Chapter 620: Courtney Goes to School?

In the midst of their lessons, Courtney was repeatedly sneaking small glances at her mother.

After a while, Lailah finally noticed that her daughter wasn't quite paying attention as much as before.

She checked the time and realized that they were still an hour away from their scheduled end time.

"What's wrong, pea? Ready to end things for the day already?"

Courtney eventually shook her head and placed her little crayon on the table.

"...Why were you and Nani fighting earlier?"

The color nearly drained from Lailah's face when she realized that her bribe of promising sugar after the lesson hadn't made Courtney forget everything like it was supposed to.

"O-Oh, well... You know we weren't really fighting, just having a small disagreement is all."

"About what?"

"Y-ou are relentless, huh..?"

Courtney's big red eyes bored into Lailah as she silently waited for an answer.

Even though she was supposed to be the one with the dominating personality, Lailah felt herself being utterly cornered by this kindergartner.

"Your grandmother is just babying your father and I too much and we don't exactly like it. We are big strong adults after all." Lailah held up her arms which, at a glance, did not look very impressive.

Courtney didn't quite understand the reason for the fighting, but she did still wish that it would stop.

"Are you guys going to make up soon..? I don't like you guys fighting..."

Few individuals could make Lailah feel helpless, and even fewer could do so without earning her ire.

She smiled at her daughter sadly as she ran her fingers through her messy black hair in earnest.

"We'll be fine, pea. Sooner or later this will all work itself out."

"...Okay."

Courtney rested her head on her mother's arm and the two of them sat in silence as they stared at the work they had left unfinished.

As they sat in silence, Lailah's mind drifted towards the earlier unpleasantness with her mother.

How long had it been since the two of them bickered like that?

It took a while and a lot of awkwardness, but eventually the two were able to build quite the warm relationship.

So much so that they turned their past into one very long nightmarish dream.

And Lailah didn't know it, but... she had come to enjoy that peace.

It bothered her more than she realized to see them dipping back into their old ways.

"Mommy?" Courtney called.

"Y-Yes?" Lailah was slightly startled, as she wasn't certain how long she had been daydreaming.

"Can I ask you something?" Courtney began to twirl her thumbs anxiously, making Lailah worry.

"What's wrong, darling? Ask me anything."

"Well... I like learning with you, but... do you think that I could ever go to real school again?"

"Why made you ask that, pea?"

" I just... I kind of miss having friends and stuff." She said shyly. "So can I go..?"

Lailah immediately grimaced.

It wasn't as if she and her husband had never kicked around the idea of sending Courtney to school, but ultimately Tehom was not yet made for humans.

And neither was their school system.

Nevi'im go from being children to their late teens in only a short time.

School curriculums in Tehom match that pace of growth, and they operate at a rate that is six times faster than even the most rigorous human A.P. class.

Courtney would fall severely behind on the first day- and all of her classmates would have outgrown her in a month.

It was no way for her to live- hence the reason why she and the others had decided on homeschooling.

But now, as she looked at her daughter, Lailah realized that she was in greater need of those connections than they thought.

"I'll tell you what... I'll talk to your father and we'll see if we can figure out something for you, okay?"

Courtney smiled as bright as the sun and made Lailah's heart warm with only a single glance.

Lailah was still trying to catch her breath as she lay sandwiched between Abaddon and Seras when she finally ended up breaking the news about her conversation with Courtney.

Needless to say, Abaddon and Seras were also concerned, but they were more aware of the problem than anyone.

Courtney just wouldn't thrive at a Tehom school because she was human.

"Now I know what you both are thinking, but I need you to hear me out for a second... you got that husband? Hear me out first, okay?" Lailah practically smushed her face against Abaddon's to get her point across.

"Why am I the only one you are reminding twice??" Abaddon raised a brow.

"Because I know you."

"This isn't getting any less offensive."

Lailah laughed melodically as she gave him a small kiss on the cheek as an apology.

"Just promise me that you will listen and you won't say no right away. Please?"

It was hard for Abaddon to say no to anything if he was asked with big eyes and while naked.

And Lailah had been gaining a little weight lately in all of the right places- so he couldn't have told her no even if it was the only word he knew.

"I promise." He nodded.

"I want to find an alternate reality earth where we can enroll Courtney in school and have her go there."

It was a good thing Lailah made her husband promise beforehand, because the words 'Fuck no' almost flew past his lips before he knew how to stop them.

"I-I know that you have your own reservations about human schooling and all of that, but don't let your mind be affected by your own personal experiences." Lailah pleaded.

'She could be bullied.' Abaddon thought.

"We can send a bodyguard to observe her and make sure that she is in a stable learning environment where she is genuinely comfortable."

'She's too young to be sending her off.'

"We'll give her a crest just like our older children so that she can come straight home at the end of every school day."

'...Tch.'

Now, Abaddon was beginning to get frustrated with himself for failing to think of extra reasons to be against this plan.

Lailah had cornered him perfectly.

"I think it's a good idea." Seras suddenly said.

Lounging on the floor in all of her nude glory, Seras ran her fingers through her husband's long twin-colored hair as she stared at him lovingly.

"Seras..?"

"I know that you love our daughter sincerely and want the best for her, but wanting the best doesn't always mean you have to be her big protector.

It also means that you ensure that she is in the best spaces possible to grow. I know you've seen how much happier Nubia and Mira became when they started making friends.

Don't you want that for our youngest too?"

Abaddon groaned and covered his eyes in annoyance.

Because he was actually starting to see reason.

He felt a familiar weight crawl on top of him and he tentatively opened his eyes.

There, he found Seras looking more beautiful than a vision and smiling at him knowingly.

"You are a good father, darling. You know that we have to do this for her."

She rested her head along the side of Abaddon's neck and licked him all the way up to his cheek.

"If you give your permission for this, we will be veryyy happy~"

Abaddon felt her nibble his ear and his iron wall of resolve began crumbling even further.

'I won't be bought, I won't be bought, I won't be...'

Abaddon felt Lailah take his other ear into her mouth and his body betrayed him by having a very telling reaction.

"...The price for my acceptance will not come cheap." He warned.

Seras: "I'm perfectly fine with that."

Lailah: "We'd do anything for our precious daughter afterall."

"..."

Nine hours and three bottles of lubricant later, it was decided that they would start looking for a new school for Courtney as soon as they returned from their meeting with Shiva.