Bonus Chapter: Part 12

**Bonus Chapter: Part 12**

**“Helping,”** Hades replied, setting Friso down, holding his hand as they began to walk behind the old woman in quick steps, trying to catch up behind her.

“Granny, granny!” the boy called out to the elder, who took a long moment to turn her head and look at them, which gave Hades the cue to walk to her faster and Friso to run with his little feet to keep up with the former.

“Let’s help you cross, missus,” the man offered his hand to her, and that was when he got a clear look on her face. She appeared older than how he thought her to be. Her wrinkles had spread all over her face, and her body appeared to be emaciated. His blood boiled at the reckless drivers who went past her. How could they not help this old lady?

She looked at the offered hand for a brief second, shifted her gaze to the young man who looked at her with a concerned gaze, then looked up to get a good view of the kind gentleman who was offering his hand. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She was having a hard time crossing roads due to her poor eyesight and injured leg due to a recent accident. A lending hand wouldn’t hurt, but this was her first time being offered one.

There they were making quite a scene, standing in the middle of the road, stalling cars and irritating drivers. Jamaal zoomed on Hades’ hand.

She took out a cold, shivering hand, and held it tightly. It was clear she was terrified by all these cars coming and going past her. This young man’s hand was soft and warm, it was like finally finding a hearth to loom for comfort after a long time exposed to a cruel, cold winter. “If it isn’t bothersome, then please,” she said, and together, the three walked hand in hand, crossing the lane effortlessly and with ease. It didn’t take them long to finally arrive on the other side.

“Thank you. What a fine young man you are, my dear,” said the old lady to Friso as soon as they settled down.

“You’re welcome, granny,” the child politely replied to her.

“Your father raised you well,” the old woman complimented, looking over at the child’s father. “Thank you as well.”

“It’s no problem, grandma,” although he wasn’t the type to smile so much unless he’d see his wife’s face, Hades, forced his face to stretch out a friendly smile, which was well-received by the sweet, old lady.

“I should get going…” she said, letting go of the gentleman’s hand and proceeding by walking away. “Be careful on your way,” she turned her back on them, waving her thin hand with a wide smile on her face.

“You did a great job, buddy,” Hades said to Friso when the old woman had finally gone.

“You did a great job too, daddy,” the latter retorted, looking up at him with his large, doe-like eyes.

It didn’t take them long to arrive at the nearby ice cream shop, which was their first stop for the scene. One of the things that Friso loved the most was ice cream. There was no trip without one, or the kid would throw tantrums. So it was practiced that every time they went out, they should always stop by an ice cream parlor before anything. When asked if he could trade the different things he liked with ice cream, the child would always turn his favor for the dessert. Haroun wanted to catch that kind of moment, he wanted to catch a moment on how Friso was like in front of ice cream.

The usual ice cream parlor they to was a nice, yet a crowded place that gave off the vibes of a diner. There were much more expensive and luxurious places that could offer the most exorbitant ice cream, but they both preferred this shop since the ice cream was better. It was always the old ice cream parlors that offered the most delicious dessert.

“Cookies-and-cream?” Hades asked, looking down at Friso who was leaning his face down at the shelves displaying an endless array of scrumptious ice cream of different flavors, and add-ons offered. For the child, it was already synonymous with heaven.

“Yes, dada!” the child didn’t hesitate to answer. It was his favorite flavor. He would never say no to such when offered. Behind them, one of the cameramen zoomed at Friso’s smiling face, his chubby cheeks were all rosy and flushing.

“All right,” his father chuckled at his cute reaction before ordering a large cone of the said flavor with several toppings.

Due to the countless number of orders, they had to wait for theirs to be prepared. As they waited for their ice cream to be served, Friso took his time waiting by playing in the parlor’s playground with the other children. It was fine for both since Hades wanted the kid to associate himself with children around his age since he had been in the mansion most of the time, while Friso wanted to play with the other children. Meanwhile, Hades sat on a nearby chair so he could keep a close eye on him.

The man sat quietly on the sofa chair, his stature elegant and sharp, his back resting on the seat, and his legs crossed. He kept a straight, stoic face as he watched his son play with strangers’ children, stomaching the uncomfortable stares from several people. It was difficult not to be stared at and scrutinized by the public when he was being pointed at with a large camera.

On the other hand, Friso was enjoying himself sliding down the slides and running back to it for another round, while playing tag and hide and seek with his new friends that he will never meet again. He thought he was going to wait for a bit while for his ice cream, but now he wanted the dessert to be prepared longer.

“Here you go,” a cookies-and-cream ice cream topped with cookie crumbs, sprinkles, and butterscotch placed on a large cone was suddenly offered to him. His eyes immediately brightened.

“Thank you, dada!” Friso enthusiastically removed himself from the slide and offered his hand to accept the ice cream, but his father let go of the cone too early and ended up soiling the ice cream on the kid’s shirt.

“Oh no,” he gasped.

“Oh,” it took Hades a few seconds to register what happened. His son’s face began to crumple and grow red, eyes squinted as tears started to form in the corner of his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he began to apologize profusely. “Please don’t cry. I’ll go and get you another ice cream.”

“Don’t cry,” he said repeatedly as the boy’s face began getting redder and redder, he began to breathe briskly like he was hyperventilating. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry, it’s dada’s fault. Be strong.”

“But you said strong people can cry, dada,” Friso said, wiping a tear.

“Yes, they do too,” said Hades. He completely forgot that he said those words when Friso asked if he was disappointed that he cried. “Come, we should get you some new clothes, then a new ice cream,” he said, holding the boy’s hand as he decided to take him to the nearest children’s clothing boutique. Camilla ordered another ice cream of the same flavor and add-ons as the crew followed behind the father and son.