New Life: A Second Chance

It had been over a week since the playdate at Ali's house, and Kyle noticed the difference with Alex.

He wasn't as aggressive.

It wasn't to say that Alex had suddenly become nice and warmed up to him, but rather, he was not as antagonistic as usual.

Ali had told him what happened, and it caused Kyle to feel completely surprised. 

When he thought of the intelligence and awareness he had noticed in his son's eyes when he just born, Kyle had known then that his son was different. 

That both of his children were.

However, at that time, from Kyle's perspective, Alex had more intelligence as compared to Rory. That was due to his behaviour which was more mature and his reactions, which appeared sharper.

Now, however, Kyle realised that it wasn't because Alex was cleverer, but that he had some sort of grudge with him. As such, his responses were different. 

Rory, on the other hand, was more innocent and had no grudge. Thus, she gave the impression of being a 'normal' baby despite picking up on things quite fast. Just a highly intelligent baby, but not at the same level as Alex.

Kyle was grateful to Ali for being able to get through to his son, and to Sofiya for managing to calm his inner turmoil. 

Kyle smiled to himself.

It was a good start.

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Alex stared at his father.

He pursed his lips.

Despite learning a lot about himself, it was not an easy step when dealing with his father. It was his natural reaction to just lash out at him and it took a lot out of him to hold himself back.

Sometimes, he failed.

Sometimes, he succeeded.

However, Alex did notice that no matter what he did, his father did not berate him. He was firm, and he did tell him off, but somehow …

It did not feel as if his father was lashing out at him.

Previously, Alex always felt his father was looking down on him. That he, Alex, was never good enough. Every single thing that his father pointed out to him, Alex felt it was a personal attack.

Even now, he still felt that way a bit …

But it was more a conditioned reaction rather than real anger or dissatisfaction. 

When Alex cooled down a bit, he began to see that when he followed what his father said, he did better.

And …

Alex frowned.

He even got praised.

He had never been praised before.

"That's because you never deserved it before," Rory said to him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Alex's head whipped over to face her, about to retort when she put up her hand and said, "Yes, you have done well before but you were always rude to Daddy. You would either talk back at him when you did it right, or you'd use it as an opportunity to insult him."

Alex blinked.

Rory answered his unspoken question, "Yes, you were that bad."

Just then, they heard Kyle call out, "Alex!"

Rory and Alex were both surprised. 

They were in the living room while their father was calling out for Alex at the doorway.

"Yes?" Alex replied, coming up to him.

He looked at his father, who was dressed casually, all in black. Black jeans, black T-shirt inside a black jacket. He was wearing dark glasses that hid his eyes and his hair was styled differently. 

"Come on," Kyle said, handing him a bag.

"What's this?" Alex asked, taking the bag but not opening it.

"You'll see," Kyle said, pointing to the car, "Change there."

Alex was going to refuse out of habit when he closed his mouth, pressing his lips together. He neither said 'yes' or 'not', but tacitly agreed by doing as Kyle told him.

Kyle turned to Rory and bent down, giving her a hug, "I've got to talk to your brother, so I can't be taking you with me this time."

Rory clung to his neck, hugging him tightly.

After getting her fill, she gave his face several kisses like normal and replied, "Okay."

Sayuri came then, and Rory looked at her mother, with their baby sister in her arms.

"Kyle .." she began hesitatingly when Kyle shook his head.

She took a deep breath and reluctantly nodded, "Be careful."

"Always," Kyle replied, going forward and kissing her, "We'll be back before midnight."

Kyle picked up Rory and told her while facing Sayuri, "You take care of your mother and sister, okay?"

Rory nodded.

"Daddy, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, my Princess?" Kyle asked.

"Did you name her Ariel because she's a princess, too?" Rory asked, pouting a little. 

Since her sister was born, she was starting to feel a bit left out. Before, she was the only Princess but now, there's her sister. Rory felt she was named after Sleeping Beauty while her sister was the Little Mermaid. 

Both were Disney Princesses, and in a way, she was her father's Princess. 

But not anymore.

"If you mean, a Disney Princess, it's a coincidence," Kyle said, knowing Rory must have thought she had been named after a Disney Princess, "We named you Aurora because you're like the Dawn. The start of a brand new day. The daughter that we thought may not have lived."

"Whereas for Ariel, it means 'Lion of God' in Hebrew," Kyle explained, "Now, don't misunderstand. We're not saying she is a Lion or whatnot, but it's more of a symbolic gesture. A lion is strong, majestic and King of the Jungle. Imagine, a Lion of God would be doubly so."

"And …" Kyle said, giving her several kisses on the face, "No matter how many more siblings you get, you will always be my Princess."

Kyle knew what was the real purpose of her asking.

"Love doesn't get less, my Princess," Kyle said, "It only gets more. I love you, for you and I love Ariel, because she's Ariel. As the big sister, you need to take care of her and guide her, okay?"

Rory nodded then said softly, "Well, at least my middle name is easier to pronounce."

Kyle laughed, "All of your middle names are from renowned figures that we have been fortunate to come across in our life. It's a reminder to us as well to always be grateful and never take things for granted."

"Ariel Michicotan Smith is still a mouthful though," Rory mumbled.

"Come on," Sayuri said with a smile, "Let your father and brother bond."

Rory sighed and Kyle put her down.

He then entered the car and looked at his son.

"Why must we dress alike?" complained Alex. 

"Well, I think you look dashing," Kyle said with a smile, "Of course, I could be biassed since you're my son but you do have powerful genes in your favour."

Alex snorted a bit.

"Where are we going?" Alex asked.

"To see someone," Kyle said, "And what happens next depends on what happens there."

Alex was puzzled, "You mean, I have a test?"

"Yes," Kyle said, stopping the car.

"From here, it's on foot," Kyle explained.

Alex looked out, "On foot?!"