"Zaria and Zeus specially madesagnaing right up!" He cheered and hurried out of the room, where the couple exchanged nces.


    "Can he cook?" Asked Theodore, because his son was way too yful. He couldn''t be pegged as the type to enjoy a homemade meal or make an effort to cook it.


    "I would outright say no but this is Zeus we are talking about here. He is full of surprises." She reached for the bottle of wine. "Do you want some wine?""


    "I should be the one offering you some and I''ll take that as a yes." He picked up the stem sses and poured wine into their sses.


    "Since our kids prepared this specially for us, we should not disappoint them."


    "Truer words have never been said." She clinked her ss with his before they both downed their wine. ''


    He gazed at her and asked, "Your fans were curious to know what would be of us now that the truth is out. What do you think?"


    She scoffed. "That''s not the kind of question I expected you to ever ask. Don''t you know what I feel for you, Theo?" She looked into her empty ss. "There''s just so much involved but if it was my choice, you know better than anyone what I would do."


    "I''ll take that."


    …


    Once they had their romantic dinner thanks to Zaria and Zeus, they got to enjoy a special violin performance by Zaria. They were both pleasantly surprised.


    "I didn''t know you could y the violin so well, princess. When did you even learn?" Theodore gushed.


    "I picked it up in college." She bowed slightly after her performance.


    "You are so good at it, honey. Thank you for the performance." Lucy rubbed her head before settling next to Theodore, The two looked glued to each other, making her wonder whether they had made up.


    Her role as cupid was done, so she winked at them. "I''ll get out of your hair now." She skipped to her room,ughing when she imagined Theodore''s expression once he learned that his room now looked like a honeymoon suite. In her defense, it had been Zeus'' idea and he was also the one to execute it.


    Once she got to her room and locked the door, she made a video call to Desmond who was waiting for her.


    "Did you finish it?''" He asked as soon as the call connected.


    "They enjoyed the performance." She reported jovially.


    "Of course they would. You look beautiful." Heplimented her. She was wearing a white dress that made her look like a blooming flower. Her hair was straight today, and it fell down her back with not a single strand out of ce.


    "Thanks." She pulled out the sheer scarf around her neck and threw it aside before flopping onto her bed.


    "I want to tear that dress off of you." He expressed his naughty desire, staring at her chest area. While he had to admit that she looked way more innocent than she actually was today, he still found her seductive. Perhaps it was true that one saw what they wanted to see.


    She ced her phone on the stand on her bedside table so she didn''t have to end the call to change into her pajamas.


    "Are you going to perform a strip tease for me?" He grinned when he saw her lift her dress to take it off.


    "Actually, that''s a good idea." She winked. She had not thought of it before but now that he mentioned it, she angled the phone to face her closet and walked over to it, then pulled her dress off slowly while swaying her body ever so slightly. Once it was off, she reached behind her back to unhook her bra.


    "Zaria!" Desmond groaned on the phone, and that was her cue to take things even farther. She slipped her bra off and shimmied out of herce panties, throwing them behind.


    "Is that…" He sounded breathless. "Panties on my screen?" She heard him exim and turned to see that her aim had been a little too perfect. They hadnded on the phone screen with a section of it hovering over her phone screen, which meant that Desmond was having a spectacr view.


    "I''ll take it off once I''m done." She promised, her hands finding her boobs.


    "Okay but stop doing that." He pointed at her, She was driving him crazy.


    "Doing what?" She feigned ignorance with a chuckle. He cursed, and that was a cue to find her pajamas.


    She knew what she wanted to wear but bent to look for it in the lowermost drawers of her closet. After rummaging for a while, she rose back up to grab it from the top drawer. "There you are."


    She turned to check out on her boyfriend who was getting the short end of the stick. Lust clouded his eyes and he didn''t even try to hide it. Not that he needed to.


    She wore her pajamas with him watching and climbed into bed before grabbing her phone from the stand. .


    "I''m so tired, honey. I''ll go to sleep now, okay?" She yawned.


    "You will be the death of me." He groaned.


    "I''ll take that as apliment." She smiled innocently, as though she had not just shown her boyfriend everything he was missing before dressing up as though nothing happened. It was bound to be a long night for him.


    ___


    On Saturday, Desmond picked Zaria up at the agreed time like clockwork. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts today, because they had chosen to go to the amusement park with Rosaly. She had a colorful basket in her hands which he looked at curiously.


    "Snacks for ROsaly. If she would like some, of course." She peeked into the backseat and then at him with a slight frown. "Is she noting?"


    "I decided to pick you up first so the two of you would meet before going to the amusement park." He opened the car door for her and closed it once she was in.


    "Good idea." She fastened her seat belt, then hugged her basket nervously.


    "Are you nervous?" He ced a hand on hers.


    "Yes. What if we don''t like each other?''"


    "You don''t have to." He leaned over to kiss her. "You are not obligated to feel anything for her. Just be yourself."


    She nodded, but the thought was still worrisome. If she and Rosaly couldn''t stand each other''s presence for a heartbeat, would he have to pick sides? She hoped it wouldn''te to that.


    She mulled over it the entire car ride and apparently, she was overthinking things. Rosaly dashed out as soon as she heard her father''s car pull into the garage and she was out of the house by the time they made it to the door.


    "Why aren''t you wearing your shoes?" Desmond asked, only to be ignored.


    "Zaria!" Rosaly zed to her excitedly.


    Zaria was taken aback. "You know me?"


    She nodded, her eyes lighting up. "You are Laia''s friend. The one who has a puppy named Des, almost like my daddy''s name."


    Zaria''s lips curled upwards. Well, that was because said puppy was named after your daddy. She thought but dropped it.


    "I brought you snacks." She gave the basket to her. Rosaly cheerfully rummaged into it and tore open the packet of chips after expressing her thanks. At the side, Desmond was just about toment about how a puppy was more popr than him, but now it seemed that he couldn''t hold a candle to a packet of chips either.


    "Let''s get in the house." He suggested, and they followed him in.


    The living room was a hellish mess. It had happened before but he was still used to having his space in perfect order with not a single thing out of ce. It still felt odd seeing the aftermath of Rosaly''s games but it brought a smile to his face as one of the things that proved this to be true.


    He took Zaria''s hand to help her onto the couch without stepping on a barbie''s head.


    "Zaria, do you want to y house?" Rosaly looked up at her with pleading eyes.


    "Of course." She had not expected this, but she took her ce on the carpeted floor and sat, crossing her legs. Rosaly was in disbelief but she soon got over it.


    "Can you be the mommy? I want to y the doctor." She grabbed a toy stethoscope.


    "Sure." Zaria picked up a barbie.


    "What about me?" Desmond asked from the side.


    Rosaly thought about it with her head cocked. "Can daddy y the game too, Zaria?"


    "I don''t see why not. He can be the annoying neighbor."


    "Hey!" Heined, but the duo wasughing too hard to want to change his role. It was alright to be the neighbor, but why did he have to be annoying?


    "Alright then. I''ll annoy the crap out of you." He sat down too, earning a smack on his head from Zaria. "What was that for?"


    "Language." She warned.


    Time flew past as the trio yed. What had started as a game of house ended in beauty contests where Zaria would try different makeup looks on Desmond and have Rosaly judge the performance.


    "I knew this was a trap." muttered Desmond.


    When it was time to leave, Rosaly clung to Zaria''s hand. "Will you y house with me again? I don''t like ying by myself."


    "I can y with you again when I don''t have to be at work." She promised, though she wondered why Rosaly had to y by herself. Didn''t she have friends?


    "Do you have many friends?" She asked casually.


    Rosaly shook her head. "Only Laia. I want Jessy to be my friend too but mommy won''t let me."


    "But why not?" She probed, even though she had no clue who Jessy was.


    "Because her family is poor, unlike us."


    Zaria was speechless. When Rosaly dashed off to drink her juice before their departure, she looked for Desmond and found him in his room.


    "I think you are doing the wrong thing, letting Ang continue to raise Rosaly."