Chapter 10: The ball's dad

"We just need to guard my sister from talking to our son" Cronos told his wife when they rode their private plane going back to the capital

"Who told you to inform your sister where we are going?!" Karen was so pissed, she wanted to help Nina pick things for her house but because they found out that her sister-in-law will be back to the capital later in the evening she needs to forget her original plan! 

Cronos became silent for a while, should he tell his wife that his sister is her best friend and she wanted him to inform his sister of their whereabouts, that's why he informed his sister?

Forget it, for more than 30 years he has known his wife, he will never win an argument, and if ever he wins, it will be rewarded of a sleep in a couch outside their room without a blanket. 

"It was really my fault wife, don't be mad. We will see your daughters-in-law after three days" Cronos coaxed his wife. 

The reason they said three days is because they knew Cronos' sister very well. She will not stay for more than three days in a place because until now, she still blames herself for their parents death. And her way of coping is to not stay in a certain place for her to not have enough time to remember the deaths of their parents. 

Cronos really can't bear to see his sister blaming herself, but what can he do? Cronos is the oldest child followed by two little brothers who both have two sons, then their youngest sibling is their only sister so their parents loved his sister too much making her willful enough to choose a man out of their league. 

Anyway, now that his sister went back, they needed to guard her. Although Hades is not really close to Cronos' sister, no one can deny that Themis favors Cronos' son too much because his son is the first and favorite grandson of their parents. And Hades knew that most of the time, his Aunt knew where Cronos and Karen went so as a precautionary measure, when Ares told them last night that his mother will go back to the capital tonight, they decided to go back also. 

Karen was a little guilty when her husband took all the blame then she said "it was not really your fault, it was your son's fault! If he didn't cheat on Nina we do not need to hide her from him!" 

"Yes, yes, it was really his fault" Cronos immediately agreed, why did he forget to blame that son of his? "we are not going to talk to him when we see him okay?" Cronos added

"Yes, ignore him when we see him" Karen nodded in agreement. 

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Nina and Ares arrived at the furniture store. As an architect who was exposed to different materials in her previous life, it took Nina only one glance to determine that the materials used on the display are first class. 

"You are a nice looking couple! We have a lot of new designs that you might like!" the enthusiastic middle aged woman said when she saw them walking inside the shop. 

When the two heard the compliment, they cringed involuntarily, they just accepted each other as siblings a while ago and then this woman said they looked like a couple? Gross. 

"She's my little sister" Ares seriously said on his lawyer like aura, Nina thought that her newly acquired brother is like chameleon who can change his face from being a goofy brother to a dark monster in an instant

"And he is my big brother!" Nina said in a joyful tone, she wants to lighten the atmosphere because she can tell that the woman in front of them looks suffocated, bad big brother! What if this woman had a heart attack because of his scary face? 

"I-is that so?" the woman awkwardly smiled, she was just used to thinking that if a man and a woman get inside their store, most of the time, they are a couple. But looking at the young and beautiful girl in front of her then at the scary man beside the girl, although he is also handsome, they seem not compatible with each. 

"A-anyway, what c-can I help you with?" 

Nina secretly elbowed her big brother to make him stop intimidating the poor woman before telling the woman what she needs. 

"I am looking for ready made furniture for my house. If you have any complete set made of rosewood can you show it to me?" 

"Yes, of course we have," the woman said without stuttering. Nina thought that Ares' talent is quite admirable, imagine if she doesn't like a person and she used that suppressing aura she can make the other person stutter! She must try copying that next time. 

The woman sent them to the store's depot and Nina became amazed by the craftsmanship of the people who worked to finish each furniture. 

Nina was able to choose furniture according to her taste. She already pictured out what they are going to look like when it is already set into her house. 

She was about to give her card to the salesperson but Ares took it and switch it with his card, Nina then calmly look at Ares "If you do that, I will never talk to you again" Nina said to Ares then took Ares' card from the salesperson "I have money, don't let me feel that I am taking advantage of you"  Nina said firmly then she put back the card to Ares' hand and snatched the her own card to give it to the salesperson

"But I am a rich big brother who is willing to be taken advantage of his little sister" Ares depressingly said when the salesperson left

"then treat me for food! I am already hungry, let's celebrate that today we became siblings!" Nina coaxed her brother

"Okay then!" Ares finally lifted his spirit, he didn't make a wrong decision to make this doll as his little sister. 

"Good!" Nina smiled then the salesperson went back to them and told them that the items will be delivered at around 7 in the evening. 

It's only 4 pm, they already had lunch before going here but Nina is already hungry so Ares brought her to the nearest restaurant where Nina unrestrainedly ordered a lot of food, let her big brother bleed a little for her food. 

Ares thought that Nina's order was already for both of them but Nina told her to order his food, Ares was a little dumbfounded, can this small girl eat those foods? 

"If I can't eat it, I'll take it home, hmp, who told you to annoy me at the shop?" Nina said

"So this is your revenge?" 

"Yup! Since my big brother is so rich, might as well use his money to buy me food" Nina said, sticking out her tongue, Ares just laughed at her childish behaviour but when the food arrived, his good little sister let him eat all the food that she didn't liked, if he only knew that this would be the case, he should have just asked for water! 

Now Ares knows that he can't annoy this girl too much. She can think of creative ways to have her revenge. 

"Are you full brother?" Nina innocently asked, but her face can't hide that she was restraining her laugh, Ares just glared at her "Come on, don't be mad, you still need to accompany me in accepting my furniture" 

Ares just sighed, he was the one who offered to be her brother, he needs to accept this cheeky side of her "just let me breathe for a minute" 

Nina didn't talk so Ares thought that maybe Nina became mad so he looked at her and he was surprised to see her counting with her fingers while pouting

"27,28,29, 30-"

"what are you doing?" 

"counting" 

"why?" 

"You told me, for a minute, I'm giving you a minute, wait, don't talk to me," Nina said, then she continued counting. Ares is now thinking if there is a return policy for this recognized sister of his. 

"Times up! Let's go big brother!" Nina said, they have been sitting for thirty minutes already after Ares finished most of the food, Nina thought that that is already enough rest for Ares, then she dragged him away, Ares really now wants to bring back the time when he asked this doll to be his sister. 

The delivery service arrived earlier than expected but they still finished arranging the things inside Nina's house at 11 pm and Ares still stayed with Nina the whole time. Not that Ares doesn't trust these people but he has a firm belief in life to be better safe than be sorry. 

Nina was quite satisfied that she thought to buy beddings, pillows and comforters before they went back to her house. She can just arrange her bed a little before sleeping. 

Ares can see that Nina is already sleepy so he checks all the windows and doors if they are locked properly then he tells Nina that she should never open the door if anybody knocks. Nina thought that Ares is like a nagging hen but she didn't refuse his good intentions so she just nodded. Ares was satisfied with Nina's obedient response so he didn't make his talk long, he told Nina to lock the door then he left. 

Nina took some clothes from her space before taking a bath. She was really tired today that she fell asleep on the bathtub, only when she felt the water cold did she wake up. Nina was so afraid that it might have a negative to her baby so she took another hot shower before drying herself. 

She wanted to check her space but when she laid on the bed, she already fell asleep. 

The next morning, Nina woke up due to the continuous knocking on her door. When she checked the time on her phone, she saw that it was already 11 am and she received several miscalls from her Aunt Karen and Uncle Cronos. The latest miscall came from Ares. She didn't open the door immediately, she first went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she was done, the knocking still didn't stop. She can hear Ares' voice from outside calling her so she opened the door. 

Ares almost knocked on Nina's face "Why are you not answering!?" Ares really looked worried, he thought that Nina might have encountered a mishap on her first night in her new home. 

Nina just pouted while looking at Ares "big brother, I just woke up" after hearing that, Ares began to size up Nina's appearance, she still looked confused and sleepy even though she already washed her face. He was thinking what she would look like without the eyeglasses, Ares thinks that if Nina will not wear eyeglasses, she will make big problems by attracting too many pigs(aka.men). 

"okay, you eat first, then sleep again" Ares just said, he knew that Nina doesn't have groceries yet and also, she wasn't able to buy kitchenwares yesterday because she doesn't like the quality of what she saw in the department store so he brought her a takeout food. 

Ares walked directly to Nina's kitchen then Nina followed. Ares was about to arrange the food on Nina's table but before he could do that he saw Nina losing her balance before she lost consciousness. 

Ares was able to catch Nina on time then he panicked when he felt Nina was burning with fever, he didn't think of anything, he just carried to his car without locking Nina's door. 

The good thing about this village is, it is really not that far from the city. Only a 15 minute ride and they will be there. Ares didn't bother about the red lights, he will face the charges later. 

When they arrived at the hospital, Ares immediately sent Nina to the emergency room. The doctor first asked the nurse to put dextrose to Nina before examining her. When they are done, they told Ares that the lab results will be available after an hour so they left them first. 

Ares asked to transfer Nina first in a private room, because Ares can't stand the narrow emergency ward. 

When the transfer was done, Ares just sat on the room's couch. He thought of what would happen if he didn't go to see Nina's condition this morning, he became a little scared by just thinking of it. 

Then, to divert his attention, he opened his phone where he saw flooded miss calls and text messages coming from his Uncle Cronos and Auntie Karen. He first opened Aunt Karen's messages. It says there to never ever tell Hades that he knew where Nina is, that was all the words in all of her Aunt's messages. 

Next he opened his uncle's messages and it also said the same things. Now he became curious, why do his Aunt and Uncle want to hide Nina from Hades? He thought they like Nina for him, so what's the matter? 

Ares was still thinking of the possible reasons when the doctor came back with Nina's lab results. 

The doctor asked him to talk about the results outside the room, Ares became afraid, what if Nina has a disease that's why she chose to live in the countryside? Nevertheless, Ares agreed. 

"Are you the patient's lover?" That was the first question of the doctor when they went out. The doctor seems to be so mad at him, what did he do? 

"No, I am her brother" Ares denied the allegation. The doctor's hostility lessened when she heard that. 

"You are her brother? Then maybe you still don't know this information. Your sister is 3 weeks pregnant" the doctor said "she was exhausted these past days making her body fragile. But the baby is okay" 

Ares can't seem to hear anything after he heard that Nina was pregnant, who was the scum who made his newly recognized sister pregnant?! He didn't get the chance to do the traditional interrogation of a brother! And aside from that, his sister is only 18 years old! Just the age to go to a university! Now  that she has a child, what would happen to her future? He doesn't mind raising her, but Nina will surely refuse to that idea. 

All these problems were because of that bastard son who made his sister pregnant! If Ares will see that guy, he is set to give that man a beating! 

"Ares!" Ares looked at the doctor, he thought why did the doctor's voice become manly? "Ares!" another shout made Ares turn his head, then he felt his eyes popping, why is this demon here?! 

"What happened to Nina?!" Hades grabbed Ares' shoulder and shook him

"Are you the patient's lover? " the doctor asked Hades, "Yes" Hades answered shamelessly, he thought that Nina would be his anyway so why need to wait for the title be approved, he will use it in advance

"so you are the father of the child?"

Without blinking, Hades answered "Yes" 

Ares was startled, now, how can he beat the father of the child if its father is the devil in front of him?