63 Family Meeting

"Wow… what a great way to begin a new day and end the one before," Julian chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as he continued down the hallway to Matheio's room.

No reply.

He glanced at Gradis, locking eyes with her and stared for a moment before nodding in Matheio's direction frantically.

Gradis watched him curiously, "is there something wrong with your head o-" she began, shutting up when she realized what he meant.

"I must admit, your day sounds better than mine Matte," Gradis continued smoothly sliding off her last sentence. She waited to see some type of response from Matheio, but got nothing, so she continued, "I was stuck in the office most of the time,

"I woke up, had coffee, went to work, came back home, and had more coffee. Then I continued to work after I got home. When I think about it… you guys were the highlight of my day… and maybe my week even."

Matheio flinched at that, a smile creeping on his once stoic face, "really?"

"Hmm," Gradis reassured, "I've never felt more energetic than I do when I talk to you, so don't be sad, It'll make mommy sad."

Matheio drifted away from Julian's shoulders and looked at Gradis, "you're sad?"

"Yup," Gradis admitted, placing her hand over her heart, "it hurts here when you look sad or get hurt."

Matheio looked at her hand and back up to Gradis, the glow in his eyes slowly returning.

"So make sure you stay safe ok? That way mommy doesn't need to worry too much about you," Gradis smiled.

Matheio hesitated before grinning, "OKIE!" he giggled, "I'll be careful! And hold on to daddy tightly."

He gripped Julian's sleeve tightly and pulled him close. "See mommy?"

"Aw- what the-" Julian yelped from Matheio's excessive use of strength.

"Hehe," Matheio giggled, "I'm simply trying to abide by mommy's request. You don't mind, right daddy?"

Julian looked into Matheio's puppy eyes by mistake, immediately regretting it. The soft brown in his eyes was so soothing with splashes of green around his pupils that melted into the calm brown. His eyes alone were captivating but with his cute face with large eyes, long eyelashes, and small nose it was a complete trap... that Julian had fallen into.

"Um…" Julian began, trying to look away from the bright eyes of Matheio as the cuteness factor steadily rose. He failed. "Fine, be careful though."

"Yes daddy," Matheio giggled.

"Pfft," Gradis chuckled, a warm smile on her face, "you guys are so cute."

Julian and Matheio turned to her, Matheio immediately trying to further prove her point while Julian turned away shyly.

"We're here," Julian announced, pushing open a door that led into a large room.

"Noooo," Matheio groaned, softly punching Julian's chest in protest.

They walked into the large, ornately furnished room, arguing back and forth in a useless argument. Julian set the phone down carefully on one of the many nightlight holders lining the walls of Matheio's room and threw Matheio onto his king-sized bed. "It's about time this night owl goes to sleep."

"Nooo," Matheio complained, glaring at Julian as he strolled to the wardrobe on the left side of Matheio's bed and swung open its wide doors.

"I'm not going to beg you anymore," Julian sighed, his hands running against the neatly organized, soft clothes in the wardrobe, "You know very well that you aren't supposed to be up right now. We are supposed to go home tomorrow...well today for a family meeting."

"So?" Matheio growled, "It's not like I'm going to be there anyway, no one ever pays me any attention in those meetings."

Julian paused looking through Matheio's clothes, Matheio's words ricocheting in his head. "I get how you feel," he smiled sadly, continuing to look through Matheio's clothes, "but today is special… it's your introduction to the family, a long-awaited one."

"Hmph," Matheio pouted, "I don't wanna see mean grandpa."

"Haha," Gradis chuckled in unison with Julian.

"Is this what that is about?" Julian asked, "You just don't want to meet Gramps?"

"He's so scary," Matheio shivered, he ran over to the nightstand post and took the phone to make sure Gradis was seeing him clearly, "he might shoot me with the lasers in his eyes."

Julian and Gradis burst out into a fit of laughter as Matheio lectured them about why he was correct and they were wrong.