Bab 57: Chapter 56
No matter how the George Baker incident unfolds, it no longer concerns Mike and his family.
Now, their family has returned home, and even managed to prepare a dinner before nightfall. The rich aroma filled the house as all three children eagerly watched Mike cook.
But when it came time to eat… Charles and Eric watched Mike and Clark savor their food, tears welling up in their eyes, as they only had a bowl of cereal, and their saliva kept flowing.
"Dad, you're so cruel!" Charles protested in a low voice, his eyes following Mike's fork as it moved back and forth.
"Oh…" Mike swallowed the food in his mouth and replied, "Before you snuck off, didn't you think it was cruel to make me worry?"
Crisp!
A crispy fried chicken nugget made a delightful crunch in Mike's mouth.
Charles stared at the chicken nuggets while eating his cereal, and said in pain, "Dad, I was wrong!"
Mike glanced at Eric, picked up a piece of chicken, shook it back and forth, blew on it gently, and placed it into Clark's bowl.
Bang!
Eric slammed his spoon on the table, stood up on his chair, and said angrily, "Dad, you're such a bully!"
"Bully?" Mike smiled faintly, "I traveled thousands of miles…"
"Dad, that's not fair," Clark couldn't help but correct.
Mike glared at Clark and snapped, "Shut up!"
"Because of you, I traveled thousands of miles. You're the ones bullying me!"
Eric shook his head and said, "I don't care, I don't care, you're bullying me now, I want to protest!"
"Protest?" Mike sneered, "Then don't eat the cereal."
"Dad, I was wrong!" Eric held his rumbling stomach and decided to endure the humiliation for now.
Mike nodded with satisfaction, and the dinner concluded amid envious gazes from the two younger kids.
After dinner, looking at the leftovers on the table, Clark volunteered to wash the dishes.
Mike agreed without pointing out his intentions and turned back to the room.
Clark waved at his younger brothers and pointed at the food on the table.
Eric and Charles quickly came running back and began to eat.
While eating the delicious dinner, both of them were in tears.
"Shh!" Clark gestured to the two of them, "Keep your voice down and eat quickly!"
The two nodded rapidly.
____________________
After making a skill card in his room, Mike thought that Clark had probably finished feeding the two little guys and walked out of the room.
Glancing at Charles and Eric, who were watching cartoons, Mike walked into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe.
"Clark, come out with me for a moment."
Clark wiped his hands and turned around, thinking, 'Here it comes!'
Mike stretched out his hand to measure Clark's height and said, "I didn't realize you've grown so tall. Time flies."
"Dad…"
"Come with me."
Mike put his arm around Clark's shoulders, and they walked out.
After opening the door to the basement, Mike reached out, groped around for the light switch, rolled up a blanket on the ground, and pulled away a piece of floorboard to reveal the spaceship Mike had hidden underground.
"This is the spaceship you arrived in."
Clark looked at the spaceship, then jumped into the pit, circling around it with surprising calm. After a while, he jumped out of the pit, suddenly hugged Mike, and said, "Dad…..thank you…"
If he hadn't met Mike, it would have been uncertain whether he would even be alive now or able to live freely.
Mike ruffled Clark's short, smooth black hair, took out a key with an S logo, handed it to Clark, and said, "This is the key to the spaceship. You might find it useful."
Clark reached out and touched it, then said, "Please keep it for me and give it to me later."
"Dad, where am I from? Why am I on Earth? And where are they?"
His voice was low, almost melancholic.
Mike held Clark and looked at him with concern, saying, "We're always here."
Clark's body tensed, then softened, and he hugged Mike tighter.
Mike patted Clark's head with a grin and said, "Boy, be gentle, you're going to break my old back."
Clark grinned and smiled.
"Dad, I need to travel and find the answers."
"But not now."
"Yes, I know."
Silence…
"Dad, what good things are you hiding down here?"
Charles and Eric appeared at the door.
Mike's eye twitched as he put the floorboard back into place, saying, "Are you full? Was the food delicious?"
"It was delicious! Especially…"
Charles quickly grabbed Eric's mouth and whispered, "What are you saying, idiot!"
Eric blinked, and he and Charles turned around, running off.
"Go ahead and watch TV with them," Mike patted Clark on the head.
"Um!"
Clark responded and quickly left.
After Mike restored the basement to its original state, he walked out and into the backyard.
There was no moon tonight, but the bright stars sparkled in the sky.
"Oh, the stars are beautiful tonight!" Mike sighed as he looked up at the sky.
He remembered that the stars were exactly like this the night Clark's spaceship landed.
Has it really been that long?
"Clark is already ten years old, and I…" Mike paused, his mouth twitching. "Damn, I'm almost 40? I should start exercising to keep in shape."
Mike counted on his fingers and thought, 'When Iron Man, The Avengers, and other big events come out, I'll be… Oh shit!'
Mike cursed and walked toward the house.
…
Life returned to normal for Mike's family.
He sent his kids to school, wandered around the farm when he had free time, and went to the bar when he had nothing to do. Though there weren't many people there during the day, he could occasionally talk about life with a pretty woman, and spark some passion.
This was Mike's favorite pace of life.
After checking the time and turning down the woman's offer to take her to a room, Mike walked towards the supermarket.
It was time to buy groceries.
He was a responsible father. Although the woman was very nice, the kids' food came first.
Ummm...or maybe he could wait until the kids were asleep and head out then!
The teleportation card was, after all, very useful in this kind of situation.
He must make the best use of everything.
After buying groceries and picking the children up from school, the whole family happily returned home, listening to the kids talk about their day.
After dinner, the three of them sat on the sofa watching TV.
"Dad, Hope said her father wanted to invite us over for dinner."
"Their home?" Mike glanced at Clark and asked, "Where is it?"
"In town."
Although Hank's company was far from the town, Hope insisted on living there.
"Hmm…" Mike groaned and said, "Are you sure you want to go to her house for dinner?"
"Sure!"
"Can he cook?"
"I think… I guess so!" Clark answered, unsure.
"When? When?"
Charles asked anxiously, his head between the two.
"Saturday night."
"Yohoo!" Eric cheered.
"Alright, now off to bed! You can reply to Hope tomorrow."
Mike made a decision and sent the kids to bed. Just as he was about to turn off the TV, a news broadcast came on.
"A mutant criminal on the run?"
After glancing at the person's photo, Mike decided that it had nothing to do with a farmer like him, and turned off the TV.
.
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Try my other SCP fic as well and vote with power stones if you liked the chapter.
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