Kitchen

There Susan was already awaiting them at the entrance.

"Hey, you two. Jane is already waiting for you.", she cheerily greeted them when they had alighted from the car.

"Hello, to you too.", Celine greeted her back happily.

They then chatted happily with each other while walking towards the place where Jane and the others were. Ivan who followed behind them silently wondered how they had gotten so close.

Soon they reached the villa and what greeted him was a small bundle of energy shooting towards him.

"Uff.", he couldn't help but exhale when his little girl ran into his opened arms.

"Daddy, you are here.", she happily exclaimed.

Before he could really enjoy the feeling of hugging his little daughter, she already wound herself out of his embrace and started to pull him towards the door.

"Come. Sister Lucia and grandma are baking cookies. We have to help them as well."

He didn't resist her and was soon pulled into the kitchen where Lucia and Miranda were standing on the counter and stirred the cookie daugh while chatting animatedly. If one didn't know that Miranda was older than Lucia, then one would have thought that they were friends of the same age or even sisters.

When they saw Jane pulling her father into the kitchen, the paused their conversation to direct him to help.

"There. Take a scoop and stir that.", Miranda told him while pointing at a bowl that was already filled with the necessary ingredients.

He wordlessly followed her instructions and started to get to work. Meanwhile, Jane too had taken a smaller bowl and was now stirring in it.

Later Susan and Celine entered the kitchen as well to help.

Together they prepared a lot of stuff. Not only cookies but also cake and other pastries.

"So what is all that for?", Ivan asked curiously when he saw the number of pastries they had created.

"This is of course for the party when mama comes back.", Jane told him while looking at him as if he was stupid.

"So you have already everything planned out?", he asked her teasingly.

She proudly pushed out her chest and answered confidently, "Of course. It's not like I could leave something so important to you."

Her serious answer made everyone laugh. It was laughter, filled with happiness and Ivan and Jane couldn't help but start laughing as well. The house was filled with laughter, making Ivan feel warm and comfortable. Now only Lara was missing to make the situation perfect.

Together everyone deposited the goods they had baked inside a box, which would keep them in the same state they had been put in. This way they would still be fresh when they were taken out for the party.

After that, they cleaned up together. As Miranda said, this was also a part of the fun. Because of that they didn't leave the cleaning to the servants but did it themselves.

Having finished that they sat down in the living room with a cup of tea and some freshly baked cookies.

"So how is everything going?", Miranda asked Ivan.

He told her about what he had been up to, with Celine sometimes providing extra information. The others enjoyed hearing about it, especially Jane since this was about her dad.

When he told Miranda about the decision his friends had made just today, she nodded approvingly. "It's good that your friends have been able to decide what they want to do so early.", she told him, "I have seen too many young people who waste their time on things they don't truly enjoy."

Celine and Susan both readily agreed with her. They had lived long enough to have seen things like this many times before.

When the discussion dissolved into who had seen the worst cases, Ivan, Jane, and Lucia silently went aside to play. Lately, Jane had started to enjoy playing a card game so they played it together while enjoying their tea and cookies.

When it got late, everyone got ready to leave. To Ivan's surprise, even Miranda seemed to get ready to leave the house.

Looking at his curious eyes she told him, "Until Lara will be back, I'll stay at your home to help prepare for the party."

At first, Ivan had thought that the party would be a small one but now it didn't seem like it anymore. Well, as long as they didn't include him in their plans he would be fine.

Luckily the van with which they had come was big enough for all of them. Together they drove back to the villa. This time Ivan was driving because Celine wanted to talk with Miranda.

When they got home, Jane instantly ran inside to greet Madam Tanner and Tess. The others followed slowly behind her.

"Madam Tanner, please prepare a bedroom for Miranda.", Ivan told the housekeeper.

"I already did so. Please follow me.", Madam Tanner's answer made it clear to Ivan that he was truly out of the loop considering things in this household.

He just shrugged his shoulders and went into the kitchen to get another cup of tea. He was planning to enjoy it while reading.

When he left the kitchen the picture he saw was of Jane sitting on Celine's lap while Tess was lying on her lap. They made a funny but comfortable picture. Smiling he went over and sat down beside them.

"Daddy.", Jane greeted him before letting herself fall sideways. She was now lying on both of their laps, with her head being on his. Tess was lying on her belly, completely unwilling to even move.

Ivan softly patted Jane's head. "Did you enjoy staying with your grandma?"

"Yes. But I missed you and mom."

"I missed the two of you as well.", by saying that out loud, he realized how true it was. He truly had missed the two of them.

They just silently sat together, enjoying their time together. Only when Jane had fallen asleep did they too go to bed.

The next day after school, Ivan teleported to his room at the Slavers Alliance. He then pulled out his phone to send Carl a message asking for a meeting.

He didn't have to wait to get a response, saying that he should just come over to Carl's house whenever he got the time for it. He would be at home for the whole time today.

Lately, he had only come to the Slavers Alliance to finish the required quests but today he had another reason to come here. One of the elders would hold a lecture on how to fight together with one's combat slaves.

Since this was one of his biggest problems he had decided to go to the lecture. Sure it would also be transmitted over the network and you could even watch it later, but going to the lecture would provide a better insight.

If he knew anyone else in the Alliance he could also chat with them after the lecture. Sadly he had never taken the time to get to know anyone besides Carl and Tang Lin. There were also Carls's wives but he didn't have much contact with them. True he didn't have much contact with Tang Lin as well but in the end, she was his wife so there was some connection between them.

He took public transport to the lecture hall where the lecture would be held. He hadn't been here before but everything was described in detail on the website so it was easy for him to find his way.

At the entrance of the lecture hall, he had to show the ticket he had gotten beforehand. With the hall only having a certain number of seats, the Alliance had decided that it was necessary to register for lectures beforehand.

Although he arrived early by more than half an hour, the hall was already filled to the brim, with only a small number of seats still free. A conspicuously empty spot was in the front where three young women were seated.

It seemed that nobody dared to sit beside them, which resulted in the whole row staying empty. He could even see someone looking at them and then trying to worm his way through to one free seat in the middle of another row. Some were even sitting on the stairs, just so they wouldn't have to sit in the row.

He took a closer look at the women, being interested in why everyone was giving them so much space. To his surprise, one of the backs felt familiar. Making a guess, he focused on the ring on his hand and he could feel something pointing towards the rightmost woman on the of the trio.

Feeling this he knew that this had to be Tang Lin. He debated not greeting her and ignoring her and finding another seat to sit down, but since there were no more free seats available he finally decided to just go over. What could she do if he wanted to sit there?