53 Grandpa

They arrived at the house, and the sun had been out for quite some time now. Eirik is likely up at this time, and Arius was too tired to come up with an explanation. He stayed in the car for a while, while everyone else got out. They noticed how listless he had suddenly become, and they decided not to comment on it.

He really wanted to avoid Eirik for just a little longer. He couldn't do that though, he sighed and got out of the car, holding the painting. As he walked in, the first thing he saw was the broken drywall. It wasn't a good reminder.

At the table, Asrael and the two bunnies sat, Eirik stood off to the side. It was silent, and Arius didn't like it, so he put on a winning smile and said, "I had fun."

"Me too!" Dante agreed, though it was a blatant lie. Asrael could tell, and his frown went against the usual indifference he had around his little brother.

Zuna rolled her eyes. "Dad is upset because we didn't tell him about it."

Eirik looked at Zuna, "You're grounded until next week."

"You can't do that! It's not even my fault, I lost my phone!" Zuna shouted mutinously, and it reminded Dante of something as he handed her phone back to her. She looked at the phone and took it as she glared at her father. "See?!"

"Then all of you are grounded." Eirik's face didn't change.

Asrael and Zuna shared a look of disbelief, they were the only ones though, as Arius was amused and Dante showed excitement.

Just as Asrael was about to protest, he saw Dante's almost unnoticeable joy. 'Alright, I'll let it slide for now...' He reluctantly calmed down.

Eirik was the oldest, so he had unofficial power within the Bunny Bunch. Truthfully, Arius could probably have argued that Eirik only had power over Zuna, but he felt that being 'grounded' by the man meant he cared.

Arius sighed. "Does that mean I have to wait til next week to work on the stolen puppy case?"

Eirik paused for a moment before answering: "Yes."

Arius still planned on looking at security cameras, just because he couldn't leave didn't mean he couldn't look into the case beforehand. "Then I'm going to go get some sleep."

As Arius turned to leave, Dante got up, trotted over to Eirik, and then pulled on his sleeve. The tall man looked down at the boy, and although his expression didn't change, his gaze turned softer. "Can I call you grandpa?" The small boy asked, he was completely serious.

Asrael suddenly felt his heart clench, and Arius paused as he was walking away.

"...Yes." Eirik was over the moon, although he didn't show it.

For the millionth time that day, Zuna was shocked. 'Is everyday from this point on going to be such a rollercoaster of emotions?'

• • • • • • • • • • •

For the rest of the day, everyone was laying around peacefully. Arius was asleep, Zuna and Dante binged TV shows, and Asrael was on his phone. Eirik was looking at documents relating to his 'target', they didn't know where he got the clues though.

Zuna ordered food for everyone when dinner came around the corner, and it became the Bunny Bunch's new all time favorite for meals. The place was called '24/7 Sandwiches'.