Instead of heading straight to the living quarters, I decided to stop by the playroom first. Even though I’d told the kids that we had to cut the vacation short, I really hadn’t had time to talk to them beyond that.

  When I finally pushed into the room, I found the place a lot quieter than I expected. The kids were sitting in their individual areas, bent over their desks, with Sir Froggington walking between them.

  “Shit,” I muttered quietly. “I forgot that it was school time.”

  None of the kids reacted to my utterance, but Sir Froggington paused and looked over at me. The bot reached into his coat and pulled out an antique pocket watch, checking the time before shushing me with one hand and beckoning me in with the other.

  “One minute left! Remember, if you can’t remember the answer to something, it’s better to put something down than leave the question completely empty,” he announced.

  The declaration was followed by the sound of furious scribbling from each of the kids as they struggled to finish their assignments, or tests, or… whatever they were doing. I silently wandered into the middle of the room and decided to wait until they finished.

  “Pencils down, your time is up,” Sir Froggington announced after a minute.

  Eddie groaned. “Why did you have to quiz us on math of all things? It’s my worst subject!”

  “You won’t improve without practice,” the professor declared as he wandered around the room to collect their papers. “I think that’s enough for today. I’ll mark these tonight and have them ready for tomorrow. Good work, everyone.”

  “We’re freeeeeeee!” Issi declared throwing her pencil in the air.

  “I know you’re excited, but I don’t think you should be throwing your school supplies like that,” I announced, causing all three kids to turn in surprise.

  “Evie!” Issi shouted in joy as she jumped to her feet. She took a couple steps towards me before her look of joy changed to a frown, and she came to a stop. “I’m still mad at you for canceling our vacation.”

  “I didn’t want to end our vacation early,” I said. “There’s just a problem back home, and I need to go back and help with it.”

  “You could have let someone else handle it,” she sniffled.

  “Issi… its my job to protect people. How do you think I’d feel if someone got hurt because the bears and I weren’t there to protect them?” I asked.

  “Bad,” the girl sniffed. “It’s just been so long since we spent time together. I don’t want it to end.”

  “Awww… I’m sorry.” I said as I slowly moved forward and enveloped her in a gentle hug. “This vacation has been a lot of fun, and I’ve enjoyed spending time with you all. I know I can get a little distracted with all my projects back home. How about this: I promise to spend one day a week with you guys. No more disappearing every day and only showing up for dinner.”

  “You promise?” the little girl muttered.

  “Promise,” I whispered.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Good! We’ll hold you to that promise,” Jennifer declared as she jumped on my back and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  I cranked my neck to look at the older girl. “You don’t seem that upset,” I said.

  “That’s because I kind of understand your reasons,” she said. “Like… I don’t fully understand everything you do, but I know it’s both exceptionally dangerous and important. You wouldn’t have cut our vacation short unless you absolutely had to.”

  “I understand too!” Isabelle exclaimed before pouting again. “That doesn’t mean I like it.”

  “I don’t like it either,” I told her quietly.

  I continued hugging her for several more seconds before letting her go and rising to my feet. Jennifer remained locked onto my neck for several more seconds, but with my new muscles I barely even noticed her weight. When I rose, I noticed Eddie standing awkwardly to the side, watching us all.

  “Do you want a hug too?” I asked, opening my arms towards the boy.

  “What? No! Public displays of affection are gross,” the boy grumbled.

  “We’re not in public though, we’re on the carrier,” Issi pointed out.

  “Well… It’s embarrassing,” Eddie admitted, his face turning a light red. “It feels strange to hug you all when the frog is watching.”

  “Awww, you’re cute,” I exclaimed. Before the boy could react, I stepped forward and scooped him up.

  “Lemme go!” he exclaimed, wiggling about.

  “Yay! More hugs!” Issi cheered, clamping onto Eddie from the other side. After a moment the boy stopped struggling and hugged me back.

  “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked.

  “Nooo… Thanks for the hug,” he muttered quietly.

  I stepped back and gave the boy a little bit of space. He was blushing so hard I thought he’d overheat if I teased him anymore.

  “You know, even though we need to start heading home, it’ll still take us a couple days to get home. Our vacation isn’t technically done yet,” I told them as I wandered back to the small lounge in the middle of the room. “We could still do something together before we arrive.”

  “Are we stopping anywhere else on the way back?” Jennifer asked.

  “I wasn’t planning on it,” I admitted. “Unfortunately, I still don’t know how much time until the catastrophe happens.”

  “‘The Catastrophe’?” Jennifer repeated, with a smirk. “What? Are you afraid of telling us what’s going to happen?”

  “Little minds don’t need to know the details,” I declared.

  “I’m eleven. That’s hardly a kid,” she snorted.

  “You may be exceptionally smart and mature for your age, but you’re still a kid in my eyes,” I declared. “You don’t need to know.”

  “You know we’ll find out eventually. If it’s that important, you’ll be all over the news feeds, like usual,” Eddie declared.

  “Well… you can find out about it then,” I grumbled.

  “So if we’re not stopping, what are we going to do for the next couple days?” Issi asked excitedly. “Maybe chessers? I have a couple new sets available.”

  “A couple new sets?” I asked. “I thought Jane asked you to hold back on creating new sets for awhile. We were running out of places to store them.”

  “I didn’t make them! I got them from Mrs. Artell after telling her about Chessers. She was so excited that she designed a couple new armies right there and then!” Issi explained. “She even sent me a copy of them all.

  “Of course she did,” I groaned. “How many did she make?”

  “Oh, not that many,” Eddie scoffed. “Only five full-sized armies.”

  “And they’re so cool! There’s one based entirely on cat samurai, and one with boats, like pirates, and even one that represents the Siege of Seattle. You’re in that one!” Issi exclaimed.

  “Well, I was there,” I muttered. “How did she manage to get them on the ship?”

  “She gave them to the bears,” Eddie explained.

  “Somehow I’m not surprised,” I said, before turning towards Jennifer and Eddie. “So how about it? Up for a game?”

  Eddie grinned. “Only if I can be the Antithesis!”

  “Ugh,” Jennifer muttered. “You always have to be the edgelord, don’t you? Fine, I’ll play, but only if I’m the Calgary samurai.”

  I nodded. “What about you, Issi?” I asked the girl.

  “Pirates!” she exclaimed excitedly. “They Arrrrr great!”

  Eddie groaned. “That was terrible.”

  “That’s fine, I have plenty more!” Issi replied. “I’m sure you’ll like one of them!”

  I laughed as Eddie physically blanched at the declaration.

  “No, please…” he whispered.

  “Alright then,” I said, interrupting him. “I’ll get the sets. Let’s play!”

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