Eero's perspective
"Mother, what's taking Father so long?" There was a hint of irritation in Perseus' voice when he asked me that. I looked down at him and saw him remove the denim jacket that he placed above our luggage.
Apart from Miguel's late arrival to pick up Perseus and me, the hot weather seemed to have added to my son's bad mood.
Perseus seated himself on the bench again and crossed both of his arms against his chest which somehow made me smile.
I couldn't help but take a photo of him secretly looking like that.
"Mother!" His voice was hostile to me when he caught me snapping a photo of him.
"Give me your phone, Mother," he said in a calm voice and yet the irritation he was trying to control on it was evident to me. Before he could even get the phone from me, I immediately put it in my bag and gave him a sweet smile.
Perseus' handsome face crumpled even more. He scolded me for a few seconds before I saw him sigh and return to his seat on the bench.
"Where the hell is he?" I whispered to myself. I stretched my arm and reached for Perseus's hair to fix it a little and wipe his sweat too.
He turned to me when suddenly his eyes widened.
"Father!" Perseus chirped and rose to his feet quickly. I stood up to follow my son.
"What took you so long, Father? I'm hungry and it's hot here. Mother keeps on stealing shots of me and some people too. It's annoying," Perseus ranted while Miguel was carrying him in his arms.
As soon as our eyes met, he flashed an endearing smile and welcomed me for a hug. It lasted for a couple of seconds until we both heard Perseus clear his throat.
"Father, aren't you going to kiss, Mother? You haven't seen each other for a week since you first came here in Regulus," Perseus said.
Miguel leaned closer and kissed me on my cheeks.
"Just on the cheeks," Perseus followed up.
"Yes, you silly one. Come on, now. There's a restaurant near here. We can have our lunch there before we head to our house," he said to us.
"To your house? Not to Grandpa's? Mother, are we not staying in the realm? Why not?" Perseus bombed us with a lot of questions.
"Pup, I thought you were famished? Why don't we eat first and then talk about this later?" I said to lose his attention to the topic.Perseus agreed on it quickly.
"Mother?" Perseus called me with his soft voice and bright eyes. He pushed his plate slightly away from him and pouted."You don't like the food?" I asked. Perseus shook his head and pouted even more. His eyes spark with deceiving cuteness as I narrow my eyes on him for warning.
"Then what is it that you want?" Miguel suddenly intervened our the conversation.
"Do you want their giant ice cream?" Miguel asked. Perseus nodded his head.
"That's the best ice cream in all of Regulus. It's a must-try!" Miguel continued to persuade my pup.
"Miguel." Miguel acted like he didn't hear me because he went straight to calling the waiter to order the giant ice cream he was talking about.
"Mother, do you want some?" I opened my mouth quickly when Perseus gave me a spoonful of ice cream. I couldn't help but close my eyes as the coldness of it crept all over my head.
"Perseus!" He giggled at my warning voice.
"I love you, Mom!" He squealed and chuckled heartily as if he knew that he could ease my anger with those words.
"Perseus is already asleep in your room," Miguel said to me after he got out of the room.
I finished opening my laptop before I glanced at him and smiled weakly.
"Perseus probably got tired from the trip." Miguel nodded to me then he sat me down on the sofa. I felt him peek at my laptop.
I also looked at him but he quickly moved away. "Do you want coffee? Juice, tea or me?" The corner of my lip twitched at the last thing he offered. I know it's just a joke.
He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I'm just kidding, you're so serious. What is that?" Miguel grabbed my laptop again and this time I completely showed it to him.
"The spaces that I was eyeing for the gallery," I uttered and flashed a smile.
His eyes landed on a particular picture of a place that I showed him. His lips curved in a mixture of excitement and pleasure.
"That one, it's close to SMA and I've seen that place." I glanced at my laptop and then turned my full attention to him again.
"Really?"
"Yup. It's rustic and almost shares the same design and layout as the Heart Gallery in Blackthorn. If you choose that space, you don't need to renovate much. There are only a few details that you need to add." Miguel stopped talking and stared excitedly at me.
"If you want, we can go there now. It's only about half an hour away from here," he said.
"Okay, I will check the place, but can you stay here to be with Perseus?" Miguel paused for a moment.
He was hesitant at first, but in the end, he was left with no choice but to agree.
"Excuse me, do you know a milk tea shop near here? Is it okay if we go there first?" I asked in a monotone.
Miguel's driver looked at me from the rearview mirror and nodded with a smile. After five minutes or more, he pulled over in front of a familiar milk tea shop.
"Just a moment," I said before I finally got out of the SUV. I could no longer hide my excitement as I pushed open the shop's glass door.
As soon as I walked inside my excited smile melted like an ice cream left in the middle of the street on a hot sunny day.
I barely moved from where I was standing even though my brain automatically told me to leave.
"C-Claudius?" His expression hardened. It felt like the world had stopped spinning until someone called him.
"Let's go, Babe?" My eyes quickly landed on the woman who owned the familiar voice. She snakes her arms around his waist as if she'd be lost if she didn't do it.
It's Adeline, Claudius' fated mate. It seemed they were back together.