Chapter 336 Confidentiality
Dorothy took a bite of a small tiger-shaped bread and found it quite tasty. She continued eating the dishes in front of her, all of which suited her palate.
"Mommy, are these the dishes you liked to eat when you were in Imperick?" she asked.
Before Aurelia could answer, Nathaniel placed honey-glazed chicken wings in front of Dorothy and answered for her. "Everything on this table used to be your mommy's favorite. She was quite a picky eater back then."
Aurelia felt a bit embarrassed. She usually taught the two children not to be picky eaters, saying it would stunt their growth.
Dorothy looked at the chicken wings in her plate, lifted her head, and thanked Nathaniel. Although she didn't use a formal title, Nathaniel was already very satisfied.
He noticed Jacoba eating the dishes closest to him in silence and then reaching out to pass the pork ribs from a distance.
Unlike Dorothy, Jacoba did not respond to his gesture.
Nathaniel's eyelid twitched. It seemed his daughter was more considerate.
Aurelia observed all of this. She knew Jacob wasn't easy to fool and had probably heard something from Betty.
She put down her fork and said, "Jacob, Mommy has something to tell you after dinner."
Jacoba had already guessed what Aurelia wanted to talk to him about. He bit into the ribs in his bowl and said nonchalantly, "You can say it now. I need to work on my robot later."
He had only set up the control commands and hadn't yet created the release commands, which currently needed to be done manually and was quite inconvenient.
Aurelia sat across from the three of them, her gaze sweeping from left to right. After a moment of hesitation, she spoke, "Jacob, I have some important news. Daddy is back from the Magic Academy, and he can attend your parent-teacher meetings from now on."
Aurelia looked up to seek Nathaniel's opinion after she finished speaking. Nathaniel nodded and said, "I won't miss a single one of your parent-teacher meetings. If you have any requests, just let me know. This is my first time being a dad, so I don't have much experience. We'll have to figure out things together."
Nathaniel paused when he referred to himself as "dad." The term was unfamiliar not only to the two children but also to him, even though he had already started to assume the role.
Jacoba wanted to roll his eyes. 'Who wants to figure things out with you? You should first think about how to behave in front of Mommy. If Mommy isn't happy, don't expect me to call you Dad.' he thought.
Dorothy couldn't help but ask, "Then can you dress even nicer? Like, even cooler than Livia's dad! Cooler than all the other kids' dads!"
Nathaniel couldn't help but smile and looked up at Aurelia. "Dorothy, what do you think is the standard for handsome?"
Dorothy thought hard for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. "It's when all the other kids' moms are jealous of my mommy."
Faced with his daughter's first request, Nathaniel immediately agreed! "As long as Mommy thinks it's okay, I have no problem with it."
Dorothy happily put down her utensils and asked Nathaniel to make a promise.
Nathaniel raised his hand and said, "I promise."
Aurelia, sitting across from them, coughed lightly. Nathaniel's tone became especially gentle when he talked to Dorothy, which felt unfamiliar to her.
She now sensed that Nathaniel might favor his daughter more. The way he looked at Dorothy and Jacob was different—gentle and caring for the former, stern for the latter.
Maybe it was because Jacob had given him a hard time, but that shouldn't be an excuse for bias, right?
After dinner, Aurelia followed Betty and Dahlia into the kitchen to clean up. She wasn't really needed there; she just wanted to give him and the two kids some alone time to get to know each other better. They wouldn't be staying long, and soon she would take the kids back to Coral Bay, making it harder to meet again.
In the living room, Jacoba started working on his robot again.
Nathaniel took this moment to carefully observe the strange contraption that had pinned him to the ground earlier. His first impression was that it looked very rough, not as refined as the robots sold in toy stores. The key thing was that it was quite fierce and surprisingly heavy. He had no idea what material it was made of, but it had completely immobilized him earlier.
Jacoba, thinking about the conversation he hadn't finished with Nathaniel before dinner, paused his work. "You can't tell my mommy that I went to the Heilbronn Group to find you."
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow and looked over at Aurelia, who was wiping the table in the dining room. It seemed this kid wasn't as arrogant as he appeared; he had things and people he was afraid of.
"Are you negotiating with me?" he asked.
Jacoba rolled his eyes and asked, "Can't I?"
Nathaniel leaned back on the sofa, his legs naturally spread, looking completely at ease. "Sure."
Nathaniel didn't dare to immediately ask the kid to call him Dad. Instead, he pointed to the ugly contraption Jacoba was tinkering with and asked, "I'll keep your secret, but can you make sure this thing doesn't come after me next time?"
Nathaniel tried to sound firm, but his tone was actually quite humble. His only request was not to be bullied by that ugly robot next time.
Even so, Jacoba took a moment to consider before agreeing. "Alright, I promise. But you have to keep your word!"
Nathaniel nodded. He would definitely keep his promise to the child. "So, can you tell me now why you're not satisfied with me?"
Jacoba turned his back. "No reason. If Mommy's not satisfied with you, then I'm not satisfied with you!"
Nathaniel pondered. This kid was really protective of his mom. His heart warmed at the thought, and he concluded that it was good for the boy to want to protect his mom. In the future, the two of them could protect the two women in the family together.
Before long, Nathaniel's phone rang. He glanced at it and walked to the window to answer. "Grandpa, what's up?"
Reed rarely called him. Since their relationship had completely broken down four years ago, Reed had almost cut off all ties with him. It was only recently, after finding Aurelia, that things had started to improve.
Receiving a call from Reed was quite unexpected. Nathaniel subconsciously felt that Reed must have something important to discuss.
Reed said, "Tomorrow is your grandmother's death anniversary. Come back now and help me prepare the offerings. We'll leave early in the morning."
Reed was sentimental and prepared many things for his late wife's death anniversary every year, taking the whole family to her grave to pay their respects.
As the only male descendant, Nathaniel was always expected to play a significant role in the preparations.
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