"He loves us, don't say that, okay?"
"HE DOESN'T! IF HE DOES, AT LEAST HE WILL COME AND SEE MY SISTER! I HATE HIM! I HATE DAD"
"HERMES!" Gaius finally raised his voice after Hermes stated that he hated his dad. But a moment later, Gaius regretted his action immediately.
He wasn't someone who raised his voice to scold his child. That was the reason why Hermes became an obedient kid before.
Hermes was astonished and then lowered his head again. He clenched his fist as he tried to contain his anger, but he dared not say anything to his Mom, because he loved his Mom so much.
"O—Okay, my son, relax. You should take a bath first and then have dinner with Mom, okay?" Gaius tried to pacify his son, but Hermes didn't want any of that now.
All he wanted was to know why Dad never fulfilled his promise. Did he even love the family?
Hermes thought Dad just didn't like him, but as long as he lord Mom and his little sister, then it was alright.
But when Artemis was sick, he didn't even want to spare a minute to check on her…
Hermes ignored his Mom's persuasion and walked to his room. He turned her head towards his Mom when he was holding the door handle, "Mom, when was the last time Dad ever took us somewhere?"
…
"You don't remember, right? He's always busy, busy, and busy with his work and being a superhero."
"Maybe he doesn't like you too, Mom. He never likes us…."
SLAM!
Hermes opened the door and slammed it.
Gaius was stunned. He knew that sooner or later, Hermes would start asking questions about her Dad's been so busy with everything.
But he didn't expect it to be this difficult.
And Hermes made a solid point, Clarke never really spent his life with them, with his family.
He was usually busy with his office work and his superhero job. He was hailed as the Superbman, the leader of League of Heroes, and many people loved him.
But he never told anyone about his family or that he was married with two children to the media.
Both Gaius and Clarke agreed to do it at first. Thinking it would be good to protect the family from the villains' attack.
But there was grief and worry in Gaius' heart, and Hermes pointed it out immediately.
He also questioned whether Clarke really loved them or not.
Gaius was spacing out for a long time until he recovered and said to himself, "Alright, I can't stay like this. Clarke is busy giving us a good life. I must be strong."
Gaius knew that his son wouldn't come out, so he just brought the food with a tray and knocked on Hermes' door.
"Son, Mom brought dinner for you. Open the door."
Hermes opened the door slowly, he stared at his Mom, but he said nothing.
Gaius smiled and walked inside his son's room. He put the food on the table and said, "Hermes, don't be too harsh to your Dad. Did your Dad ever hit you?"
"No…"
"Did he ever stop you from buying a toy you like?"
"No…"
"Did you ever get hungry because there's no food for us?"
"No…"
"Then you should be grateful for that, okay?" Gaius said.
Hermes was still grieving. He wanted to say that he also wanted to play with Dad like his friends. He also wanted Dad to come to the parents' day in his school, not only Mom.
But he knew his Mom was also sad, so he cared about his Mom's wellbeing and just nodded obediently.
"Good, now have your dinner and don't forget to take a bath. Or you can take a bath first if you want."
Gaius turned around and walked away, but Hermes suddenly called him, "Mom…."
"Yes?"
"I love you, Mom. I love my little sister too…."
[Awww, Hermes is such a good boy! He truly cares about his family. It's that big bad Clarke who never even asked for their wellbeing!]
[Pupa: But he still provides for you.]
[Yeah, just like my Dad in my world. He always provides for the family, but he is never there with us. And I never like him, even to this day.]
Gaius turned around and reached to Hermes, hugging him tight, "Mom also loves you. We're in this together, okay?"
"Yes, Mom…"
**
Clarke left the room and checked on Artemis before he finally settled on the living room couch again. He tried calling Clarke a few times to no avail. Clarke literally turned off his phone or silenced it.
"Maybe he blocked you," Pupa suddenly popped out.
"Oh, nonsense, Pupa. He's a good husband, just very busy. I'll ask what happened with him and Hermes to clear up the misunderstanding."
…
Two hours… three hours… four hours…
Gaius checked the clock, and it was already 1 A.M.
Yet, there was no sign that Clarke would be coming home soon.
As he was about to give up, the front door suddenly unlocked, and Clarke came with a grim expression. He looked exhausted that he didn't even smile when he saw Gaius.
Gaius hurriedly tended to his husband. He picked the briefcase and massaged Clarke's shoulder, "Husband, you look tired."
"I am," Clarke replied curtly.
"Do you want to have dinner first or a bath?"
"No, I'll just take a shower and then sleep. I'm too exhausted," Clarke replied, still with an uninterested face.
Gaius was hurt by Clarke's nonchalant reaction, but he still tried to help him.
"Do you want me to do anything? Maybe tea to relax?"
"You don't need to."
"Clarke…" Gaius felt it wasn't the right time to ask what happened, but he couldn't hold himself. "About Hermes, what did you say to him? He said he went to the office today."
Clarke, who was unresponsive the whole time, finally showed his fierce gaze and yelled, "That kid! He brazenly stormed into my office and made a mess, and then still demanded me to come home early! He doesn't even say sorry after calling me heartless, so I scold and kick him out of the office!"
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