D&B5

53

The toy Roman brought wasn't large, but a target-shooting game. It featured a small mouse toy with its mouth open, a tongue inside, and a plastic gun.  Small, round foam pellets could be loaded into the plastic gun and fired into the mouse’s mouth, where they would fall into its belly.  If you hit the target, lights and sounds would activate. Day recognized it as a type of shooting practice.

"Heh heh, it's just a toy," Roman replied.  Honestly, Day wasn't upset that Roman gave this kind of toy to Ob. He understood Roman wanted to lay the groundwork for Ob in various aspects.

"Don't worry, Day. I've never thought about forcing Ob to do what I want. I want Ob to grow up according to his age. If there's something he doesn't want or doesn't want to do, I'll respect his decision," Roman said seriously.

"I know. To be honest, I also thought that when Ob grows up, I'd want to teach him self-defense and survival skills, but I didn't expect you, Mr Roman, to teach him earlier than I thought," Day said frankly. Roman smiled in response.  Meanwhile, little Ob was urging Keith to teach him how to play with the toy Roman had bought.  Keith patiently began teaching his nephew. Keith demonstrated a shot, hitting the target easily. When he hit the target, music played and lights flashed, making Ob smile immediately.

"Ob wants to try!" Ob begged to play. The little boy tried to shoot as Keith had taught him, but the foam pellet missed the target. Ob didn't give up and kept trying, missing five times before finally hitting the target on his sixth attempt.

"Yay!" Ob was overjoyed. Day smiled. He didn't intend to teach his son to be violent like he had been in the past. He would teach his son the basics to defend himself and protect the people he loved. And Day believed that a clever child like Ob would, when he grew up, understand what he should and shouldn't do.

"The toy mouse can move, too," Roman said, explaining that it would act like a moving target.

"Let's try it stationary first. If we let the mouse move, Ob might be shooting all over the house!" Nan joked, causing everyone to laugh.  Then, Ob unexpectedly lay down on his stomach and started shooting the foam pellets, sometimes hitting the target, sometimes missing, having a great time.

"You've been playing for a long time.  Thank Dad Roman, for the toy," Day asked. Ob, still lying on the floor, quickly jumped up, ran to Roman, and bowed deeply at his strong lap.

"Thank you, Dad!" Ob said before running back to his game.

"A whole bow and all, Ob," Nan said, amused. Ob continued shooting, gradually improving his aim.

"Woah, what's Ob playing with?" Brick asked Ob, carrying his baby brother Anda, who had finished his bath and changed clothes, over to the group.

"Bang bang!  It's Ob shooting! Pew pew!" Ob said, demonstrating a shot for Brick, hitting the target.  The music that played caught Anda's attention.

"Aeh, ai!" Anda gurgled, reaching for Ob's toy.

"You can't play with that yet, sweetie. That's Ob's. Let's play with your teether. Your teeth are bothering you so you're trying to bite everyone!" Brick said jokingly, handing his son a teether.

"Bite who else?" Day asked with a smile.

"Nick, of course!  Nick finished washing the dishes and went up to help bathe Anda. That mischievous little one always finds a reason to bite him," Brick said, chuckling.  Nick also smiled; he wasn't really hurt, just tickled, because Anda's teeth were still so small.

"Want to try the moving target?" Neil suggested, curious to see what his nephew would do.

"Let's do it," Keith agreed, equally curious. He flipped the switch to activate the moving mouse. Ob paused slightly; Anda also became captivated by the moving toy mouse.