Chapter Ten

"Breakfast is going to be ready. Come eat with us, said his mother.

Joshua sluggishly sat up. "Okay," he simply answered as he rubbed his eyes.

"Your father is going to send you to school. You wouldn't need to ride the school bus anymore," Myrna continued.

Her latter sentence halted Joshua for a second. "Okay," he answered in the same manner.

Myrna felt like she was being ignored. But the truth is she isn't used to the situation. It is because she has always given Louise the task to talk to Joshua, to keep him from being emotional and rebellious every now and then.

And now that Louise is not around...

A moment of silence had passed before Myrna closed the door and left.

Myrna felt fortunate through that morning as Joshua was behaving himself.

He just stayed silent the whole time. Whenever questions were thrown at him, he'd just either grunt, shake his head, or answer with the least word as he could.

Myrna sighed in relief as Patrick drove the car away. "At least, he isn't acting dramatically," she muttered to herself.

Irish, Jaq's mother, saw the car speeding away. She also noticed Myrna's shoulder relaxing before returning into the house.

Her eyes were filled with worry, concern, and a hint of irritation. "Explain yourself," she spoke as she turned around. Her eyes darted towards a man around her age.

He was standing in the corner of the room, by the side of the bed. "I was assigned to another mission," his immediate response. His grimaced as he shrugged, waiting for the Irish's reaction.

"I want more details," Irish demanded with a straight face.

The man straightened his posture. "I sent them a message right after I completed the initial mission. And so they knew I was in that area and that I'm available. That's why they assigned me to assist the situation."

Irish's eyebrows knitted. She has full knowledge of her husband's job. But she has no idea of what could that second mission mentioned be. She let out a sigh.

It is not her greatest concern right now.

She walked towards the bed and sat down. She looked at the man as she said, "Jaq has reported something again. And it is among the worst so far."

The man's expression became solemn. He joined his wife's side asking what happened.

"She accidentally looked at someone's eyes..."

Last night, Nicole and Jaq had dinner together with Irish at the Allaen residence. Sadly Jaq's father wasn't home still. Carlos came later.

Jaq had the opportunity to exchange words with her mother privately after dinner. They talked about the incident involving the Wodders and what Jaq had encountered.

They weren't able to discuss the matters further when Carlos reminded them that it was already for the girls to head out now.

Jaq was invited to sleep over again. This is something usual though.

The school bus takes longer time to reach the school than riding one's private vehicle. It is mainly because the bus needs to make several stops to pick up the students from their places.

That's why some families would rather choose to drive their children to school and back home. It's rather practical anyway.

And Jaq gets to ride the school bus as well as get a drive from her parents or her uncle carlos.

And today, she and Nicole chose the school bus. Once they've reached the school, Jaq noticed a familiar car.

There was a guy bending over by the passengers side. A dark silhouette was standing closely. The guy was somewhat nodding his head, probably having a conversation with the person who gave him a ride.

When the guy shifted, Jaq turned her head away.

Those two by the car were the trouble she had recently experienced. She wouldn't want that mistake to happen the second time around.

"Take care!" Patrick shouted as joshua casually closed the car door.

He didn't purposely closed the door to shut his father up, Joshua thought. It was his father who said those words when he had already initiated the action.

Though feeling bothered, he walked away trying to ignore it to the back of his mind. He'll just let things go as usual, and him be with the flow until Louise comes back.

Louise wouldn't take that long being away, would he?

The day went by rather peacefully.

During lunch, Jaq was able to convince Nicole that she wouldn't be able to sleep over for tonight because she and her mother has something to talk about.

Evening came, and everyone were satisfied with the food Irish had served. Then time came for Carlos and Nicole to head home.

Nicole bade goodbye, disappointment from earlier now gone from her face.

Jaq went to the master's bedroom with her mother after helping with the dishes.

She gasped when she found a familiar person on the large bed, sleeping soundly. Her hands had subconsciously went to cover her mouth.

When the woman closed the door, a man lazily sat up with a drowsy eyes.

"Dad!" Jaq called excitedly. She ran straight to the man.

Her voice seemed to have shakien away the last bits of sleepiness within the man's body. His eyes was readily filled with light as he saw the fast approaching figure.

He spread his arms to receive the little lady.

Oh how he had missed her baby girl, he thought. He wrapped his arms around the girl and gave her a kiss on the head. "How have you been?" He asked while he brushed her hair.

Irish was touched by the scene.