After arriving home, everyone scattered into their rooms, and Arthur soon found himself lying on his bed, rereading the chat messages he had exchanged with Natalia during the car ride.
A small smile crept onto his lips as he read her texts, the ones that sounded like she had been worried about him about how stressed he'd looked. He figured she must have been referring to the moment he'd spiraled into imagining his future heartbreak.
He really had been dramatic, hadn't he?
Arthur knew it.
Their messages eventually turned flirty as Natalia began teasing him, and just thinking about it made his face heat up again. In the end, he put his phone away, knowing full well he'd waste another half hour replaying everything in his head anyway.
And he was right.
He only fell asleep around half an hour later.
The next morning, Arthur woke up late again, this time thanks to Aunt Kelly, who woke him up with a few affectionate slaps to his back and butt.
At breakfast, Arthur tensed the moment Natalia arrived and took the seat right beside him. She even dragged the chair a little closer, though the small gesture went completely unnoticed by the older couple.
Natalia was properly dressed today, and Arthur had to fight the urge to stare. Just like before, he felt hypnotized by her posture and striking presence. The dark suit fit her perfectly, the heels added to her commanding aura, and her hair was tied neatly into a ponytail.
She looked gorgeous.
And very intimidating.
Arthur was sure no omega would ignore her and they'd definitely take a second glance.
That included Arthur himsef, of course...
He was struggling. He wanted to admire her more, but he didn't want to come across as weird by staring.
'Maybe I'll get plenty of chances in the future', he thought, 'to see her up close… and in peace'.
"You're going to the company today?" Kevin asked, taking a bite of his scrambled eggs before falling quiet again.
"Yeah. Also, I was thinking that from now on, I'll go to the office regularly. Since I'm here, you can rest more, work from home."
"Are you sure? I don't want to dump everything on you all of a sudden."
Uncle Kevin warmly smiled.
"It's not sudden. I'm prepared for this."
"I believe in you. You'll do even better than me."
"Thank you, Dad. I'll try my best."
Aunt Kelly smiled warmly at the father and daughter duo and placed more eggs onto her husband's plate.
"Also," Natalia added casually, "from now on, I'll drop Arthur off and pick him up too. You do that every day."
Arthur's heart skipped as he bit down on his fork, sneaking a glance at Uncle Kevin, who went silent for a long moment.
"That's alright," Kevin finally said. "I'll handle that myself."
Disappointment washed over Arthur, though he quickly hid it. He glanced at Natalia but she didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
"Dad, you can trust me," Natalia said calmly. "I'll take good care of him. It'll also give us a chance to get to know each other better."
Once again, Kevin was silent, then turned his attention to Arthur.
"I do trust you, dear," he said. "But I want Arthur to decide. As much as I want you two to get along, I don't want to rush it."
"I understand, Dad," Natalia replied.
Arthur felt Kevin's gaze settle on him.
Despite his disappointment, he was strangely moved. Uncle Kevin really cared about him, didn't he?
Arthur smiled, glanced briefly at Natalia, then looked back at uncle Kevin.
"I'm okay with it, Uncle."
"Really?"
Arthur could clearly hear the surprise in uncle Kevin's voice, and it was no wonder.
Even Aunt Kelly had paused mid-bite for a moment. But unlike Uncle Kevin, she didn't look shocked.
She looked excited, maybe even far too excited for such a simple answer.
"So who's going to drop him off today? You?"
Everyone turned toward Aunt Kelly, who immediately pointed at Natalia.
"Yeah. If he's okay with it."
Arthur caught the smirk on Natalia's lips when she turned to look at him, making it hard for him to pretend he was oblivious to whatever plan this was.
"Okay then. Please take care of my baby, alright? Drop him right at the school gate, okay? And be patient and gentle with him, alright?"
Aunt Kelly rattled on without stopping for breath while Uncle Kevin stared at her for a moment before chuckling quietly to himself.
Arthur felt unexpectedly touched by her concern.
He actually almost teared up until a hand suddenly landed on his thigh, startling him so badly that he choked on his eggs.
"Oh my god, here. Water."
Tears instantly welled up in his eyes as he now stared down at the blurry plate.
"Haa…"
Arthur sighed, coughing lightly, as aunt and uncle watched him with worry, offering him more water.
But his heart sank when he looked up and saw Natalia.
He hadn't seen many of her expressions before, but this one made his chest ache. She looked scared… and guilty.
Well, she should be. She was the reason he choked.
Still, seeing her so worried for him stirred something unfamiliar inside his chest.
'Oh my god… I wish I could hug her.'
Arthur's instincts took over before he could stop himself. Without thinking, he reached out and lightly squeezed her thigh in return.
Natalia stiffened, clearly just as shocked as he was at the time.
It felt a little like revenge but when he saw her shoulders relax slightly, Arthur felt oddly relieved too.
She had worried about him, hadn't she?
Well… it was still her fault. But...
"Haa… these damn eggs."
Arthur glanced down at his thigh, the spot she had touched just minutes ago, trying to recall the feeling he was distracted from before. But between the lingering sting in his throat and his racing heart, he couldn't focus.
Annoyed, distracted, and very much not thinking straight, Arthur unknowingly squeezed Natalia's thigh.
He was startled and quickly pulled back when Natalia stabbed her fork rather aggressively into her eggs.
'Oh… she's angry at the eggs too.'
She wasn't.
She just thought the eggs looked delicious.
Because the hand on her thigh was making her hungry…