“Dah-Dah, Dah-Dah!” Skya giggled.
“It’s past noon?” Seri grimaced, gaze flicking to the kitchen island. The man started shuffling that way. Skya mimicked his roar when Seri didn’t respond. The Nymph snorted, lip twisting up into a smile. “Well, excuse me, dewdrop. How dare I not say hi?”
Skya wiggled, letting him know she wanted down, so he let her loose on the oddly still tired Nymph. She waddled her way over, disappearing behind the island. Moments later, Seri was bending down and picking her up with one arm, settling her on his hip. She clung to him as much as Seri appeared to be clinging to his cup of coffee.
“Almost 1pm, in fact.” He eyed the man. “What exactly were you doing last night?”
The Nymph had gone to bed the same time he had. At least, he’d thought Seri had. Severo was the one who woke up with Skya, feeding and changing her. They generally played as quietly as possible until Seri woke up. But even then, usually the man was up by ten.
Coffee cup in hand, Seri took a sip before saying, “Well…I may have…” The Nymph wrinkled his nose before admitting, “I was looking at articles.”
“Seri…” Severo groaned.
“I know. I know. I should ignore them. And I did! I hadn’t looked at them since the day before our press conference last week…but then…last night…I peeked.”
“And kept peeking, by the sounds of it,” Severo deadpanned.
Seri took another sip. “Well, I didn’t mean to, but somehow, I ended up just clicking on more and more things.”
“Well, you didn’t find anything too bad, did you? Cassia assured me she’d be making sure anything defamatory was removed quickly.”
“Nothing super bad for sure. There were a lot more articles lashing out at other reporters than ones at me. But then, it was mostly the comment sections I got lost in, not the articles.”
“The comments?” he asked with a brow raised.
A small smile slipped onto Seri’s face as he took another sip of coffee before answering. “There were a lot of nice supportive comments. Which was…” Seri’s nose wrinkled again before he somewhat awkwardly said, “…nice.”
Severo chuckled. “I’m glad that you got to read good things.”
Seri sighed. “But I do regret looking because I’m tired now. I didn’t see any photos from that…nightmare breakfast attempt, at least.”
“And you won’t. With the help of the restaurant owner, we got them removed. Threats of trespassing charges may have been implemented. They had no permission to be there.
“One of the wait staff recognized us, and exposed our location for money. As he had no right to let them in, the fact that they were let in by someone working there doesn’t negate that they weren’t permitted to be there in the first place.
“Frankly, everyone involved knew what they were doing wasn’t legal. Though I doubt the possible charges did much. The public backlash was worse, and companies were getting flooded with emails and calls. The staff member who let them in is being sued though regardless, as his actions have damaged the restaurant's reputation.”
Seri’s eyes widened. “I’m glad they were removed, but I feel bad for causing the owner so much trouble…”
“Which is why…we are going to go there to eat today. And take pictures with the owner that he can share.”
The Nymph blinked. “We are?”
“Yes…if you are willing to go, that is. I did warn him you may not be up for it yet, or ever. But he said whatever is comfortable for you.
“If yes, the place will be ours when we are ready, and for real this time. He promised that there will be security, and while he has always made staff sign an NDA due to thehigh-profile guests that often visit…he has since rewritten them, with more severe financial consequences if breached.”
They were ironclad now. The lawyer his parents had set the man up with had made sure of it. The owner, Bellamy Malone, had been slightly naïve in that area. Not ever really thinking those he hired would risk his restaurant for more money, as he paid everyone who worked there more than living wages. Which Bellamy could afford with the prices he charged, and the high-profile clients that came in. But the fact was, those workers needed to understand that the cost of getting that above living wage was—on top of doing their jobs—privacy for those eating there.
“Your parents will be here soon, won’t they?”
“Soon enough. They should finally be back on Earth in three days. The dinner is set up for November fifteenth, by the way. I figured it would be better to give them a week to settle in.” Severo let out a maniacal laugh as he thought about the last part.
Skya copied the laugh.
“Ah yes, learn, little one! That laugh will come in handy!” Severo said dramatically.
Seri rolled his eyes. “Stop teaching her weird things. So, where are they settling in that has you acting like this?”
