"Then Arte won't talk to Daddy. Arte doesn't want to annoy Daddy too…."
Gaius' blood ran cold, knowing that Artemis also had a bad opinion about her Daddy. Maybe she didn't realize it yet, but Gaius feared that bad opinion would turn into resentnt or, even worse, hate towards her Dad.
"You should talk to Daddy, okay? Daddy will never get angry at you because he loves you," Gaius said to Artemis.
"Un… but Daddy got angry with Mommy? So he doesn't love Mommy?"
…
[Goddamn you child, stop pitting against my own words!]
[How could a kid co up with that kind of answer?! Pupa is she a transmigrator as well!?]
[Pupa: No, she's just smarter than you.]
"D—Daddy loves Mommy too, but he's just angry at that mont. D—Don't think about it too much. It's just a one-ti thing, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy…"
Ding-Dong!
Gaius heard the front doorbell rang, he thought it was the delivery service for their grocery, but when he opened the door, he saw Reed Ville with a bouquet of Gardenia.
"Good morning, brother-in-law," Reed greeted with a big smile on his face.
Gaius was stunned, but he reacted with a perfunctory smile and said, "W—Why are you here, Reed? You're not working today?"
"Eh? What's with the cold reception? I'm the owner, rember? I can just leave whenever I want," Reed said.
"You shouldn't co—"
"UNCLE REED!" Artemis saw her Uncle and jumped out of bed. She dashed to the door and hugged Reed's leg tightly. "UNCLE!"
"Ohhh, my beautiful princess!" Reed picked up Artemis with one hand and carried her on his arm. "You don't go to daycare today, Princess?"
"No, Uncle. Mommy said that I'm still recovering, so I should accompany him in the house!"
"That's great! Did you have fun with Mommy?"
"Yes! We play with princess dolls!" Artemis rested her head on Reed's shoulder like a spoiled little girl to her Daddy. "Uncle, play with us, okay?"
"Sure thing, Princess."
"But—" Gaius wanted to prevent Reed from entering, but because of Artemis' request, he was powerless and finally allowed Reed Ville to enter the house.
Even though it was his own brother-in-law, he felt uncomfortable allowing another man inside the house when Gaius had a fight with Clarke before.
Yet, Reed was playing happily with Artemis, as if there was no burden in his eyes.
Gaius had to admit that Reed was a better Dad than Clarke. Because Reed actually played with the kids to have fun, while Clarke played with the kids out of responsibility.
Gaius sighed and made orange juice for all of them. He sat on the floor with Reed and Artemis, who were playing houses.
"Now, Mommy is Mommy, and Uncle Reed is Daddy! Arte will be Princess Aurora!" Artemis said.
"Okay!" Reed agreed swiftly, while Gaius hesitated.
Yet, in the end, he just nodded weakly, and they started playing houses.
"Good evening, Wife. How was your day today?" Reed started acting like the father of the house, and Gaius was forced to play along.
"G—Good evening, Husband. It's all good… Uh… um… Princess Aurora wants to et her Daddy…." Gaius replied awkwardly.
"Daddy!" Artemis hugged Reed, and Reed hugged her back tightly. "Daddy, read storybook, okay?"
"Sure, Princess."
"Hehe, Daddy is the best in the whole world!" Artemis looked so happy with Reed, and Gaius got even more anxious.
He was afraid that the children would completely resent Clarke and turn their back against him. Yet, he knew that Clarke would be nonchalant about it, thinking it was just a 'house affair' that wouldn't matter much compared to his big business project.
[Honestly, I wouldn't even mind if the kids have Reed as their father. Because he's a better father compared to Clarke.]
[But I won't just cheat on Clarke without any reason. He's still a good husband and responsible dad nonetheless.]
They played house for a while until lunch, and Gaius cooked for them.
Hers also teleported in for lunch, and his gloomy face brightened imdiately once he saw Reed, "UNCLE REED!"
"Hey, Champ!" Reed patted Hers' head. "How's school?"
"It's fine. Uncle, are you here to accompany my Mom and little sister?"
"I am. I'm free of work, so I co here to play, haha!" Reed replied. Hers got excited and hugged Uncle Reed's waist.
"Uncle is the best!"
"Hers, go have your lunch," Gaius said sternly. He didn't want Hers to have the sa thought as Artemis. It'd be difficult for them to accept their real father if this continued.
Hers excitedly sat beside Reed and ate lunch together. They spent the ti until Hers had to return to school, and Artemis was sleepy enough to have her afternoon nap.
So it was just Gaius and Reed now, sitting on the couch, facing each other. Gaius was uncomfortable with Reed's presence, but the man didn't seem to even care about safe space.
Reed suddenly sat beside Gaius and said, "Brother-in-law, thank you for the food. I like it a lot."
"Y—You're welco. P—Please take another empty seat…."
"Huh? Why? I like sitting here with you," Reed said. He brazenly wrapped his hand on Gaius' slender waist, still with a grin on his face.
"H—Hands off, Reed!"
"Ssh, do you want to wake Artemis up?"
…
"Why are you so hostile anyway? We're family, right? I have never had a family in my life. My adoptive parents are rich, but they never give the warmth of a family."
"That's why when I saw Clarke's family, I can't help but to search for my happiness here."
"B—But, this is inappropriate," Gaius said. "Clarke would be angry…."
"Oh, I'm sure Clarke wouldn't mind. He even gave the food that you cooked for him today."
"Huh?" Gaius was dazed. He thought he heard it wrong. "What did you say just now?"
"Oh, I went to Clarke's office today. I asked whether he wanted to eat the lunch boxes you made, and he said he didn't want to eat them.. So he gave it to ."
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