The Alchemists

"Hmm... your house is quite nice," Caspar said when they arrived inside. He pointed to the Steinway grand piano in the living room. "Hmmm... I remember when I was in France and invited Chopin for tea. Do you know Opus 31? He created it while he was still in Paris and I was one of the first people to hear it. The boy was very talented."

"Chopin? You mean, Frederic Chopin? That Chopin, the piano maestro?" L asked with a shocked expression. She still wasn't used to hearing Caspar talk about great men in the past as if they were his next-door neighbors.

"That's right, that Chopin. Before he dated George Sand* and moved to Marseille, I often invited him to play the piano at the parties I was throwing." Caspar shrugged. "He was very talented. Too bad that child didn't live long. I heard he died of tuberculosis at the age of 39."

L nodded. "That's right. Wow... I didn't expect you ever to meet a legendary musician like Chopin."

Caspar just smiled lightly. "Well... that's one of the perks of people who have lived for centuries. One thing I regret is that I've never met Mozart during his lifetime. When he was alive, he didn't get the appreciation that he should've had, and his life was impoverished. He was appreciated by people only after he died. Too bad. He was only 35 years old at the time. He died buried in debt."

"Well, I'm also very sorry that such a talented person didn't get a chance to enjoy his efforts." L nodded in confirmation. "I like reading history, and I read that Mozart was very talented. When he was 14, he visited the Vatican and listened to the musical composition of Gregorio Allegri's Miserere, which was kept secret by the Vatican for centuries. But with just listening to it once, Mozart could memorize all the notes correctly and rewrite the composition without any mistakes."

Caspar laughed at that. "Well, it's just a legend that hasn't been proven yet, but I won't be surprised if it's true. Mozart made his first musical composition at the age of 5."

When Caspar and L exchanged stories about classical music and the names of the legendary composers they liked, London and Rune could only stare at the two in surprise.

"Sshh... you studied piano too when you were little, why didn't you show off your ability in playing the piano to impress L? See, from the way she looked at Dad, L seems to be falling for our father," Rune whispered nonchalantly.

"Shut up!" London was furious to hear him.

He knew his father was a really cool guy. Even he admired his father, but he wasn't willing to see the girl he loved watching his father with a half-adoring look now.

"Ahem... my dad knows many people," London said, holding L's waist in front of his father. "He was also known to be a womanizer. If he had never met my mother, I don't know... maybe he would still be changing girlfriends once a month even until today."

Caspar, who understood his son's intentions, only laughed and held his wife's waist and took her to his l.a.p.

"Well, London is right. Luckily, my wife is a very understanding person and she is willing to accept me for who I am. You, Miss L, are very lucky, because my son has no experience with women. You are his first love. He'll treat you well."

London coughed at Caspar's words. He didn't think his father would be his wingman. Ah, his father is the best!

"All right... if L doesn't mind it, we can hear her play the piano and sing to us later. Now, who wants to visit Lily?" London asked after he successfully relieved his embarrassment because his father had praised him.

"Come on; I want to see Lily." Finland broke away from Caspar and took L by the hand. "Come on, Honey, show me where Lily's room is."

L nodded. She placed a box of cakes on the table and took Finland to Lily's treatment room. With happy hearts, the five of them entered the NICU room and were careful not to make a scene as they stood around Lily's incubator to admire the baby.

"Hmmm... she's sleeping. If you look at her condition, Lily is already like a normal baby. Her body is still small and frail, but everything looks well developed, and she is healthy." Caspar took Lily's latest medical records and examined them. "You might be able to hug her next week."

"Yes, Dr. Muller also said that. How did you know?" L asked in surprise.

"My father is also a doctor," London explained. "He was a very skilled surgeon. He and Uncle Lauriel were also in the hospital while you were being treated when you gave birth to Lily."

"Oh, really? That's great! Owhh... I didn't know the Schneider family is this impressive. I thought you were great in business." L looked at them all with real admiration.

"My brother isn't even interested in business. He is married to science." London turned to Rune. "Did you bring the baby cry translator machine?"

Rune nodded and took a small box from his pocket. "This is similar to a baby monitor, but it's connected directly to my server. There are various predictions of the meaning of a baby's cry. Later, the meaning of the cries will be automatically sent to the application installed on the phones of the baby's parents'. You can find out if your baby is hungry, angry, sad, and so on. You guys, please try and let me know the results."

"Wow... how cool!" L exclaimed. She accepted the small machine gratefully. "It's very useful. You're amazing!"

"Ssshhn.. don't praise him now. We don't know yet whether this machine will work or not," London warned. He didn't want L to have high expectations and later be disappointed. "Rune's invetions are well-known in our family. Together, he and Uncle Aldebar often make weird machines without clear usage, and nine out of ten of them don't usually work."

L looked at London while crossing her hands on her c.h.e.s.t. "What's the matter with you? All you did so far was saying all the bad things about your father and your brother. That's not how you should behave as a good son and a brother. If I have a father or a brother, I would praise them as high as the sky in front of others. You don't know how lucky you are to have a family like them."

Finland and Caspar only smiled seeing London stunned, rendered speechless as L scolded him. But in this case, they agreed with L. London shouldn't talk down about the men in his family every time L praised them.

"I know what the boy is doing," Caspar whispered into his wife's ear. "He doesn't want the girl to like the other men in our family."

Finland nodded. "I didn't know London has a problem with self-confidence like this. He wasn't like this before."

"Well... he had never been in love before." Caspar and Finland only exchanged glances and smiled meaningfully.

"Enough, enough. I think my son just doesn't want you to praise other men in front of him. Please, forgive my young son. He was just a little jealous," Caspar pulled London and patted his head. "Isn't that right?"

London pursed his lips and finally nodded slowly. "Please don't like my father or brother..."

"You..." L massaged her forehead and shook her head. "How could I like them that way?"

"You were complimenting my father and my brother, but as far as I remember, you never once complimented me," London quickly defended himself.

Seeing London stand, sulking, his mother and father rolled their eyes and decided to leave the NICU room while pulling Rune with them. "We'll be going to the dining room to get the cake."

They knew it was time to give some privacy to the young couple.

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[1] George Sand's real name was Armandine Aurore Lucille Dupin, an eccentric French writer who still had a familial relationship with the French king. George Sand took the pen name of a man and often dressed as a man. She was Chopin's serious lover for ten years until the time of his death.