I can't say I do without you

"She regret choosing us"

As I rushed to the gate, I spotted Allerick and Blythe sitting next to the guard, waiting for someone to pick them up. I tried not to weep because I wanted to show them a smile, not my tears.

"Hey, you mischievous kids!" I yelled out while waving my hand in the air.

"ATE!" They dashed out the door and flung their arms around me.

"How come you're here?" Allerick leaps for pleasure. "I told you, Blythe, ate Gemma was coming home."

"OK, you win," Blythe replied, frowning. "It's nice you're here, ate. Allerick won't force me to come to you every day."

I messed up both of their hair. "How are things going?"

"We're fine," Allerick responded.

"It's a relief to know you're all okay," I said. "How did you do while I was gone? Aren't you causing Mama's head to hurt?"

"It's Blythe who gets on mama's nerves every time she asks about Ki..." Blythe abruptly shut Allerick's lips, preventing him from finishing whatever he was about to say.

"Can we go home? I'm sick of all the things we did."

"All right."

"We can go home after we dine out." Lincoln shows up. "Hi! I'm Lincoln Royu, Gemma's sole friend." He extended his hand to shake their hands.

"My name is Allerick Mendoza, and I am the youngest..." As Allerick introduced himself, Blythe was staring curiously at who the man in front of him was. Allerick pushes Blythe to introduce herself to Lincoln.

Blythe didn't say anything, so I just introduced her to Lincoln. "This is Blythe, my sister. She is not chatty; she's a shy person, unlike Allerick."

"Can we eat now?" Allerick gripped Lincoln's hand.

"Sure? Where would you want to eat?" Lincoln asked.

"Ah," Allerick's finger was placed on his right forehead as he thought.

"STRE3T FOOD!" Blythe suggested

"No," I said instantly. "You know how Mama is going to react if she finds out I let you eat fast food."

"She won't know unless you tell her. Also, stre3t food is Papa's favorite fast-food place, remember?"

Indeed, stre3t food is his favorite fast-food place. I also recall him pestering me about their special burger. Even if we dine there every day, he will not grow weary of it. Mama got so tired that she banned papa from going to stre3t food, but papa was obstinate, so he went there with us secretly.

"Please!!! We will not eat fast food again after today." Blythe pleaded.

"Pleeeeease!!!" I can't just ignore them when they are like this. I even laughed when Lincoln begged with me, too.

"Fine, but promise me you won't tell Mama about this."

"Promise!" Blythe and Allerick each make a vow.

"Welcome to Stre3t fast food."

"Blythe, find us a seat," I urged.

"Can we sit at papa's favorite table?"

I went looking for Dad's favorite table, but it was no longer available. Two ladies occupied it. "Let's just move to another table. We can sit outside since it's nicer than here, and the air is fresh."

"B-but I'd want to sit there," Allerick said, pointing to papa's favorite table.

I lowered myself a bit closer to him. "Allerick, we don't own this restaurant. It's impolite to kick them off the table. I'll make sure that the next time we come here, we'll sit at Papa's favorite table."