like crying but willed herself not to.
Jay smiled softly at her and took in his surroundings.
They were currently in the living room and it was gigantic, at least 20m2 he reckoned and fully paved with mahogany wood. There was a modern chimney and a huge LCD screen above it while the soft grey-beige couches looked very comfortable.
The room directly opened towards the kitchen which was only a little smaller and immaculately white except for the top of the isle and the kitchen worktop that were made of dark quartz.
They gave Jay a tour and the more he saw the more dumbfounded he was; 7 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, as well as a small apartment above the huge garage. It had probably cost a fortune and Jay found himself wondering whether they had bought it outright or if they had taken a loan.
"What happened to our old house?" he inquired.
"Nothing, we just needed a change of scenery. We started building this one in 2007 and sold the other a year and a half ago." Lee answered, leading the way.
"Jay!! Look, my room." Lou excitedly pointed.
When Jay sneaked a peek and was flabbergasted. It was so... pink. From the walls to the bed, even the wardrobe and the rug... All pink.
He felt the corner of his mouth twitch in amusement.
"I guess you really like pink, huh?"
Lou looked at him in wonder "How do you know?"
"... Just a guess." he said and Helen stifled a laugh at his face.
Soon, they were in front of Jay's room, and the latter couldn't help but whistle at the sight.
"You like it?" Helen softly smiled at him while Lee chuckled.
"I sure hope he does, considering the amount of time I spent mounting the darn bed."
Helen scowled at him and shook her index finger, "Language mister, language."
But Jay really liked the room, it was painted teal and beige while the rightmost wall was a white brick wall. There was a huge kingsize bed in the middle of the room with a huge chest at its foot, and you could see the entire garden through the large bay windows.
The floor was also made of mahogany wood and there was a huge comfy coffee-colored rug that encompassed half the entire room.
To the leftmost area was a small walk-in closet with a spacious bathroom next to it, while the rightmost side had a modern desk made of carbon fiber and the latest iMac computer.
In front of the bed there was a dresser with a 60" LCD screen suspended on top of it. He loved it, and he told them so.
Jay laughed, "I love it. Thank you for not making it pink."
Lee laughed out loud then came close to the desk.
"Wanna see something cool?" he asked and Jay puzzlingly nodded.
Lee pressed a button under the desk and grinned, "Open Sesame."
They heard a click sound and half of the white brick-wall... swung open.
Jay stood there with his mouth agape and they all laughed.
"That is so cool! Are you kidding me, there's a secret door in my room?"
"Huh huh, your dad made it himself." Helen smiled.
"You did?" Jay turned and asked the man.
"It's not that hard to do, but go on, take a look inside." he said, a hint of pride in his voice.
Jay went in and was flabbergasted. There was a huge couch facing a projector screen in the middle with a low table in front and speakers on each side. He noted there was a MacBook laying on the couch.
There was a pool table on the left and a flipper with an industrial locker next to it on the right side. Bright blue, red, white and green neons were hung all over the place as well as many clocks with different times and city names under them.
There were also glass shelves and each had a 1:10 model of either a car or a bike. He counted and there were exactly 14 of which 6 sported red bows.
He stood there, rooted before asking "This... is?" he knew, since his memory had come back but he still wanted to hear it.
"Each model represents a year. Those with the ribbons are those you didn't get to unwrap." Helen softly said and Jay stayed silent.
After a while, he turned around, "Thank you, I love them." he finally said.
Lee smiled and and patted his son's shoulder, "There are only 14 models but you're 15 now. Since it was sort of a milestone birthday, your mom and I made you something special back then but it's great since you'll be able to open it now."
Jay looked at his smiling family members in puzzlement when Lee walked toward the industrial locker and opened it, taking out a wrapped up gift. It was in a rectangular shape and fairly big.
He handed the package out to Jay with a smile and the latter put Lou down before he started unwrapping it. When he was done, he froze a little.
No way... No freaking way! He was sure the excitement was visible on his face, because Lee and Helen both chuckled.
"We weren't sure you would still like it what with your amnesia and all, but we're relieved now." Lee said.
"Are you kidding me?! I love it! Oh my god, you made this?" Jay said in disbelief.
He looked at the Jumanji board he was holding; it was an exact replica of the movie, down to the game pieces, the familiar game rules and warning, and it was even magnetized! He was sure that even if he was a 50 year old man he would be just as excited.
"We're the ones who made you those models, why wouldn't we be able to do this?" Lee let out.
"I know, I know, but this... The amount of detail is insane, how long did it take you?" Jay asked, still in awe at the masterpiece he was holding.
"Your dad spent a week just gathering the materials. It took us roughly a month to finish everything." Helen laughed at her son's enthusiasm. She knew it was his favorite movie since he'd been a kid.
Jay felt like he was in heaven, he loved this gift more than anything he'd ever received in both lives. Letting his fingers trace the corners of the weathered-looking wood board, he smiled in bliss.
"This is the best thing ever; wow. Thank you." he hugged both his parents, and said, meaning every words. Jumanji had also been his favorite childhood movie in his past life.
"I... I also helped daddy and mommy wrap it..." Lou said, feeling left out.
Jay laughingly put the board down and picked Lou back up before smooching her cheek.
"Thank you baby, I love you." he said, rubbing his nose against hers.
Lou giggled in glee and Jay almost hit his forehead, he had forgotten.
He gave Lou to his mom and said, "Wait here, I have something for you."
He scrambled down the stairs where his luggage was waiting, he opened one of his suitcases and took out a Calimero plush frog, a box of black Lindt chocolate and a bottle of Trésor in Love by Lancôme before rushing back up the stairs, the plush toy hidden behind his back.
When he was back; they had left the hidden room and were back in his bedroom.
Jay grinned and awkwardly handed the chocolate box with the perfume on top to his mom, his other hand still behind his back.
"I bought those when I still had amnesia so I wasn't sure if you'd like them, but now I know you will. The chocolates are for dad and the perfume is for you."
He then squatted down and spoke to Lou, "Do you still remember what I promised you before leaving?"
Lou cutely titled her head before she exclaimed, "Doll! You said you'd bring me a doll..."
Jay nodded and smiled, "Since you have a lot of dolls, I brought you this instead. Do you like it?" he said, bringing the plush out from his back.
Lou looked at it without blinking and reached out for it, furiously nodding, "It's so cute!" she looked at the black duck with half an eggshell on his head and she decided it would be her new favorite.
Helen chuckled, "So, you bought us gifts with our own money?"
Even if he was more thick-skinned, he wouldn't have been able to prevent himself from blushing. "Next time... next time I'll definitely be buying with my own money." he said and Helen laughed before kissing his cheek.
"I'm teasing you, thank you." she said and Lee nodded while chewing on the bitter chocolates.
They took Lou away and let him take back his luggage to his room before dinner was ready.
When he was done putting his stuff away, he did a set of 200 push-ups and sit-ups each. He then took another look at the hidden room before smiling meaningfully, he'd have to add a pull-up bar and a few other things.
"System, reduce healing rate to 2x. Trigger the 100x rate only in case of lethal injuries." Jay said.
[As the host wishes.]
He had thought about it, and he was worried that if he inadvertently got hurt and someone noticed his skin healing at a rate visible to the naked eye... Well, that wouldn't be good.
"Stats."
[Showing host's current status.]
Jay Aslan - Male - 15 Years Old
Level 3. Exp 350/500.
– Attributes –
Appearance: 17
Intelligence: 17
Charm: 17
Strength: 17
Agility: 17
Health: 20
– Skills –
[Prime]
Singing: 33/50
Acting: 20/50
Piano: 31/50
Guitar: 38/50
Krav Maga: 26/50
[Sub]
English, Korean, Swedish, French, Russian, Spanish: MAX.
Chinese (Mandarin): 2/5
Arabic: 3/5
German: 3/5
Attribute Points: 1
Skill Points: 5
Overall Evaluation: Host is awesome!
He had maxed out Spanish but the rest of his stats hadn't budged. He had asked the system and apparently the average of 10 was just that, an average. It meant there were humans with higher stats and his were only impressive because he was basically all-rounded and each additional attribute point after 15 was very hard to acquire the usual way.
Also 20 was a watershed for attribute points, so it was basically impossible to go beyond it without the extra points given by the missions.
He had also gotten the songwriting skills after writing his first song on the plane back, but the skill only had '???' next to it. When he had asked the system, the latter had said that certain things were not quantifiable.
"Put the attribute point in Intelligence and the 5 SP in acting."
[Intelligence now 18, Acting now 25.]
Jay was confident he could level up guitar, piano and singing by practicing, but acting was another matter. Also it was obvious that leveling up required more EXP as it went on, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
He took a quick shower and put on sweatpants and a t-shirt before joining his family for dinner.
While they were eating, Jay asked his dad, "By the way, is the hidden room soundproof?"
"Yeah it is actually, the home stereo is pretty loud so it was necessary." Lee answered while wiping his mouth. "Why?"
"No... just asking." Jay enigmatically smiled.