Clarke returned home quite early today. He safely arrived at 6 P.M, something that was almost impossible for Mr. Clarke Gaist, the busy CEO, to do.
His expression was grim, and it got even uglier when he realized that his kids didn’t even greet him. They were sitting on the couch, staring at him because they were stunned.
Even Hermes and Artemis didn’t expect their Dad to come home early these days. Artemis was the first one to jump from the couch and rushed towards her Daddy and hugged his leg.
"Daddy! You come home early!"
Clarke’s ugly expression finally eased after he saw his small daughter. He picked her up and carried her, "Yes, Princess, I want to spend time with you."
Clarke showered his little daughter with kisses, and Artemis giggled lightly before hugging Clarke’s neck, "Daddy! Please play princess dolls with me later!"
"Princess dolls?"
"Yes!"
Clarke thought the princess dolls were familiar until that promise he made to Artemis suddenly entered his brain, "Oh! Do you have that now? I’m sorry, princess. Daddy is too busy at work. Do you want to buy a complete set tomorrow?"
Artemis shook her head lightly, "It’s okay, Daddy. Uncle Reed has bought it for me! I have a complete set now!"
"Reed, huh..."
"Well, duh, that’s because your Daddy is too busy taking care of his office, so he doesn’t remember," Gaius said curtly. He just finished cooking dinner for the family.
"Mommy! I’m hungry!" Artemis said.
Gaius smiled at his daughter and snatched her from Clarke’s arm, "Let’s have dinner, shall we?"
Clarke was too stunned to react for a while. He saw how Gaius only looked at him coldly before snatching Artemis. As much as he was angry at Gaius for being cold, he also wanted to hug and kiss Gaius wholly because he also missed their sweet time together.
But he couldn’t do it because Gaius didn’t seem to be in the mood for a lovey-dovey time between them.
He clenched his fist silently and followed Gaius and Artemis before stopping by his son, Hermes.
Hermes only stared at his Dad silently, so Clarke just patted his head and asked, "How’s your day, champ?"
"... Dad, why are you here?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I thought you don’t want to come home anymore...."
"Who said that? Of course, I want to come home. Dad is just so busy in the office, okay?"
"Hm..."
Hermes just turned around and ignored his Dad. He followed his Mom and ate together at the dining table.
He sat at the dining table, on his usual spot, but there was no more warm greeting from Gaius or the kids, just him staring silently at Gaius, who was busy feeding Artemis.
He was angry at his wife, but he also knew that getting angry in front of the kids wasn’t good, so he tried to control his rage and stared silently with an empty plate in front of him.
...
...
Gaius sighed as his cold exterior finally melted. He got up and took the plate from Clarke’s table. He prepared the same food that he had been saving for Clarke, which was actually his habit.
He said that he would never leave anything for Clarke, not even the bones. But of course, that was a lie. He still cared a lot for Clarke, so he always cooked more portions just in case Clarke finally came home.
"Wife?"
"Silence, I did this because I don’t want to show a bad example for the kids," Gaius said.
Clarke stared at the warm beef curry for dinner. He ate happily as he savored the delicious taste of anything Gaius cooked. He felt warm at heart. Maybe it was more like a relief because Gaius didn’t completely abandon him.
He still didn’t understand his fault, but he didn’t want to be in this Cold War with his wife for too long, so he had planned to apologize for whatever he did tonight.
[Pupa: Hehe, in the end, you’re still taking care of him. I thought you said that you’ll completely ignore Clarke for the whole night and even tomorrow because you hate him.]
[Silence, Pupa! That’s just because I can’t see someone getting hungry in my house! The kids, especially Hermes, will resent their Dad even more if I fight with him at the dining table.]
[Pupa: Sure~]
Clarke accompanied Artemis to play until she got sleepy. He also talked with Hermes a bit, but his son didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk with him. This was quite understandable because Clarke scolded him harshly when Hermes made quite a mess in the office before.
Clarke took a bath which was actually prepared by Gaius. Although his wife didn’t offer him a back rub anymore, at least he had already prepared the scented bath for relaxation. He was touched by Gaius’ attentiveness. Despite their fight, he still wanted to be a good wife for him.
He was thinking of why did they fight in the first place. He often left Gaius because of work, and Gaius never complained before.
"But at least, all is well now, right? Gaius has forgiven me, and everything returned normal."
**
Clarke dried himself up and then walked to the bed. He saw Gaius reading a book alone, and he didn’t even take a glance at Clarke like usual.
"Wife..." Clarke slowly approached Gaius, but the latter suddenly put down his book and got up from the bed.
"I’ll sleep with Artemis. Good night and have a good sleep."
Gaius walked to the door as he wanted to leave without even seeing his husband. But before he reached the door, he felt a pair of strong arms suddenly hug his waist from behind, then pulling him into a muscular chest.
Clarke hugged and embraced Gaius from behind. He tightened his arms around Gaius’ waist and hugged him deeper.
He buried his face on Gaius’ shoulder as he wanted to feel his wife once more, "I won’t allow you to leave, Wife. Not until we’ve cleared this fight between us. Truly, fighting with you only hurt my heart. I wonder if you feel the same...."