At first, I was against it; however, as Ryder got older it became painfully obvious to me that he was eager to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and his father. It also became evident that he possessed outstanding skills for him to become a leading agent. King was beyond thrilled and spent the majority of his time with Ryder from such a young age while Reiner continued to manage the company.
“I’m not sure if Ryder should be taking lessons like that…” I voiced my concern to Reiner straightforwardly.
It shocked me when Ryder turned up and showed me how to assemble and then disassemble a gun and he could do it at lightning speed. I couldn’t believe that the red-haired boy that was grinning up at me while holding a gun that he had put together was really my son.
“It’s common. Treat it like a sport…a combat sport,” Reiner replied like it was nothing.
“Did you do something like this when you were younger too?” I asked, still in disbelief.
“Yup. He’s pretty much going through the same thing that I did. Except, I was a lot faster than him at the gun exercise when I was his age. He does have other talents, though,” Reiner replied with a grin.
“Why do you look and sound so proud…” I complained.
“Because I am. He’s really taking after me, don’t you think?” Reiner replied before shrugging his shoulders at me.
I glared at him so hard that I thought that my eyes would pop out of their sockets.
“Aren’t you scared that he’s going to get hurt…” I mumbled with worry.
“He’ll be fine. The more he learns, the safer he will be. That’s all that I can tell you,” Reiner said as he tried to reassure me.
“I don’t know. Isn’t there like something else that he can do?” I asked while feeling so helpless.
“You know, I was thinking that when he gets older, if he doesn’t want to take over then I won’t force him. But with the way things are looking, I don’t know…if nothing changes, he’ll be a great candidate to take over this company after me,” Reiner said before smiling a little too proudly at me.
“That’s because your father has been grooming him from such a young age. Maybe he doesn’t know anything better,” I muttered in complaint.
“Or maybe he was born with the right talents to lead the company after me. Who knows? Don’t go killing his dream even before he can even fully understand it, Natalia,” Reiner warned me before he smiled a little at me.
“I don’t know…it’s so risky. What if…” I protested before trailing off.
What if he dies? I can’t even bring myself to think about it let alone say it.
“He won’t die. Have some faith in your son and his skills. He’ll grow up and learn so much more. He can manage himself,” Reiner replied with confidence.
“Are you serious? You know, when you said that if he doesn’t want to take over the company, you won’t force him,” I asked hopefully.
“Yes, I am serious. I’m not like King. I think this company can be managed by someone outside the family,” Reiner replied seriously.
“Thank you so much, R…” I thanked him before sighing in relief.
“However, you have to promise me that if he wants to take over the company, you will not interfere or stand in his way,” Reiner said sternly.
“…I agree…” I mumbled.
What else could I say?
“Mommy! Mommy! Look!” Ryder yelled excitedly as he pulled on my skirt.
“Y-Yes?” I managed to reply after snapping out of my thoughts.
Ryder smiled up at me brightly before pointing his fingers to show me something. It was still hard for me to imagine my son growing up into a man like Reiner. Eventually that day would come, I knew that for certain because I couldn’t stop the flow of time. If I could, I’ll choose for the two of them to remain little like this forever so that I could keep them close to me.
My eyes followed to where Ryder was pointing his finger. Reiner stood there with a cake with candles in his hands. The candlelight sparkled on top of a large cake that I knew was most probably my favorite blueberry cheesecake that was baked by none other than my loving husband.
“Happy birthday, Natalia. May you stay forever beautiful and never age,” Reiner wished half teasingly.
I slapped his arm after he placed the cake on top of the table at his joke. Reiner smiled and laughed before he turned to carry little Lance up onto the chair. Lance was only 4 years old at the time so luckily, he was still quite free from all the training that his brother was already involved in. Although he was younger and didn’t have to take over the company in the future, he wasn’t going to be spared from the training because he was ‘a boy’.
“Make a wish and blow out the candles…” Ryder instructed as he beamed a smile at me.
I closed my eyes and made a few wishes before I opened my eyes again and blew out the candles in front of me while my boys clapped and cheered.
“Thank you so much boys! Thank you, R…” I thanked them all with a bright smile on my face.
It was hard to stop smiling when I was so happy. Just like I had thought, the cake really was blueberry cheesecake with a Reiner’s handwriting on it saying, ‘Happy Birthday, Natalia!’
Since we got married, Reiner always celebrated my birthday by baking his special blueberry cheesecake for me and this year was no exception. We went from celebrating with just the two of us to celebrating with King and Queen. Then Ryder joined us and then came Lance.
I remembered the first time that I laid eyes on Ryder after giving birth to him. He was a very big and healthy baby. He immediately reminded me of Reiner and so I wasn’t surprised when he grew up to look exactly like a mini version of his father. Ryder had the same hair, eyes, and nose as his father. This family surely had men with very strong genes.
–To be continued…