NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19 - Splash pad
Just as I was about to log off, I spotted a unicorn member of our guild. Thessa was a halfling mage class, lean built, pale skin and had a mage staff taller than her. Runes covered her robes and based on her stats, she was still a higher level than me because she had more time to play than I did.
My family would catch up with the new schedule I designed. We had to finish this Legendary Class. Based on what I read last night, only one person had proof of completing a legendary quest, and they were level thirty at completion.
Thessa waved and walked over. "Hey!" She said in the scratchy, soft voice. "Where are Naiad and Triangle?"
"Done for the day. I need to log off and join them."
The woman tapped the ground with her staff. "Fiddlesticks. I missed you again."
"Just how our lives are. Well, best of luck in the game."
"Hold up, I'm not done." Thessa ignored my previous words and grabbed my arm, as if it would physically stop me. "I read the guild chat. You got a legendary quest! I want in on it. Let me get the buff."
I blinked, shocked and honored by the offer. She could bring the missing magical damage we needed on our team. She was higher level too and it would help us level up faster and easier. I didn't even account for Thessa in the build because of how rare she was on when we were.
I shook my arm free of her. "I'd like to include you, but our gaming times don't match. We play the moment the kids are home and stop at bedtime."
"Wow, no homework?" The random online stranger judged.
"Triangle doesn't get any, and Naiad's good about getting it done," I explained, though I owed her nothing.
"You're so trusting of them, you never check their work?" She critiqued and crossed a line that I shouldn't have to draw.
"Look, I don't need unsolicited parenting advice. I need to go be a parent. See ya." I backed up and logged off before I heard another word.
Every woman loved to criticize how a dad raised their kids. I hated it when my sister-in-law did it, and Beth told her to stop. A random online stranger had no way of knowing what happened in my home. She didn't even see my children often. She skimmed the guild chats and had her own judgemental thoughts about what a father couldn't do.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
Ignore her, she's not worth it.
The virtual gaming capsule opened up and the smell of cheap cheese microwaving in the kitchen wafted over to me. Elaine and Tristan waited by the microwave to finish its countdown. The classic snack of tortilla and microwave cheese sandwich, a poorly made quesadilla.
"Dad!" Tristan called over, "we're making dinner. Want one?"
"Why didn't you eat what I made you earlier?" My stomach grumbled at the smell of melted cheese. Even I wanted a bite.
"This is better," he pushed a hard argument.
The timer went off and both Elaine and Tristan celebrated and grabbed their mid-tier level quesadillas out, boosted by the fact they added sour cream to them. It oozed out onto the plates.
"Sure I'll have one." I went over to the bag of tortillas and noticed there were only a few left. To avoid another grocery run so soon, I only ate half a quesadilla. I had saved those for a meal later in the week, but my stomach was ravenous now. I remembered my promise too and gave Naiad her two cookies from Beth's stash, along with one for Tristan, so he didn't get mad.
Elaine sat in a chair, making sure her back was to me, and pulled up her tablet. The school home page loaded up before she went to grab her assignment. Thessa was wrong about my kids.
Tristan brought his coloring book over, one with that super hero with the lightning bolt on his chest. Instead of doodling looked up at me and at his sister, expecting something.
I smiled, not sure what to say. Things were fine, and we didn't need to solve any sort of problem. He was on the right class quest and I would just direct Naiad a bit more.
After a moment, he colored while I looked into the stats of the stream for today. For a sporadic unscheduled stream, it didn't do too well compared to my old Globe of Battlecraft streams. It was a third of the old numbers. The stream needed updating on the layout. According to the survey feedback, the most popular comment was asking if I mentioned how I got the legendary class quest. Followed by my archer needed to change for my build, my kids were dooming me, and people were just being over all online jerks. The top visible comments were useless in helping me speed up leveling to do the quest.
The microwave went off, and I grabbed my cheese only quesadilla. I held my snack and added the barely used plate to the stack in the kitchen sink. It clattered on top of the pile I made earlier in the day. It was the last noise to exist in the room that led to awkward silence. Slouching over her homework, Elaine grumbled and scowled, making it clear she was mad.
Once I licked my fingers clean, I tapped the kitchen table to get the kids' attention. "So today was fun. We made progress on Elaine's class quest. Fought a bird and turtle!"
Tristan was scooping up a glob of sour cream off his plate, and talked with food still in mouth, "Wow! Did you make them pets?"
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Elaine threw a silent glare at me to not continue this conversation about pets and classes. The look was effective on dads, not on little brothers.
Tristan chirped all happily along, "A turtle pet would be hard. We couldn't walk it fast. But I don't walk Goldy. You could pull him out. Oh. oh!" He realized something. "How big was the turtle? Could the bird carry you?"
The silent glare attack ended with a heavy sigh of defeat from Elaine.
I answered the question, "The bird was big enough to pick up Naiad!" I stuck my arms out and cawed like a raven. It was a trap for Elaine.
"Wow!"
"It didn't caw. It had a more gravelly voice and screeched." Elaine lectured.
"I don't know. I thought it was black like a raven and went 'Evermore, caw caw."
"It was a vulture, the Carrion of Life. Long neck, it was black and brown. And went Scree!" She gently mimicked the sound. We had a strict rule of no screaming unless blood, pain, or fire were involved.
This became a game of mocking bird sounds for a bit between Elaine and Tristan. I let it go while spending some time cleaning a few dishes into the dishwasher. Not all would fit. But at least we have dishes for breakfast. The pots and pans could wait until later. Once that was done, the animal sound competition evolved into goblin bombing. Tristan's favorite subject.
A bundled up dirty sock smacked Elaine in the face and she screamed, running to get him to stuff the bundle in his mouth.
"Hey, hey! Knock it off. Don't hurt him," I called out.
Elaine rolled her eyes at me, annoyed at me for throttling her revenge. She tossed the socks back at her brother. "I'm heading to bed."
"Hold on," I turned to focus on her, "I want to say, you and I did great out there. It was a lot of fun fighting with you in the chaotic fights. We really got it down by the time we found the pengaroos. You're the reason we won. Now we need Tristan to join in on the fighting practice."
Silence fell as the kids didn't answer and they did that darn secretive look at each other. I hated this lack of noise. When the children were younger, they would tell you anything, no filter about your white hair. Now, they hid every thought and I couldn't help or engage with their lack of response.
Tristan pretended to yawn and pack mentality kicked in and Elaine did it too. She took the lead on the excuse. "We're going to get some sleep."
"Sleep well," I wished for them. It was hard to hide the disappointment in my voice.
Tristan didn't run over to get his good night hug. I let it slide, realizing that when feelings were prickly, maybe it was best to not hug a cactus. It still stung to not get one.
There was a single message on my phone from Uncle Rick with a reminder. "Being a teenager is the hardest thing Elaine has faced. Be patient with her and her choices."
She had food, shelter, and games at her fingertips. But fine, I would try to give her time and not push too much. Felt like I was dealing with an aloof cat, though. Beth told me to not worry about Elaine either, that they talked. But no details on what they talked about and Beth dodged my questions. My daughter was like her mother.
I had to trust Beth, and that meant I had to trust Elaine, and her gaming choices, too. Everyone needed time, even me, to adjust. This was a game for the kids and I. It was not a competition against other players.
"It's only a game." I whispered to myself, to affirm the words. "I have to change for the kids."
I was a guild leader, but first I was their dad. We can't be an effective team if we're not an effective family first.
While the kids whispered quietly down the hall, making sure the big bad dad didn't hear them, I took initiative on cleaning the kitchen dishes and cheese off the counters from the late evening snack. I pitched the dinner that none of us ate that long went bad by sitting on the counter. Doing these mindless tasks helped me focus on the real problem at hand.
First thing tomorrow, we had to look for a clue about my quest. Naiad also had a timed class quest involving herbs. I didn't account for a timed one in my family schedule. The more I thought about my quest, the more I wanted to sit down and research it. There was a leveling up schedule I wanted us to achieve daily, and we didn't get it today. We had to pick up the pace.
Once the kids were asleep, I could finish my shield quest with Mrs. Crockery and look for clues on the Root and Seeds of the Problem quest. I could wander around the city for information. Then I wouldn't be forcing the kids to do things they didn't want to do. I had to accept Elaine's and Tristan's choices.
Elaine screamed down the hallway, "Stop that!"
It was the joyful sound and followed up with Tristan's laughter. "Got you!"
"Oh, I'll get you!" she replied with a loud splash.
More assaults of water replied. Ghost was barking at them.
I dropped the dishes I had immediately on the kitchen table and ran down the hall. "Hey! What is happening?"
The house we owned was old. The pipes creaked and rattled with running water. I could barely hear the rattling over the excessive amount of water splashing.
The carpet squelched under my feet as I stepped near the bathroom. Water poured from under the sink up and out from my bucket.
It also geysered out of where the faucet had once sat.
"Turn off the water!" I waded into the recently renovated splash pad room.
The water drenched the kids, who continued to ignore and compete for the worst listener award. The shut-off valves did nothing to the water geyser.
Kneeling to the ground, slipped on the flooded linoleum and banged my knee. The bucket was in my way and shoving it aside as it proved futile in the current situation. Turning off the cold water wasn't enough. I cranked the hot water off and at last the water fountain stopped.
Dealing with water emergencies was the last thing I wanted right now. River monsters were fun to slay, not stopping a leak that became a hose. Why couldn't the house stay together?
"Elaine. Tristan." I didn't hide the anger in my voice. "We are adding an amendment to the rule of screaming in the house. If water is flooding onto the floor and you can't turn it off, get a parent. Don't keep playing with it."
The kids nodded, giving me that annoying silence again. I ordered, "I want to hear you repeat the rule."
"Scream when there is water on the floor. Don't play with it." Tristan mangled pieces of the rule together.
"Get mom or dad if she isn't around to fix the flooding in the house." Elaine crossed her arms, glaring at me, wanting me to challenge her.
"Thank you." The words came out harsher than I wanted. But my socks were wet, and that was the best feeling I had going right now.
I hated being mad at the kids.
"We'll now clean this up. I want you," I pointed at Tristan, " -to pick up everything off the floor and get it in the tub. That includes the mats. You," I moved my finger to Naiad, "please go get the carpet cleaner."
Tristan reacted faster than Elaine. But with another glare from me, she walked down the hall to the cleaning closet. I entered the gaming room and got the fish tank siphon hose. Tristan grabbed all the towels out and put them on puddles of the water. Elaine dropped off the carpet cleaner and went to bed, saying she had homework to finish.
With a sigh to release my big emotions, I told Tristan, "I appreciate your help, but you can go to bed too. It's late as is. The team needs you rested and ready to fight for tomorrow."
"Um okay. Dad. You get sleep too." He came over and I got the hug I missed so much earlier.
I squeezed him and his wet pajama shirt a little tighter. "You too. I will defeat this river monster that is latched onto our carpet with the power of machine and wind!"
I hit the power button on the carpet cleaner, praying I could defeat the mold before it was too late.
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[Root and Seeds of the Problem
Time Remaining: 8 days, 22 hours, 48 minutes]
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