***
"Dad! We were just having fun. It's not like we killed someone."
Pete frustratingly massaged his temples as he searched his mind for something to counterattack his son's reasoning. His son's poor behavior at school was the first piece of news he heard when he arrived home from work. It seems that he and his pals thought skipping class to go out and lie to enter a nearby pub was a smart idea.
"For crying out loud, you're almost leaving junior high. Had I known you'd be like this, I would have had you homeschooled!"
"I already talked to the school principal. Thankfully, she settled with sending him to community service for a month. Don't worry, he would still be able to go up that stage. We still have five months," Celeste pacified him as she helped him remove his suit.
"Just go to your room, Peter. And don't you even dare to sneak out or I'm cutting off your allowance."
Peter didn't say anything but smiled apologetically.
"I think you're being too hard on him. Maybe you should let him loose once in a while. Let him hang out with his friends on weekends so he doesn't sneak out during class hours."
"And risk having him being a delinquent? If I let him be with whoever he wants, he would just be influenced to do things that are not morally correct."
"May I remind you that you were once just like him, Pete."
"Yes, and I don't want him to make the same mistakes that I did, Celeste. I fought so hard to get him out of that orphanage. I don't want to see his future go to waste."
"Letting him live his life while he's young is not putting his future to waste, Pete."
"Fine. But you can't just stop me from being worried every time he's out of the house."
"You need to stop doing that. Why don't we push through with that trip he's been wanting to have? And besides, you're so drowned with work you barely relax."
"You know I can't relax, Lest. There's so much to do at the company."
"You have employees, Pete."
"But I just can't let them do everything. "
"You're not letting them do everything. You're just gonna take a quick breather. Do you really have a lot to do at the company or you're just doing this to forget him?"
"Let's not go that topic, Lest."
"Ever since he died, you've been so uptight. I haven't seen you smile since that night, Pete."
"Celeste," he said in a warning tone as he didn't wanna prolong the topic any longer.
"You have to move on, Pete. It's been years. He's not coming back."
"Okay, fine. We're going on that trip. Okay? Just, just stop talking about him."
"Good. I'm arranging everything. All you have to do is go on that trip," Celeste grinned successfully.
***
"Shiiiiiiittt!!" Peter squealed as they stepped foot into the hotel room.
"Language, Peter," Pete warned as he placed their luggage on the side of the room. Celeste arranged a 3-day trip for the three of them and Pete finally felt happy agreeing to the plan as he witnessed the wide smile on Peter's face.
"I'm sorry, Dad and thank you! I've been wanting to have this vacation since forever!"
"Yeah, and you better enjoy this since you've got some community service to do starting next weekend."
"Pffft. You're such a buzzkill, Dad. Don't worry, I promise not to do anything that would put me into that situation again. Now, can I go swimming in the pool??" Peter bobbed up and down in excitement.
"Sure. But be careful."
"Yes, I will!" Peter immediately left the room even before Pete could tell him to put on sunblock.
"This is the happiest he's ever been since you got him from the orphanage."
"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing getting him. I don't think I'm able to take care of him properly."
"You are. You just need your own time to heal. And I'm here to help you with that."
"Thank you for everything, Celeste. I don't even know what I'll do without you."
"This ain't for free, Mister. Now go change. We only have three days to enjoy this island."
***
"I can barely see you, Peter. You've stayed so much under the sun," Pete chuckled as he tousled Pete's hair.
"I've made some friends, Dad! We went swimming together and even made sand castles. Can we invite them over for dinner? Please?" Pete hopefully clasped his hands together and smiled.
"Sure. You go tell them we're gonna have dinner together with them."
"Thanks, Dad! You're the best!" Pete jumped excitedly before sprinting towards the three boys who were playing by the pool.
"I'll call the hotel's restaurant so we could have dinner reservation. Do you want to order anything a specific?"
"Just tell them to have a birthday cake ready."
Celeste paused for a while, waiting for Pete to retract his words, but the distant look in his eyes confirmed how sure he was with what he just said.
***
"It's still three months until my birthday? What's the cake for?" Pete confusingly asked as they settled in their reserved table.
"It's nice meeting you, Sir. I'm Alex by the way and this is Martin and this one is Chase," the boy with a curly taper fade haircut introduced everyone.
"It's nice meeting you as well. I'm glad Pete is able to make friends while we're here. Anyway, call me Pete. Let's eat?"
The dinner started out quietly but later on was filled with hilarious conversations as the boys exchanged experiences from their schools. Pete was happy to see Peter laughing with boys his age as he didn't even once bring his friends to their house, or was he just too preoccupied with work that he missed the times when Peter brought his friends over?
"Okay, now that the main course is done, are we gonna cut the cake now?" Peter excitedly eyed the cake at the center of the table. Only the letters HBD were written on the light blue cake the staff prepared for them.
"Go ahead," Pete softly said as he imagined someone blowing the imaginary candles on top of the cake.
"Anyway, whose birthday is it? Celeste's was last month while yours is still in five months."
"Just eat the cake, Peter."
"To whosever birthday it is today, happy birthday!" Peter gleaned before dumping a large chunk of cake into his mouth.
Happy birthday, Pete thought to himself.
***
Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!! I hope you're all doing great!
Yes, it's a very short update and I apologize. But I may be able to post updates from time to time now since I'm currently on rest from my master's in preparation for my comprehensive exams in January so I can proceed with thesis writing
. And yes, there's a time jump so just expect flashbacks in the coming chapters.
See you! xoxo 💙
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Babysitting the Campus Jerk
FanfictionJameson Kao is broke. So when he is offered with a babysitting job, he immediately said yes. But the baby he is expecting to take care of isn't walking on all fours nor is it playing with toys. It's smoking cigarettes and playing with girls instead...
