"Mommy, it was you who told Daddy the story?" The three children were surprised to find out that the supposedly terrifying story originated from Derila. Then, they started laughing and praising their mother for it. "That's amazing, Mommy!"
"Yeah, Mommy! It's so awesome!"
Daemon tilted his head as he stared at the kids in disbelief. What on earth is going on? I instantly became the bad guy when I told them the story, but now that they found out that the story came from their mother, they're praising her for it?
Derila patted the children on their heads before pecking them on the cheek. "If you'd like, I can tell you guys more stories like that tonight. My brain is packed full of interesting stories."
Then, she turned to Randy, Josh, and Venus. "Of course, you three are more than welcome to join us."
"No, no, no. We're good. We're good."
With faces as pale as a sheet, Josh and Venus immediately shook their heads and hands in response.
Meanwhile, Randy was left utterly speechless by the bewildering turn of events.
"Mommy, we don't need any more stories. We just want to play the slide."
Actually, Alpha and her siblings just wanted to praise their mother, but they had no intention of listening to more horror stories. In their eyes, their mother was the best mother on earth.
It did not matter what their mother did or was doing; they simply wanted to show support.
"Okay, we'll have fun together later. But now, you have to finish your dinner first. Your Aunt Carla has excellent cooking skills. The food she makes is way better than that in Erihal, " promised Derila with a big smile as she filled the children's plates with dishes.
Looking at how happy Derila and the girls were, Daemon thought that they had not been so happy when they were with him, and he did not know what he should do to be able to spend quality time with them in such a pleasant ambiance. For some reason, that felt like something impossible for him.
"Have some of these, guys. Here's one for Randy, one for Josh, and one for Venus, " Carla served her children some grilled pork ribs.
"Thank you, Mommy. You should have some yourself."
Even though Randy and his siblings had grown older, they remained close to their parents.
"I didn't know what true happiness was back then, but I do now. Coming home to a loving wife and being surrounded by the children; that's true happiness. Children aren't that complicated, you know? You just have to spend more time with them, and naturally, they'll start to grow fond of you, " explained Zayn casually to Daemon.
In response, Daemon glared at the man. "Do you think you're qualified enough to tell me what to do? I'm sure you have other things to worry about than my personal life."
Zayn could not help but chuckle at Daemon's constant need to put on airs.
"Daemon—"
Carla tried to alleviate the awkwardness in the room, but before she could even start talking, Derila interrupted her and said to Daemon, "He's not wrong, you know? That's what a good father looks like. Now think about how you've been doing so far."
Frowning, Daemon was about to retort when he remembered how afraid the children were of him, so he swallowed his words.
Derila then continued, "Don't you think it'd do you good to take the advice? Like me, the girls love Chanaean cuisine, so you should hire chefs who specialize in that. On top of that, you should set up a playground in the backyard like what Carla and Zayn did. How else do you expect the girls to have fun at home?"
"Derila, I swear—"
"Hey, Derila! Why don't you try the soup?" Carla quickly interrupted Daemon because she knew the man was going to explode with anger.
"Thank you, Carla, " responded Derila with a warm smile.
Immediately, Daemon saw that as an opportunity to get back at his wife. "You should learn from Carla then. See how caring and understanding she is."
"Why you—"
"It takes time, really. Zayn and I used to fight a lot too because we were both too stubborn to back down. But we've been through a lot together ever since, and we've grown together as a couple. We learned to empathize with each other and deal with family issues like mature adults. That's how we get to how we are today as a family, " explained Carla, still trying to alleviate the uneasy situation.
"She's right. That's what life is about. We have to constantly learn and grow…"
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