CHAPTER 37: ARE YOU COURTING MY MOM?

"But they’re not bad people, right? They said they knew our father..."

What the—?...

I stared at Paris in disbelief.

"Didn’t I tell you your father is dead? Even if they did know him, that doesn’t mean you can just trust anyone who says so!"

Paris scratched the back of her head and looked away, avoiding my gaze.

"But... they said Daddy is still alive," she mumbled, barely above a whisper. "That’s why I let them in. I thought... maybe they wanted to tell you, in case you didn’t know yet."

I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my temples, trying to stay calm. Then I turned a sharp glare toward the two men.

"What the heck are you telling my daughter?" I snapped. "You don’t go around planting false hope in a child’s head!"

Dave and Alpheus both shifted uncomfortably, scratching their heads like they hadn’t expected me to blow up that quickly.

"Look, Sylvia," Dave began cautiously, "I get it—you’re still angry with Rom—"

Before he could finish, Alpheus clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide with panic. He let out a nervous laugh and turned stiffly toward me and Paris.

"H-haha... Don’t mind what your Uncle Dave just said, Paris," Alpheus stammered. "He didn’t mean it like that. What he meant was... your dad still feels alive to us—through our memories of him. That’s all. We just... knew him more closely than your mom did when he was still around, that’s why... H-haha..."

Dave elbowed Alpheus sharply, staring at him like he couldn’t believe what had just come out of his mouth.

But Alpheus returned the look with a meaningful one—as if they were having a silent argument with just their eyes. A few tense seconds passed before he slowly removed his hand from Dave’s mouth.

"So... my dad was your friend?" Paris asked, her voice soft and tinged with sadness. "What was he like... when he was still alive?"

Her question hung in the air. Everyone noticed the slight quiver in her voice.

Dave and Alpheus both glanced at me, probably unsure whether they should answer or not.

I could see the hesitation in their eyes, weighing whether it was even their place to say anything when they were the ones who started this whole mess.

I didn’t know whether to blame them or not—Paris wouldn’t even be asking about her father if it weren’t for their sudden arrival in our lives. But deep down, I couldn’t help but blame myself too. I was the one who had kept silent for so long.

I clenched my fists at my sides, feeling a tight pull in my chest.

Paris had never really asked about her father before. Neither had Egypt. But that didn’t mean they weren’t curious. I had just assumed... they were fine not knowing.

Paris is a quiet child—observant and thoughtful. Maybe she never asked because she could sense I didn’t want to talk about it. I never told them a single thing about their father since they were little. All they knew was that he was gone. Dead. That’s it.

I truly thought that would be enough—that it was better for them not to know.

But I was wrong.

As they grew older, the silence I built around them only deepened their curiosity. I thought they were content having me as their only parent. But maybe... deep down, they’ve been longing for someone else. A father.

Before anyone could say another word, the heavy air was broken by a small, sleepy voice.

"Good morning, Mommy... what’s for b-breakfast?" Egypt mumbled, stumbling into the room while scratching her belly.

Her hair was a wild mess, and her eyes were barely open.

I rushed to her side just in time, catching her before she bumped into a chair. I gently scooped her up and helped her into her seat at the dining table.

Even half-asleep, she was still my baby. And right now, I wasn’t sure how to protect her and Paris—from their curiosity about their father that might come next.

"Good morning too, Egypt. We’re glad to see you." Dave said warmly.

Egypt blinked a few times, squinting toward the two men. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"Am I dreaming? Is it really you, Mr. A-Alpheus? Mr. D-Dave?"

"Yes, it’s us.." Alpheus replied with a grin.

A second later, the sleep in her eyes vanished. She jumped down from her seat and squeezed herself onto the small couch beside them, forcing the three of them to sit shoulder-to-shoulder in the cramped space.

"Whoa! It is you!" she beamed. "What are you doing here so early in the morning? Are you courting my mom?"

The question hit the room like a bomb.

The three of us froze—our jaws practically dropped to the floor.

What the—!

I gasped, rushing over in a mild panic to scoop her back up.

"Egypt, what are you saying all of a sudden?" I said quickly, placing her back in her chair at the table.

She always had a way of blurting out the most unexpected things. And half the time, I had no idea where she learned them.

"Where did you hear something like that?" I asked, baffled.

Egypt blinked innocently up at me, confused by my reaction.

"B-but, Mommy..." she began softly. "Uncle Dave and Uncle Alpheus have been bringing us breakfast every morning. So I started wondering... are they trying to court you? My classmates said that if a man gives food to a single woman for free, it means he likes her!"

I slapped a hand to my forehead in disbelief.

Seriously?

Kids these days think way too fast for their age. When I was her age, I barely even knew what courting meant—let alone how to connect it to acts of kindness. Paris had always been the more mature one, but now Egypt was starting to catch up in the most unpredictable ways.

At this rate, I feared I’d be the one learning life lessons from them instead of the other way around.

"Pffttt—"

Dave and Alpheus both tried to hold in their laughter.

We all turned to look at them as they failed miserably—hands over their mouths, shoulders shaking.

"S-So that’s what you’ve been thinking all this time, Egypt?" Alpheus managed between chuckles. "Bwahaha... But what if I told you—it’s not just me and Dave who’ve been bringing food? Uncle Alfonso and Calyx have too. So does that mean all four of us are courting your mom?"

Egypt frowned.

"Why not?" she asked innocently. "You guys keep showing up early in the morning and bringing us food. So if you’re not courting Mom, then what do you call what you’re doing?"

"Pfft—hahaha!"

That did it—Alpheus and Dave couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. I shot them both a glare so sharp they stopped mid-chuckle, their grins slipping away.

"W-We’re not coming here to court your mom, Egypt," Dave said quickly, trying to recover. "We just... wanted to see you and Paris."

"To see us?" Egypt pointed to herself, brows furrowing. "But we’re just kids, Uncles! You can’t court us!—Hmph!"

I immediately placed a hand over her mouth before she could say anything else that might raise my blood pressure.

These two had already pushed me to my limit, and now Egypt was adding fuel to the fire with her overly curious little mouth.

"Don’t mind this little chatterbox," I muttered through clenched teeth. "She’s just picking up all sorts of nonsense from her classmates."

I turned a pointed glare at the two men, already feeling a headache coming on.

"Maybe it’s best if you leave now. The kids still need to get ready for school—and honestly, I need some peace and quiet before I lose my mind completely."