Learn manners

You start waking up earlier to make breakfast in the morning. It's fine since you'd have to wake up for school anyways. Just a few extra minutes on Monday wasn't much. Surely you wouldn't have to do it on the weekends as well.

You pan fry a few eggs and some bacon that were lying in the fridge for who knows how long, and scrape them out onto a couple of plates.

Jeff comes downstairs wearing gray sweatpants and an old white t-shirt. He sniffs and sighs happily. "Smells great! Mind getting some coffee ready as well?" He sits down eagerly and starts to eat, pulling out his phone to read something.

"Sure, whatever..." you mumble. You get some coffee started and sit down across from him.

Jeff looks up from his phone and scans you up and down. Slowly, he says, "So, Aiken... I wanted to talk to you about some stuff before you head to school... Give you some time to take it in. Your mom trusted me to look after you, and I promised her I would. I intend to keep that promise, Aiken."

You nod, confused and a little annoyed. "Uh-huh... cool. Sounds good, Jeff."

"Well - that's actually something I wanted to talk to you about. You call me Jeff all the time, and I think that needs to change now that your mother and I are officially married."

"Uhm, what do you mean? It's your name, isn't it? I'm not calling you 'dad' or anything like that."

Jeff shakes his head and sighs. "Well, that's fair. You don't have to call me 'dad' just yet. I'd like to work up to that one day, but for now, I want you to address me with a little respect. Recognize me as someone in your life you can look to for help and guidance. So from now, I expect you to call me 'Sir' any time you address me, or if I tell you to do something or ask you a question. Understood?"

"What?" you ask, very confused now. You poke at your eggs with your fork. "Do I have to?"

Jeff nods. "Let's just try it for now, alright? Do it for your mom. I just want her to know that you're in good hands. My hands. And for me to feel good while she's gone, you might have to humor me a little, okay?"

You grimace and scrape a slice of bacon around in the yolk on your plate. "Okay..."

"Okay - or did you mean 'Yes, Sir'?"

"Uhm... yes, Sir..." you grumble.

"That's better. Now finish up breakfast and wash the dishes before school. I've gotta get to work."

"Alright."

Jeff sighs. "Wanna try that again, Aiken?"

You huff and correct yourself. "Yes, Sir."

This was going to take some getting used to. It was kind of awkward and embarrassing. You didn't even call your teachers 'Sir'. And to have to do it in your own home... Lame.