Choosing names for our children was a very challenging task. I learnt from Ryder’s case that our child needed two names. One that would be kept a secret and known only to his parents and grandparents and another name that he would use in public. That was when I realized that Reiner’s name isn’t really Knight. It had never dawned on me before that Reiner’s name wasn’t Knight.
I never got around to adopting that name for him and had stuck to calling him Reiner or R. Of course, he never minded, and I thought that it was cute and special for me to be the only one that called him this way. However, it completely slipped my mind that Reiner probably had another name that I knew nothing about. He never mentioned it to me at all.
Never mind Ryder’s real name, choosing his public name turned out to be a very political thing. There were many requirements involved that were imposed by King. The name also had to be unique and never used by any agent preceding him. We had many options nominated by many people but in the end, the name Ryder was chosen. It felt like I had won a mini war because that was the name that I nominated.
Lance’s case was much easier because I knew the process and how to convince King for me to have my way. I also thought that Ryder and Lance sounded like a cool duo. While his elder brother seemed like a well-discipline kid who followed the rule to the letter, Lance was more of a free spirit who did whatever he wanted. Ryder spent a lot of time following Reiner and his grandfather around and together they formed a trio with a very military vibe.
Lance, on the other hand, stuck to Queen and me a lot. It might be because he was still young or because he was born second that not a lot of pressure was placed on him for taking over the company. Having Lance with her probably eased Queen’s loneliness somewhat even though he wasn’t a little girl that she had dreamt of having.
Since their grandparents were still around, they helped Reiner and me take care of the kids. Driving them to and from school was a task usually performed by King and his bodyguards.
“Are you ready for school?” King asked with a warm smile.
The two boys rushed to hug their grandfather. King hasn’t really aged much in his appearance from the day that I first met him, and his muscles were still as bulky as before. It wasn’t surprising considering how intensely he still trained at his age. Although he wanted to retire so badly before, now that he was retired, he still trained along with some of the agents and helped teach them lessons too. The rest of his time was spent taking care of my kids, especially Ryder who he treated as if the boy was his own son.
“Let’s go!” Ryder shouted happily.
“King! King!” Lance shouted as he reached out his hands towards King.
At least the kids really seem to like going to school. There was a school that taught normal classes on the island; however, that didn’t mean that the children that go there are normal children with normal parents. I smiled a little to myself when it occurred to me that my children and their father and his side of the family are not exactly considered normal either.
“Behave yourself at school!” I shouted after them.
The boys turned to smiled at me as they waved goodbye. Despite his position and how stern he always was, at the end of the day, King was just like any other loving grandparent. It was strange to see him act so loving and warm towards my boy. The boys really brought our family together like never before.
…
“Did daddy make dinner?” Ryder asked as he sniffed the air.
“Food!” Lance chimed in happily.
“Yes, daddy’s cooking dinner. Want to go see?” I suggested with a smile.
Whenever the kids came home late, Reiner and I both knew that it was because King had taken them on a detour somewhere. Sometimes it was shopping where he spoiled them with toys that they probably didn’t need. Most of the time, he took them to visit the company and training centers.
“Yes. Let’s go see daddy!” Ryder replied enthusiastically.
I watched my eldest son pull on his brother’s hand before heading towards the kitchen where Reiner was cooking. Tonight, would be another dinner where the kids would tell us about the ‘awesome’ and ‘cool’ things that they saw at the company’s training grounds, shooting ranges, and other similar venues.
“Oh, you guys are back. Hungry?” Reiner asked.
I guess we arrived in the kitchen just in time because it seemed like Reiner had just finished cooking. Reiner still like to cook and bake for me and the kids as always. Of course, I was still as useless as ever when it comes to cooking and baking. In my defense, I got much better at planting and taking care of the rose garden. Now that Queen went away on holidays more often because of her retirement, I had the honorable task of taking care of her rose garden while she was away.
“Yes!” the boys replied in perfect unison.
I led the boys to their usual place at the dining table while Reiner served us food. Having dinner at home with my family was the best part of the day. Nothing else came close to the happiness that I felt when all of us were together and bonded over Reiner’s homecooked dinner.
As the boys chatted away about the ‘cool stuffs’ that King showed them at the office and training grounds with Reiner, I couldn’t help but smile a little to myself as I wondered if things were like this when Reiner was growing up. It was different, it was unique and truly uncommon; however, I had learnt that it may not be wrong. It was just a very different way of life.
“Natalia…” Reiner called my name as he reached for my hand under the table.
–To be continued…