Progress

Ariel was excited beyond belief.

Not only could she follow her father to send her brother and sister to school, but she could also actually go to his office as well!

She could see what he's like at work.

Ariel found that while she may not remember things well yet, but when she listened to her recordings, it always came back to her.

So, Mummy would always have her listen to yesterday's recordings and during the weekends, choose a random day to listen to.

It made her remember things better and see a few things better.

She doesn't have any recordings of her father at work, so she was extra, extra excited.

Finishing her breakfast, Ariel washed her hands at the finger bowl and patted them dry. She looked up at her father with a huge smile and announced, "I'm done, Daddy!"

Kyle smiled back at Ariel and replied after noticing her empty plate, "That's a good girl, Rie."

"May I be excused?" Ariel asked, blinking and looking at her father, then her mother.

"Yes, Rie," replied Sayuri.

Nodding, Ariel climbed down from her chair and went over to Pipi and said, "Auntie Pipi, I need to change."

Right now, Ariel was wearing a T-shirt and pants. It was suitable for going out but she wanted to look pretty since she was going to Daddy's office. In fact, her choice of clothes was with the expectations that she would be going to send her older siblings to school.

Hope for the best, expect the worse, right?

If she was going, she was already ready; but she never expected this sudden pie in the sky dropping on her lap.

Pipi smiled and took Ariel's hand, "Alright, Ms. Ariel."

Ariel tugged at the hand and wanting to move quickly, saying, "Let's go, let's go! We can't be late!"

"Rie, you only have five minutes," Kyle told her as she reached the doorway, "You are fine as you are."

Ariel looked down dejectedly at her outfit, then at her father. Many words of protest wanted to come out through her lips but she instinctively knew she should not say them.

Daddy was a stickler for keeping time and if she made a fuss, wouldn't Daddy just leave her behind then?

Ariel gripped Patricia's hand tightly and her lower lips quivered a bit. Taking several deep breaths and then she looked at her mother.

Sayuri, seeing Ariel's gaze, didn't say a word and just gave a small smile.

She could see the struggle on Ariel's face, and she was looking at her for either inspiration or intervention.

Sayuri wasn't going to give either.

This was Ariel's test.

She could see that Ariel knew what should be done but she was struggling against herself to actually do it.

It was a lot to ask from a three-year-old, and truth be told, Sayuri didn't think Ariel would be able to pass this hurdle for now. She may know what to do by intuition, but she was still a child, after all.

Just how many children would be able to do 'what is right' when their feelings come into play?

Just look at Alex - he's already eight, and yet, always acting up.

Sayuri pursed her lips.

Okay, so perhaps using Alex as an example wasn't a good move.

Ariel struggled, then bit her lower lips and nodded slowly.

"Okay, Daddy," she said softly and then started walking over to the living room, "I'll wait here."

Kyle, who had been holding back a smile, took his cup of coffee and drank it. Partly to finish it and partly to stop the proud smile coming out. He motioned to Butler Kim and said a few words softly, then looked at his eldest children.

"Are you done?" he asked the obvious, as he could see that they were.

"Yes, Daddy," Aurora replied while Alex just nodded.

All of them got up walked towards the door, with the kids in front and Sayuri behind with Kyle. At the door, Alex nodded to Sayuri and said before heading to the car, "Mother, goodbye."

Aurora hugged Sayuri and she bent down, letting Aurora kiss her cheek, "Bye Mummy."

Sayuri kissed her back and waved as Aurora went to get inside the car.

Ariel, who was being carried by Pipi, flung her arms around Sayuri's neck and kissed both her cheeks, "Bye Mummy."

Sayuri smiled, kissed Ariel's cheeks and said, "Be good now, Rie."

"I know, Mummy," Ariel replied with a smile, "I'm going to work with Daddy!!"

She flung her hands up in the hair excitedly, "I'm a big big girl now."

Kyle laughed and rubbed her head, "Yes, Rie, you're getting to be bigger now. But you're still my baby, right?"

Ariel nodded, "Yes yes."

Then, she spread her arms towards Kyle, saying, "Carry me, Daddy?"

Kyle raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I thought you're a big big girl now?"

Ariel grinned, "Baby now, big big girl later."

Kyle and Sayuri laughed at that, but Kyle still shook his head, "Not now, Rie. Pipi has to put you in the car first. Now it's my turn to say goodbye to Mummy right?"

Ariel pursed her lip then nodded, looking serious, "Okay, Daddy, but don't kiss too long. We might be late."

"I'm never late, sweetheart," Kyle replied, pinching her cheeks, "Kissing your mother is very, very important because I love her very much."

Ariel tilted her head and agreed, "Okay, Daddy."

As Ariel was carried away by Pipi, Kyle turned to his wife and hugged her by the waist, "Now, where were we?"

Sayuri smiled, putting her arms around his neck, and said, "Nowhere. You haven't begun yet."

"Oh? I should rectify that then," Kyle replied as he leaned close, his lips a breath away from hers.

"Mhmm," Sayuri said, slipping her tongue out to flick his lips, "You should."

With that, Kyle claimed her lips and gave her a deep and passionate kiss which lasted for about two minutes.

Which was really a bad idea because, as usual, his body reacted very strongly to his wife. With a very reluctant groan, Kyle broke the kiss and gave her a few soft butterfly kisses on her lips, and let her go.

Sayuri simply smiled at him and quickly helped Kyle adjust his 'parking'. As Kyle's back was to the kids, and she blocking what she was doing with her own body, nobody knew that she had unzipped his pants, moved the slightly hard Kyle Jr to the middle, and zipped back the pants.

"Thank you," Kyle said with a slightly hoarse voice and tightened his leg muscles in order to have his erection calm down.

Truly, a very good trick he learned when he was younger that he found himself having to use quite often due to his wife's teasing.

She didn't need to use any fancy drugs to turn him on.

She was the drug itself.

"Go, before you be late then you're going to have a lot to explain to Ariel," Sayuri said with a laugh, knowing full well her help earlier only made him harder.

"Devil," Kyle said, giving her one last peck on the lips, and turned around, relieved that he was no longer having a tent in his pants.

"Daddy! Daddy! Come on!" Ariel said excitedly, waving her hands as she sat in her car seat.

Kyle quickly entered the car and started it, turning to look at Ariel as he did so, "Ready?"

Ariel gave a thumbs-up sign and nodded.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

Once Kyle parked the car at the school, Alex went out of the car and went to help Ariel unbuckle her seatbelt. He was about to help her get down from the car seat when Kyle came up to them and patted Alex's shoulder.

"I'll carry her," Kyle said, waiting for Alex to move aside so that he could reach in and take Ariel.

Instead, Alex looked up at him and said, "Ariel is old enough to walk."

"Yes she is, but Ariel is only three," Kyle pointed out, "And the school grounds aren't exactly small."

Alex knew that, but somehow, he just couldn't stop himself from trying to make a point. Or rather, to be the one that brought Ariel into the school instead of his father.

Grappling with himself for a while, Alex finally stepped aside and Kyle reached into the car to carry Ariel out. She was already ready and wrapped her hands tightly around her father's neck as he took her out.

Kyle didn't say a word to Alex, knowing that the latter was quite unhappy at him 'stealing' his sister away from him.

Still, Kyle was quite satisfied with his children today.

Both of them had been faced with their internal struggles: to do what they should, versus, what they wanted.

Kyle was impressed at Ariel for being able to do it despite the fact that she had really wanted to dress up like a princess to go to the office.

As for Alex...

Kyle pressed the lock on the remote control and followed behind his son. Aurora, as usual, had dashed off ahead once she saw her friends there.

Kyle smiled.

Looks like Alex is improving tremendously. Before, he would have stubbornly kept with his stance and refuse to give in.

Now, he would at least step aside when he didn't have a proper counter-argument.

He still showed his displeasure for having to do so, however, but that was fine.

Kyle was still proud of his son's progress.