"Yeah, no mother could bear such a situation. That kind of despair would consume Selena. Jasper was really upset over the phone, and he doesn't have anything else he can do. His body's just healed, and with all this happening, he's being tortured again. Thankfully Jason's helping him, or Jasper really won't be able to hold on. If I can't resolve this side right now, I should go back to assist him too."
Neither of them were in a very good mood.
Georgia wanted to see the children so she went downstairs to them.
She and Robert had gotten up early today, and the kids were snuggling in their covers not willing to wake up.
As Georgia went in, Annie nestled deeper into her sheets.
"I don't want to wake up yet, Mommy, I want to lie in bed more-"
"Mommy didn't say she was going to wake you up."
Georgia smiled and sat down next to her daughter.
"If you don't want to get up, Mommy can have the chefs get some breakfast ready and have you eat it in the room, then you can sleep after you eat again. Wouldn't that be great? You can sleep all the way to noon."
At that, Annie shot Georgia a funny look.
"You're different from usual, Mommy, didn't you always make us wake up early and eat breakfast at the table? Are you making fun of me? Can you really have the chef make breakfast and let me eat it in bed? Is that okay?"
Georgia chuckled.
"We have to reward our little princess, you know. It's so cold, and the house might be heated, but if my little princess wants to stay in bed, Mommy has to fulfil her wish. Has our little princess gotten too used to waking up early and doesn't want this reward?"
"I wanna I wanna!"
Annie started yelling excitedly.
"Mommy, you told me the story about a lazy person who didn't budge in bed and starved to death. I won't be like him. I'll eat in bed and then lie down, and it's going to be great."
Annie was like a kid acting out to do bad things, and felt like it was fun to experience this sort of life.
Georgia was especially generous today and turned to Wesley, who'd opened his eyes at the side.
"What about you, Wesley? Want to eat breakfast in bed like your sister? I won't mind. It's snowing heavily again outside, and I don't want you to freeze out there. Even if you lie in bed all day, so long as you eat all your meals, I won't mind at all."
"I don't need breakfast in bed, Auntie Georgia. I just want to lie down for a while. I'll get up afterwards on my own."
"Okay then."
Georgia smiled and stood, then turned to Annie.
"Mommy's not making fun of you. Mommy's going to bring you breakfast later and absolutely satisfy our little Annie's wish to stay in bed today, okay?"
"Mommy, you're the best!"
Annie squealed, while Robert just so happened to come in, and grew curious.
"I thought you liked Daddy best? Why is it Mommy now? Is our little princess this fickle?"
"Daddy, I like Mommy best now, sorry."
Robert smiled, waited for Georgia to go out, and raised the question.
"What's with how you talked for a while and got that confession out of your daughter? Did you promise her something? The little slick makes you her favorite person just for buying her games and food and clothes and letting her laze off. Really, an opportunist."
"She says she wants to stay in bed and not get up, so I let her, and told her that I was going to bring breakfast to her and let her eat and stay in bed."
Georgia said that, and Robert chuckled.
"That's too lax, isn't it? It's not a good habit."
"Yeah, I think I'm being lax too. But I'm not feeling happy today and just want to make them happy instead by pampering them and doing whatever they want. So long as the kids are by me, I feel like fate is still merciful. That's why I'm fulfilling their every desire today. You don't have an opinion on that, do you, dear husband?"
"Do I even dare have an opinion?"
Robert joked, leading Georgia to the dining room to eat.
The chefs were still readying breakfast, so they just went over to drink some water.
They were used to having a glass of water before breakfast.
Ivan and Wilson were at the table too and they seemed to be chatting.
Georgia and Robert went over, and the two raised the question.
"Where are the kids? Still don't want to get up?"
"Wesley is staying in bed for a while, then he's going to come over to eat. But Annie doesn't want to come today and wants to stay in bed all the while. I'm going to take breakfast to the bedroom so she can eat in bed."
"You're pampering your princess a bit too much, don't you think? Annie is getting more and more spoiled. She'll be a stubborn, bratty young lady afterwards."
At what Ivan said, Robert glared at his little brother.
"What are you talking about? If my daughter isn't to be a stubborn bratty young lady, is she to be a yes-girl who's afraid of everything? I can rest easy if she has more of a temper, so people don't bully her."
"Oh, never mind. I must be out of my mind saying something like that to parents as loving as you."
Ivan chuckled self-deprecatingly, and Georgia was amused too.
She said she was pampering them, but a lot of the time, she was stern with the children to get them to develop good habits. Today was an exception.
Robert was the one who said a lot, but always gave way to his children.
The two of them were probably not going to be able to raise a gentle, mild-mannered boy and girl.
The chefs finished making breakfast, and Georgia ate a simple dish, then took a tray to the bedroom.
Now, though, Wesley had already woken up and gone out to eat with his uncles. There was only Georgia and Annie left in the room.
Georgia even got a small table to put at the side so Annie could eat breakfast in bed.
"You're really letting me eat in the bedroom, Mommy? I just made a bet with Wesley that you wouldn't actually let me. I've lost my pocket money to Wesley now, Mommy, what do I do?"
"What, you actually bet with your brother that I would make you go out to eat?"
Annie nodded sorrowfully.
"Mommy, you have to give me extra pocket money, or I'll lose to Wesley. I made a promise, and I can't break it, but I won't be happy without pocket money. It's going to be our first holidays together soon. Don't you want to give me more pocket money, Mommy?"
Georgia had to laugh at her daughter's slick machinations.
"Don't worry. Mommy's going to give you lots of extra pocket money for you to have over the holidays."
Only then did Annie relax and happily eat breakfast.
The two of them had similar tastes in dishes.
After breakfast, the two kids stayed inside to play with their toys. Antonio's two robots had a lot of smart functions.
The kids hadn't discovered it all yet, and were still talking excitedly to the robots, and having them dance and sing, or fetch things. They couldn't perform every function, of course, but basic actions like dancing a jig, fetching a broom or picking up a pillow was actually all within the robots' capabilities.
Georgia played with the kids for a while longer and went back to her computer, continuing to study yesterday's data.
After an hour or two, though, Wilson came by her side and signaled that he had something to say.