"Dad, have you seen my pen? I forgot where I left it yesterday."
"You mean this one?" I replied, walking out of the living room before casually tossing it toward her.
Francesca snapped her fingers, and the pen slowly floated into her hand.
"Thanks, Dad!"
She grinned and gave me a thumbs-up before rushing back to her room.
A moment later, Anathasia materialized beside me, then handed me a candy… for some reason.
"She takes after me, doesn't she?" she commented, leaning her arm against my shoulder as she shot me a glance.
"Her hair definitely reminds me of you," I said with a nod, folding my arms across my chest.
"And her personality."
"And she has your eyes," she added. "I feel like there's some sort of pattern here."
We both looked at each other and nodded.
"Lena got your eyes, but she also got my hair and a bit of my personality…" I murmured while she continued leaning against me.
"Mhm. And Francesca has my hair and a bit of personality too… while she has your amber eyes."
For a few moments, we just stood there with our arms folded across our chests until Lena walked in through the front door.
Her expression flattened.
"Mom. Dad…"
We turned to her in unison.
"Yes?"
"What are you guys doing…?"
"Flirting?" we replied in unison.
Lena shook her head before sighing as she took off her shoes.
"Right… but Fran has PTA tomorrow, so could the two of you go? I'm free to go too if—"
"We'll go," we both cut in.
Lena blinked once.
"Right…"
"Oh right," I spoke up as she walked past us. "How was your trip? Is there anything you need help with?"
Lena stopped for a moment before shaking her head, a small smile curving on her lips.
"Everything's fine, Dad."
She shifted her gaze to me, then to Anathasia who had pulled away slightly.
"But thanks for checking."
I nodded and watched as she headed upstairs to her room.
Then Anathasia spoke again.
"…They grow up fast, don't they?"
I glanced at her standing beside me while she stared at the stairs before grabbing a strand of my long hair.
"Yeah… they do," I replied, my eyes drifting toward the stairs before returning to her, now standing behind me and sniffing my hair.
"But what exactly are you doing?"
"Taking a whiff off my husband?"
I fell silent, my expression flattening.
"Girl… we use the same shampoo…"
She scoffed and twirled a strand of my hair around her finger.
"And? Humans have a—"
"Unique smell and stuff? Yes, I know," I cut in. "That's why you stole dozens of my shirts back then, isn't it?"
She flinched before hiding behind me completely, combing through my hair with her hand while muttering to herself.
"It's only a few pairs… and we're not going to age anyway. Might as well share since we have similar sizes…"
"It's more practical that way," she argued.
I sighed, turning around and reaching out to gently ruffle her hair as our eyes met. She leaned closer against my hand.
"That being said… how's everyone else doing?"
Anathasia paused before holding out her arm, her phone materializing in her hand.
"Last time I checked…" she said, opening her messages as we both looked at the screen. "Noah and Hinami had their first child. It's a girl."
"Hoh…"
"Her name's Sayaka Fuyukawa, apparently." She tilted the phone slightly so I could see her conversation with Hinami.
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, arms crossed.
"Oh right. Noah married into the Fuyukawa clan," I nodded. "I was about to ask why their daughter took the Fuyukawa name."
Anathasia switched apps and continued scrolling through her feed.
"Joseph's basically a multi-millionaire now as well… Robert quit being a police officer and went to law school."
She turned the phone toward me, showing a series I'd been following.
"Makes sense…" I replied. "Robert didn't look all that happy about his job back then."
"Also Step-father of Villains already has a second season? That was fast…"
Anathasia's expression shifted. She clicked her tongue and pulled the phone back, clenching her hand into a fist.
"How freaking unfair… it's been over a decade and my favorite series still hasn't updated anything…!"
Reaching out, I gently patted her shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up.
"It's alright… everyone has— mgffk?!"
"I don't wanna hear it," she cut me off immediately, shoving a random meat bun into my mouth.
—
The next day, we both went to Francesca's school for the PTA meeting, leaving her at home with her older sister.
"Say…" Anathasia started as we walked side by side. "It's been twenty years, hasn't it? Since that time."
I shot her a glance before looking ahead while other parents walked toward their children's classrooms.
"Since the day you suddenly appeared out of nowhere? Yeah."
She fell silent. When I looked back at her, she had a look that could only be described as disappointment.
"…Did you really have to say it like that?"
"I mean… I'm not wrong, am I?"
She looked away and scoffed as we approached Francesca's classroom.
Standing in front of the door was Sir Batumbakal, a colleague from when I worked here during my obligatory teaching service.
He noticed us and immediately turned our way with a smile.
"Sir Abe, it's been too long."
He reached out to shake my hand before turning to Anathasia and shaking hers as well.
"Mrs. Abe as well."
"I assume you're here for the Christmas party planning?"
"Well, pretty much… Fran hasn't caused you much trouble, right?" I replied with a smile.
He let out a small laugh and shook his head.
"Not at all. In fact, she's quite active in maintaining order that she's become the student council president."
He paused before meeting my eyes again, his expression softening.
"In a sense… your daughter vaguely reminds me of you, Sir Abe. Her quiet but capable personality mirrors you to an extent."
"Her outputs are also clear and precise, almost as if… she's a capable adult inside a young girl's body," he added, trailing off as he stared at the quad on our right.
Then he turned back to us.
"That being said, please don't worry. Your daughter is among the best in our school, nor is her conduct causing the school any inconvenience."
"I'm convinced she was raised well."
He stopped and stepped aside, ushering us inside before I could say anything.
"Please take your seats inside. The meeting should start any minute now."
"You're her class advisor, Sir Batumbakal…?" I asked as I was about to walk inside.
He simply nodded.
As Anathasia and I walked inside, the other parents were already seated. Though—
[…Why are they staring at us?] Anathasia's voice echoed in my head.
[Maybe… because we still look like—]
"Are you Francesca's siblings?" a random woman suddenly asked, approaching us with a purse in her hand. Thick lipstick, and her foundation looked… layered.
"No," Anathasia replied. "We're her parents."
The woman's eyes widened visibly, while the other parents seated nearby began giving us strange looks.
"So young…" the woman murmured. "This is why proper education and family planning should've been implemented—"
"Ma'am," I cut in calmly, holding back Anathasia with my other arm. I knew well that her going quiet… was beyond bad.
"If you could, please don't simply assume that we didn't know what we were doing when we had Francesca."
The woman's eyes narrowed, and I could feel the air around Anathasia starting to shift in a way I couldn't quite explain.
"I knew and understood what we were doing," I continued. "And we wanted Francesca as well."
"That doesn't mean you—"
"Ma'am," Anathasia spoke again, cutting the woman off this time. A smile curved on her face as she stared at her.
"We are both already thirty-seven years old. We both knew what we were doing."
"So if you could… please drop your prejudices just because we look like a young couple," she added, still wearing that wry smile.
"Because we're not."
The woman clicked her tongue in irritation before turning away when she realized she couldn't refute Anathasia's words.
After she left, Anathasia scoffed.
"What an idiot…"
"We're in a conservative country after all," I replied quietly, urging her toward her seat as we walked toward the back row.
She sighed, shaking her head.
"That doesn't justify their behavior. If anything, it makes it worse."
She paused as we took our seats.
Then—
"Should we just move to Aegea once Francesca graduates?"