Chapter 624 - 14.20
Gaius shook his head immediately, "Please don\'t. Just… please don\'t report this to Clarke, I beg you! He will assume the wrong thing!"
Reed only had a grin on his face, "Ah, does that mean you have a different idea of what we did just now?"
Gaius froze on the spot. He felt like he had been cornered by Reed to admit that he was feeling a forbidden pleasure while Reed was just trying to take care of him.
"N—No, I just don\'t want any conflict," Gaius denied. "Clarke has been working hard for our family, and I don\'t want him to hear something that might create a big misunderstanding. Please don\'t say anything."
"Mm~ Sure then, of course, I don\'t want to ruin the beautiful marriage between my long-lost brother and his much-beloved wife," Reed said. "I just want a family after all."
Gaius was relieved that Reed finally agreed with his request. He got up from the hot tub, feeling that staying in that hot tub for too long might make everything worse.
He hurriedly went to Artemis\' princess castle. He saw her playing the slides, accompanied by two treats he created and female staff.
Gaius checked at the big clock in the middle of the water park. It was already time for lunch.
Thus, Gaius picked Artemis up and took a shower with her. Gaius changed his shirt to a simple black shirt with short pants and Artemis\' with a pink, knee-length dress. He had already changed his shirt because he had no intention of swimming again. He just wanted to watch over his kids… and himself from the eye of the predator.
Gaius had cooked some protein for them with chicken breast and veggies. He spoon-fed Artemis, who obediently mushed the chicken breast, and then she asked, "How about big brother, Mom?"
"Your Big brother is still enjoying his time in the slides. Just let him be. He\'ll eat later," Gaius replied with a smile. "How about you? Do you still want to play?"
Artemis stared at her Mommy and shook her head, "Arte is tired. That big sister helps Arte play, but Arte just wants to sleep now, Mommy…."
"Well, you have to eat first before you have a rest, okay?"
"Okay!"
Gaius continued spoon-feeding Artemis, and then he saw Hermes continued trying one slide after another. He was now accompanied by Reed, who also enjoyed the slide. They looked like a pair of father and son who were having fun on the weekend.
…
That spot should be reserved for Clarke, but he was too busy with work. It wasn\'t wrong, but Gaius couldn\'t help to get upset instead.
[Seriously though, I\'m still upset that he chose work over his children.]
[Pupa: It\'s a very logical decision. You can always have fun with the kids tomorrow, but you might not be able to save the company tomorrow.]
[I know… I just can\'t help being upset because of my memory with my parents, I guess.]
[Our family dynamic is quite similar to this… in fact, it\'s a lot similar to this…]
[My Dad is always busy, and my Mom…]
Artemis sensed that his Mom was depressed so suddenly. She held her Mom\'s wrist and asked, "Mommy, why are you sad?\'
"Ah—Oh, Mommy is not sad, dear," Gaius smiled and continued feeding Artemis. "I\'m just wondering about your Dad…."
"Dad said that he will come, right?"
Gaius\' smile faltered. He knew that Clarke would be too late for that. He doubted that Clarke would even come at this point.
But he didn\'t want to ruin Artemis\' happiness, so he nodded and said, "Yeah, let\'s just hope so."
**
After two more hours, Hermes and Reed were finally done playing with so many slides. They went to Gaius, sitting on a resting chair, scrolling his phone while watching over Artemis, who was sleeping beside him. They were shaded under a big parasol, so Artemis could have her afternoon nap comfortably.
"Mom! Why are you here? Do you want to play slide instead? You should try it. It\'s really fun!" Hermes said excitedly. He didn\'t seem tired at all, which was understandable since he was the son of Superbman.
"No, I\'m also tired. I still have to watch over your sister," Gaius refused. "Do you want to continue playing after lunch?"
"Un…" Hermes looked at his Uncle Reed and then shook his head. "I\'ve tried all the attractions and slides. Uncle Reed said this water park also has a huge underwater aquarium attraction, so we can go together with him. He said there are manta rays, sharks, and even dolphins!"
Gaius glanced at Reed, who only threw a grin on him. Somehow, he felt that Reed fit better as Dad right now, just right now, though, because Clarke was obviously a very responsible Husband and Father.
"Take a shower first, and then change your clothes. I\'ve prepared your lunch," Gaius ordered his son. He glanced at Reed and added, "You too, Reed. I\'ve prepared lunch for you."
"Oh, really? Me too?"
"Well, it\'s actually for Clarke. But since he\'s absent right now, you can have his lunch instead," Gaius answered truthfully.
"Great!"
Reed and Hermes took a shower before changing their clothes and returned to Gaius.
Gaius had prepared their lunch. Since Hermes and Clarke were big eaters, their portion was triple the portion of Gaius and Artemis.
Hermes and Reed ate their fill happily while Gaius watched them while checking on the sleeping Artemis. If someone saw them like this, they would really think this was a good family having their vacation together. Little did they know that the father was absent here, and his brother replaced his role.
Gaius sighed, full of pity. He really wished that Clarke was here instead of Reed. Maybe it was just him not understanding his Husband\'s shortcoming, but he still had the right to be upset, right?
He was staring in a daze until his phone rang, a call was in.
Gaius checked the call, and it was the man of his love who called,
-Dear Husband is Calling.-