Julian’s lips curved into a soft smile, his tone steady but hopeful. "You promised, remember?" he added, his gaze fixed on her.
Ruby tilted her head slightly, studying him. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, but she decided to ignore it for now. "Yes, I remember," she said, her voice even. "I’ll teach you after breakfast."
Milo clapped his hands excitedly, his honey-brown eyes lighting up. "Yay! Wife is going to teach us! I can finally learn to read like a scholar!" he said, puffing out his chest dramatically.
Ruby chuckled softly, the corner of her lips lifting in amusement. "We’ll see how much of a scholar you become, Milo," she teased lightly before glancing back at Julian. His expression hadn’t changed, still calm and gentle.
She decided to focus on the task at hand, brushing aside her thoughts. If something’s wrong, he’ll tell me eventually, she reassured herself, digging into her breakfast.
After breakfast, Ruby gathered Julian, Karl, and Milo in the living room. They all sat cross-legged on the floor, forming a small circle. Ruby ripped three blank pages from an notebook she had and handed one to each of them.
She rummaged through her belongings and found two pens and one pencil, placing them in the center. "Pick whichever you like," she said.
Karl immediately reached for the pencil, his baby-blue eyes focused and thoughtful. Julian and Milo each picked a pen, their expressions showing curiosity and excitement.
Ruby sat down in the middle, taking one of the pens from Milo’s hand as he pouted slightly. "We’ll start with the basics—learning the alphabet," she explained. Holding the pen, she began writing on her own sheet of paper, forming the letters A, B, C... in smooth, curving strokes.
The three of them leaned closer, watching her hand move across the paper.
"Wife has great handwriting," Milo commented, his honey-brown eyes wide with admiration as he studied her neat, curves letters.
Ruby smiled softly. "This is just the basics. If you learn these, we’ll move on to more complex things. For now, write out all the alphabets first," she instructed, handing the pen back to Milo and pointing at their papers.
"Okay," they chorused, each of them starting to write.
Ruby stood up, brushing off her robe. "I’ll be back soon," she said, walking toward her room.
As she left, the three of them sat quietly, their heads bent over their papers. Milo hummed softly as he tried to copy Ruby’s handwriting, while Karl focused intensely. Julian, however, paused occasionally, glancing toward Ruby’s room as if lost in thought.
Ruby stepped into her room and went straight to the computer. The progress bar was still inching forward at an annoyingly slow pace. She frowned, her annoyance bubbling as she leaned over to inspect the screen.
"This computer is so slow," she muttered, narrowing her eyes. The process bar had barely moved since last night. In the past, she never had to worry about this—everything worked quickly.
Her hand brushed over the keyboard, feeling the warmth radiating from it. "It’s heating up too," she murmured, sighing deeply. She hoped the process would at least be finished by evening.
Shaking off her irritation, Ruby turned her attention to the fabric she had placed on a nearby table. She had practiced enough and decided it was time to make her first original piece of clothing. Taking the fabric into her hands, she felt a spark of determination.
With the fabric draped over her arm, Ruby walked back to the living room. Her husbands sitting cross-legged on the floor, copying letters from her earlier instructions.
Without a word, she set the fabric aside and walked behind them, quietly observing their progress.
She first leaned over Julian’s page. He had managed to write from A to G. His handwriting wasn’t particularly neat, but it was clear he was trying his best.
Her gaze shifted to Milo’s page. His paper only had two letters: A and B. His handwriting was clumsy, like a child learning to write for the first time. Milo hummed softly to himself, tapping his pen on the paper as if thinking hard.
Finally, Ruby moved to Karl, tilting her head as she watched him. His baby-blue eyes were focused, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. He was leaning in close to his paper, gripping the pencil tightly—but his hand was crooked, holding the pencil awkwardly.
Ruby’s brows furrowed as she noticed that Karl hadn’t even written A. His paper was blank except for a few shaky lines, evidence of him starting and stopping multiple times.
Ruby couldn’t control herself anymore and burst into laughter, the sight of her husbands trying so earnestly yet struggling with something as simple as writing was too adorable to ignore. It wasn’t malicious—it was just genuinely a cute scene.
Hearing her laughter, Karl froze, his baby-blue eyes widening as he raised his head to look at her. His expression quickly shifted from surprise to disbelief.
"Why are you laughing at me?" he asked, his voice filled with frustration. He looked at her angrily, his cheeks turning pink. "I don’t know how to write at all, but I’m trying, okay? Stupid wife... so stupid wife," he muttered, his voice rising slightly. He glared at her.
"I’m really not laughing at you," Ruby said, holding back another laugh as she sat down next to Karl. His glare hadn’t softened one bit, his baby-blue eyes still fixed on her with frustration.
"Let me show you how," she continued, gently taking the pencil from his hands and pulling the paper closer toward her.
Karl blinked, confused, but his frown didn’t fade.
"Hold my hands," she said, glancing at him.
Karl’s eyes widened in surprise, and he froze, staring at her as if she had just asked him to do something impossible. "What?" he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper, clearly taken aback.
"Just do it," Ruby said casually, ignoring his reaction. She placed the pencil in her hand and waited patiently.
—To be continued...🪄