The next morning, the two people in bed were still sleeping in each other's arms, when suddenly, the phone Aiden had left on the nightstand rang.
Aiden was sleeping soundly. Groggy, he picked up the phone without looking and directly rejected the call.
But before he could even put the phone back, it rang again.
"Who the hell is so annoying this early in the morning." Aiden finally looked at the screen, and in an instant, all sleepiness and frustration vanished.
It was his mom calling.
"Who is it?" Roberta was also woken up by the ringtone. Seeing Aiden stunned holding his phone, she softly asked.
"My mom..." Aiden said bitterly.
"Ah! Then why don't you quickly pick it up?"
Hearing that it was Aiden's mother calling, Roberta said urgently.
Aiden nodded with difficulty and nervously answered the call.
As expected, the moment the call connected, his mother's angry voice almost pierced his eardrums.
[You little brat, you actually dared to reject my call? Are you itching for a beating?]
"I didn't, I just woke up and accidentally pressed the wrong button." Aiden didn't dare to say he hadn't even looked at who was calling.
[Really?] Of course his mother didn't believe him, but she didn't continue questioning. Instead, she said coldly, [Do you still remember what I told you last time?]
"Of course I remember. I've just been busy this whole time. When I have time, I'll come back and discuss it with you." Aiden knew exactly what his mom was referring to, and he could only bite the bullet and lie about being too busy.
[Busy?] His mom went silent for a moment, then sneered, [Yesterday afternoon, I called your workplace. I wanted to ask why you've been working for so long without taking any leave. But do you know what your supervisor said?]
[He said you had already taken leave yesterday morning, claiming you were going home for a blind date.]
His mother's tone grew colder, [Ha, I was so happy then, thinking my son had finally come to his senses. Your dad and I prepared a table full of delicious dishes, and even invited the girl for the blind date. We waited until after 10 PM, but you never showed up. In the end, the girl couldn't wait any longer and left. Your dad and I completely lost face.]
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'll definitely go back in a few days." Aiden apologized quickly, thinking to himself that he'd really have to go back soon and completely settle the issue.
[No need to wait a few days,] his mom replied.
"Huh? You're not asking me to go back right now, are you?" Aiden said with a bitter smile.
[No,] his mom said. [Your dad and I came over. We're almost downstairs at your building.]
"What?" Aiden raised his voice.
Roberta, who was eavesdropping nearby, also let out a shocked gasp.
[Wait a minute, son, why is there a woman's voice over there? And just now, didn't you say you just woke up… You little brat, I get it now. Just wait. I'm already downstairs.] His mom had sharp ears. Hearing Roberta's voice, she immediately sensed something was off. She hung up after finishing her sentence.
"We're done for. Roberta, get dressed quickly!" Aiden jumped out of bed, hastily threw on some clothes, and rushed out of the bedroom to find Fabiola and Manuela.
But just as he managed to wake the two sleepy girls, the doorbell rang.
All four people in the house froze on the spot. Finally, Roberta came to her senses and ran to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Roberta saw a middle-aged man and woman who shared a resemblance with Aiden standing outside. No need to guess, she immediately knew they must be Aiden's parents.
"Hello," Roberta slightly bowed after a moment of silence.
Seeing this obviously foreign woman, Aiden's parents also fell silent. On their way upstairs, they had been wondering what kind of woman their son had been sleeping with. They hadn't expected it to be a foreign woman.
"Hello." After all, Aiden's father had once been a cadre and later went into business, so he had enough life experience. He nodded at Roberta, took off his shoes, and entered.
Then he fell silent again, because he saw Manuela and Fabiola standing in the corner.
He couldn't help but glance back at Aiden's mom, who had suddenly become extremely enthusiastic while holding Roberta's hand. He signaled her with his eyes.
"What?" She noticed her husband's gaze and was a bit confused.
The father pointed to the corner and said, "Wait a minute, I'm afraid you've mistaken the person."
The mother looked in the direction he pointed, and instantly froze while still holding Roberta's hand.
Just then, Aiden walked over, rubbing his hands. "Umm, Dad, Mom, let me introduce you…"
———
"You little brat, without a word, you're actually hiding girls in your house."
In the living room, looking at his wife cooking in the kitchen with Roberta and the other two girls helping her, Aiden's father said emotionally.
"Hehe…" Aiden just scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
"So, tell me, where did you meet them? How long have you known each other?" His father asked, watching his silly son laugh.
"I met them while traveling, it's been a few months," Aiden replied half-truthfully.
"A few months, huh. That's quite a while." His father nodded, then looked toward Manuela and Fabiola. "Those two girls haven't come of age yet, right?"
"Not yet." Aiden replied honestly.
"Then you'd better be careful," his father frowned. "They're still young. You have to wait a few more years."
"Absolutely, absolutely." Aiden nodded repeatedly, then realized something, "Wait, are you saying… you're not against me being with all three of them at the same time…"
"I can see that all three of them really like you, and they don't seem to resent each other. Since that's the case, what could I possibly object to?" His father looked at him meaningfully.
"Dad, you're really open-minded." Aiden was quite surprised.
"Hahaha," his father laughed. "It's not about being open-minded. It's just that if you like them, we'll support you."
"But," he continued, "no matter how many women you date, one thing is crucial, you must not betray any of them. At the very least, treat them all fairly. Otherwise, there'll be trouble at home."
"Phew… Dad, you sound like you've got experience. Don't tell me..." Aiden looked at his father in horror.
"What nonsense? I've only ever had your mom." His dad smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I've just seen a lot of these things."
"No wonder," Aiden nodded in relief.
Even though he himself might be a bit of a playboy, he didn't want to see his own dad behaving like that. Guess that's a double standard.
———
His mother's cooking needed no praise. Even though she wasn't quite as good as her ex-soldier husband, in just a short while she made a breakfast that could be called quite rich.
But calling it "breakfast" was a stretch, there were four or five dishes and even a hotpot.
That wasn't strange. Aiden's hometown had a custom of drinking alcohol in the morning. Their breakfasts were often more extravagant than other places' lunches.
Aiden dutifully went downstairs to buy a bottle of alcohol for his father, and the two of them each poured a glass.
"Roberta, want to try some?" Aiden asked, holding up the bottle. He had never seen Roberta drink.
Of course, Roberta shook her head. It was her first time meeting Aiden's parents, she wanted to leave a good impression.
Since she didn't drink, the other two girls naturally didn't either. At the moment, they sat upright at the table, smiling and applying all the table manners they had learned before.
"No need to be so tense," Aiden's father smiled at them. "We'll be one family in the future."
"That's right," his mother also smiled, then helped them with food. "Come on, eat up."
That breakfast was truly satisfying. They didn't finish until nearly noon.
Aiden helped his slightly tipsy father to the sofa. His mother was about to clean up the table, but Roberta and Fabiola beat her to it, efficiently clearing the dishes.
"Not bad." his mother nodded with satisfaction. Over the years, she had arranged many blind dates for her son. Most of them were disappointing, either poor, demanding, or just plain useless. She'd finally found one she thought was decent, but before she could introduce her to her son, he'd already found even better ones.
"You really hit the jackpot," she said to Aiden.
"I've always been lucky," Aiden chuckled.
After the two maids finished cleaning up the kitchen, Aiden's mom pulled them aside for a chat, asking questions she hadn't gotten to during breakfast.
Though Aiden hadn't discussed things with them beforehand, they all tacitly avoided mentioning their past and only shared normal, everyday stories.
They kept chatting until past 3 PM, when Aiden's father sobered up.
Then, they turned down Aiden's invitation to stay for dinner, packed up, and prepared to head home.
But shortly after leaving, they came back and handed three red envelopes to Roberta and the other two girls, only then did they leave for real.
Watching Aiden's parents finally go, the girls let out long sighs of relief. They even felt this was more stressful than fighting B.O.W.s.
"Why did your uncle and aunt give us money?" Fabiola, the most lively among the three, opened her envelope and was surprised to find a stack of bills.
"Because they accept you now," Aiden said.
"Really?" Hearing that, all three girls were pleasantly surprised.
"Of course. It's kind of an unspoken tradition in our country," Aiden explained. But inwardly, he was starting to worry about his parents' wallets, if he kept bringing back more female characters in the future, their wallets might not survive.
In the days that followed, life became peaceful. Roberta and the others spent their days doing a bit of housework, watching TV together, or going shopping.
Though each day was plain and uneventful, to them, it was probably something they'd never even imagined before, especially considering their thrilling pasts.
As for Aiden, after his five-day vacation ended, he went back to work.
Although he really wanted to resign, he just couldn't bring himself to say it. His supervisor had been so kind, giving him leave. It'd be too ungrateful to quit right after.
But he also knew that this job couldn't last forever. After all, it was a government job. Eventually, issues would arise. So quitting was inevitable, it was just a matter of time.
So during this period, he started thinking about what to do next.
But working for others? That was never an option, there's no future in that.
As for starting a company, he had no technical skills. He couldn't exactly bring back some kind of virus tech from the bioweapon world and sell it, could he? If that got out of hand, the chaos would be enormous.
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