"Mom, let's have that in the house!" Hermes said excitedly.
"Ahahaha, of course, we can't have that big Manta-Ray. We live in an apartment. We don't have enough space," Gaius replied.
"Eh, why don't we have this kind of aquarium…." Hermes asked. "Dad cannot afford it?"
Gaius gulped when Hermes questioned his Dad's capability. They were well off. Of course, Clarke was the CEO of a company. Although the company wasn't a huge one, it would be enough for them to live comfortably. It would be enough for Artemis and Hermes to go to university without taking student debt and even buy each of the kids good houses in the future.
But of course, they weren't as rich as owning their own aquarium dome for their sole entertainment. Reed was on another level kind of rich, where he could buy anything without caring about money.
"A—Ah, well, Dad also works hard…." Gaius tried to persuade Hermes, but it seemed that Hermes was old enough to know the truth.
"So Dad is not rich enough…." Hermes grieved.
…
The situation became so awkward that Gaius was thinking hard about making things less depressing for them.
But before he could open his mouth, Reed suddenly approached them and patted Hermes' shoulder. He said, "Don't say it like that. Your Dad also works hard to give you food on the table. And you live in a good apartment, right?"
"Yeah…" Hermes nodded, he was still a bit sad, but he knew he couldn't do much about their situation. He looked at his Uncle and begged, "Uncle, can I visit this aquarium often? I really like it here…."
"Of course!" Reed chuckled happily. "You are my Nephew, you can play in this water park for free, visit this aquarium dome, and I will also bring my family to the theme park. Uncle Reed also has a yacht if you want to sail through the sea!"
"WOAAAHHH! Uncle Reed is amazing!" After being promised those amazing things by his Uncle Reed, Hermes got even more excited, and Gaius got even more nervous.
He knew that Hermes wasn't close to his Dad. In fact, none of the kids were close to Clarke because he wasn't around often. He was too busy working or fighting against the supervillains.
After making Hermes excited, Reed pinched Artemis' chubby cheeks and said, "And you, little princess, Uncle read has a theatre full of princesses. If you want, I can introduce you to them, and you can also be a princess just like them. How is it?"
"Un… Arte can be a princess?"
"Yes, you can!"
"Uwaa…" Artemis also got excited after Uncle Reed said that she could be a princess. She often talked with her Dad, but Dad never told her that she could be a princess.
She never wanted to be a superhero like her Mama or Daddy. She just wanted to be a princess that danced around.
Gaius got even more worried now. The kids' affection towards their 'Uncle Reed' has tripled since they first met, and soon, they might not even like their real Dad anymore.
"Okay, Artemis, Hermes, you can also do that with your Dad. We can have another trip as four again," Gaius said. "Dad wants to play baseball with you, Hermes. And Artemis, Dad often called you her beautiful baby, right?"
"Dad always said that he wants to play baseball with me, but he never fulfilled his promise…." Hermes grieved.
"Daddy… Daddy never called me a princess…." Artemis added.
[Oh, for fuck sake, Clarke! How can you be this careless to your children!?]
[Pupa: He seems to be a good hero and husband, but not a good father.]
[Hmph! Now my evaluation towards him has changed!]
Gaius got overwhelmed when he realized that the children's evaluation towards their Dad was so low. He really hard to talk about this with Clarke later. He needed to show his presence to the kids, so they would think that Clarke cared about them.
Reed saw how Gaius was overwhelmed by the kids' evaluation, and he wanted to add more to the fire, "Ah, since we're here, do you guys want to take a picture with Uncle?"
"Whenever you have a trip with your family, don't forget to take a picture together. It will be a good memory," Reed said. He fished out his phone and called one of his staff to come with a camera for them.
It took around 10 minutes for the staff to come and set up a camera. Gaius was grieving that Clarke's spot had been taken by Reed, but he really couldn't ruin the kids' happiness. Because they looked so happy to take a picture with Uncle Reed in his aquarium dome.
"Okay, stand still, three… two… one… say cheese!"
Blip!
**
"Goodbye, Uncle! Thank you for today!" Hermes waved his hands to Uncle Reed, who stood still, watching them leaving the water park. Hermes used his power to teleport them back to the apartment, including the Car.
It was already 6 P.M, and there was no sign of Clarke returning home anytime soon.
Thus, after cooking dinner for the kids, Gaius called Clarke alone, so the kids wouldn't hear them.
Then he realized that he couldn't contact Clarke at all, no matter how many times he called him.
Gaius clicked his tongue in annoyance. Was he that busy? He couldn't even pick up the call from his own Wife.
After few more phone calls, Gaius gave up. He knew Clarke was uncontactable until tomorrow, or maybe more than that.
But he already planned everything for movie day tomorrow, so he wouldn't miss the bonding times with his kids.
…
Gaius knew that calling Reed would only lead the kids to get even more estranged with their Dads, but they'd definitely get angry when Dad couldn't even attend their movie day tomorrow.
So there must be someone who could replace Clarke's position temporarily.
Thus he called Reed Ville, and the man picked up the call after just one beep.
"Hello, Gaius, why do you call?"
"Reed… I need you to replace Clarke…."
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