The Alchemists

Nicolae did not wait for an answer again, immediately left the Sky Bar and went down to the Moonshine Restaurant and walked to the elevator then went up to the 100th floor to enter the penthouse.

When he arrived there he was astonished because he did not find the people he was looking for. Only Rune and Terry were there and they looked at him with questioning eyes.

"What's wrong? Why is your face like that?" asked Terry, who was relaxing by the pool.

"Where are London and the children?" Nicolae asked quickly. His gaze looked at every corner of the penthouse but could not find them.

"They said they were going out to buy ice cream," Rune answered casually. He squinted at Nicolae, who looked so neat. "Jeez, what did you get hit with? I've never seen you dress up like this."

Nicolae just rolled his eyes and sat on the sofa while opening his cellphone and calling London.

"Where are you guys? Tell the kids I won't be angry because you guys were snooping, but they have to buy me ice cream too. I'll wait." He then hung up before London could reply.

Nicolae sat on the sofa, massaging his forehead, thinking about what had just happened during the fateful lunch. He shuddered at the thought of having to go on two more dates with women who might be more annoying than Sanna and Marie.

Actually if you think about it, Marie wasn't actually wrong. She was just being cautious. Of course, she didn't want bad things to happen to her best friend. Nicolae would be like that too if he had a friend who was going on a blind date with someone.

Hmph ... alright. Let's see if Marie will come or not to dock 4, he thought.

Half an hour later, London and the twins returned to the penthouse. They acted as if nothing had happened and gave ice cream to all the men who were waiting at the penthouse.

"Hmm ... I heard you had a lunch date with a beautiful girl. How was it going?" Terry asked Nicolae while enjoying his ice cream. He winked at his niece and nephew and signaled that he praised their ability to find a date for their father.

"Just ask your brother directly. He was also there earlier, snooping," Nicolae grumbled, glancing at London, who pretended not to hear his words. He refused to explain further.

Nicolae then opened his tablet and researched his profile on the dating website then hurriedly fiddled with the contents. The photo was replaced with the most recent photo. He also edited his profile. He did not want to be considered cheating for the second time if he met the next woman.

Nicolae then entered the inbox and told the next two women that he had been tricked by his family to create an account on a dating website and that he was not actually looking for a date, but to appreciate them, he would still come to the promised blind dates.

The notification in the inbox suddenly rang and he read a message from Sanna apologizing on behalf of Marie for the misunderstanding that had occurred and prayed for Nicolae to get his happy ending.

[Thank you] Nicolae only replied curtly. [Tell Marie, I'm still waiting for her to prove for herself whether I'll kidnap her or not.]

At 2 pm he then signaled Altair and Vega to pack their belongings and prepare to leave for the ship with him.

"Where are you going?" asked Terry, London and Rune together when they heard Nicolae's instructions to Altair and Vega.

"We want to sail," Nicolae answered curtly. "Why?"

"I want to come too. It's been a long time since I went fishing," Terry said. He immediately jumped into his room and came out with a bag five minutes later, and shamelessly invited himself to the holiday Nicolae and his two children had planned for themselves.

"We have nothing to do today. We also want to come," Rune added.

"All right," Nicolae replied. He could only relent.

Finally, the sailing plan for Nicolae and the twins was ridden by their uncles who immediately changed into casual clothes and left with them.

Three hours later, the four a.d.u.l.ts and two young children were enjoying the beautiful sunset from the top of the ship deck in the middle of the ocean.

Altair and Vega gladly wait on the fishing rods while their uncles chatted while enjoying wine.

Until the night was getting late, Nicolae did not get any reply from Sanna about Marie, whether Marie would come to dock 4 or not. Nicolae finally could only shrug and draw the conclusion that Marie did not want to come.

***

The next morning when they were all asleep inside the two cabins on the ship, really loud rings on four cellphones at the same time, forced them all awake. All the men were still really sleepy.

"Geez ... so noisy .. Who the hell is calling this early?" Terry grumbled as he grabbed his cellphone on the small bedside table. He was about to nag the impudent caller when he saw the caller's ID was Finland Schneider.

What is so urgent that mom is calling this early? he thought to himself.

London rubbed his eyes and studied the caller ID on the screen of his cellphone: Caspar Schneider.

While Nicolae, who slept while hugging Altair, immediately sat on the bed and subconsciously took his cellphone. He opened one eye and saw that his father was on the phone. As soon as he received the call, Lauriel Medici's enthusiastic voice was heard from the other end of the phone.

"Where are you guys? Hurry and come here. Aleksis is about to give birth!!!"

"Wow!!!!" Subconsciously Nicolae screamed in surprise. He had to apologize for shocking Altair and Vega. "Gosh ... we have to go home now. Apparently, your mom will give birth soon ..."

He hurriedly jumped out of bed and washed his face. When he went to the wheelhouse, Nicolae found that London was already there and prepared to bring the ship back to the pier.

"Did you know what happened?" he asked in a nervous voice. London nodded nervously.

"We have to go home soon. Damn ... this is too sudden. The baby should have been born in a few more days..." Nicolae grumbled. He was nervous but happy at the same time. He was very happy for his younger brother, who will soon become a father again. This time, Alaric would be able to enjoy the delivery process and took care of his child from the day it was born.

Terry and Rune also looked as excited as Nicolae. Rune clearly looked the happiest, because his baby translator was done and he wanted to test it on his newest niece/nephew.

The journey back to pier felt so slow and the four would-be uncles' c.h.e.s.ts palpitated along the way. They all hoped that their nephew/niece would not be born until they arrived at the Bukit Timah mansion.

Aleksis had chosen water birth procedures at home so that they all immediately headed to their family mansion once they arrived on land.

"Don't go to the mansion. Aleksis has been taken to the hospital," Lauriel called again when they were on their way.

"Why ...? Didn't she want to give birth at home? Why suddenly took her to the hospital?" Nicolae asked in confusion.

"Yes, she did, but just now, the doctor examined her condition and suggested that she should give birth at the hospital. The doctor considered water birth as inappropriate for Aleksis' current condition."

"What condition?" Nicolae asked. Lauriel did not answer. Aleksis' shrill scream was deafening from the other end of the phone and then the call was interrupted.

Hmm ... Nicolae's mind went to work. As a doctor, he could guess why Aleksis couldn't do the water birth procedure at the last moment and had to move to the hospital.

"Gosh ..." he could only massage his forehead and look at the twins who were looking at him questioningly. He coughed and explained, "Looks like you will have twin siblings."