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"OKAY, I WILL SAY IT!"
"Ed, no!" Emira stopped eating, staring at Ed's soul. "We talked about this."
"What? Everyone wants to ask! Dad, who's the person you have been going with?"
"W—- What?" Alador choked into his food, stopping to stare at Ed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"See, I told you you were freaking out over nothing." Amity tried to cut Ed, but knowing that he was right. Alador was acting weird lately, going out at night, acting giggly and too attentive to the time the kids wouldn't be home. "Leave dad alone."
"But! There was weird laundry on the house! You all agreed with me!"
"Ed, it's time to shut your mouth!" Emira didn't want to admit to speculating about the subject, afraid to make their dad even more uncomfortable with his relationship issues.
He tried to date, more than once. But the dates often ended in dead ends, or in one or two months of a relationship that ended in mutual agreement that it wouldn't work out, so at this point Amity thought his dad was out of the market for good.
"If dad was going out with someone, he would have told us. Right, dad?" Amity stared at him and immediately looked at the food on his plate, suddenly the table became too uncomfortable. There was a few seconds with Alador clinking his fork against the plate before he finally spoke.
"Well, I-I suppose….." Alador looked away from the kids as all the three pairs of eyes turned to him. "Out. I mean, I am going out with someone."
"For how long?" For someone that was trying to stop this conversation, Emira sounded too eager to know as fast as possible.
"It's nothing official. Or serious. We're just seeing if we match, that's all. I don't want to make you guys have hopes on that to be destroyed later. I had a reason to not tell anyone."
"Do you want to keep it a secret?" Emira asked. "I mean, it has been some…. Time you have been away from mom and me and Edric are adults, it's not like we'll freak out. Or tell her. I don't know why any of us would tell her, actually."
"She's not the issue here." Alador poked at the food, briefly absentmindedly. "I mean, she IS the issue too, but as much as I know you two are mature " He gave a side look to Edric that still had bandages from his last firework gone wrong and trip to the Healing center. "I just knew that telling you three that I was going out with someone, and then it ended again it wouldn't be bad just for me, but again for us all. The last time…. I mean, actually, the last time it took a couple months to end, that left Amity pretty upset."
"You were upset too." Amity pointed out, but Alador seemed to not listen.
"A-and with Yara, for an example, I mean, Edric, you liked to test your explosive stuff with her, and then she was gone…."
"I… still hang out with her sometimes." Edric answered, confused on why he kept talking about the losses of the kids.
"Dad, are you breaking up with your dates because of us?" Emira cut Alador's next line, which made him get red all over his face. He went back to poking the food. "Dad, you know damn well we want you to be happy! We talked about that!"
"It's Darius." He blurted out, and a silence fell on the table, until someone finally broke it.
"The…. Ex-coven head?"
"Yes, mittens, the ex-coven head."
"I hope he treats you well." Emira muttered between gritted teeth. "Or I will have fun breaking his pretty face."
"Yeah, what the hell dad? I thought you hated him!" Edric stood up, shaking the table. "I know you were used with mom's shit, but that doesn't means you need to settle for someone that treats you b—"
"He treats me well." Alador blushed, knowing damn well that his whole face was covered with it. "I am happy with him. He's a bit rough on the sides, b-but….."
"That's why you started to dress better!" Amity smiled.
"And shave." Emira opened a wide smile.
"And sleep regularly. I haven't woken up with you getting coffee at four AM in some weeks, now that you mention it……"
"And when are we officially meeting with him?"
"You three already know him."
"No, we want an actual dinner." Emira said. "No excuses."
"B— okay, okay."
"Hunter knows?" Edric sat back down again.
"Huh, yes, Darius had to tell him because he thought Darius was actually planning to get rid of him because we were keeping it a secret. Eberwolf knew but that's because he has ridiculously sensitive ears and heard us talking once."
"So, dinner by Saturday seems good?" Amity suggested.
"I….. will ask him so. Thanks. I couldn't have better kids."
"Yea, and we'll personally jump on Darius if he makes you slightly sad." Emira smirked. Was she kidding or serious? He couldn't tell.
"I— I will tell him that."