Chapter 266: Superbabies
"Uh... Lola? What in the world is going on here?"
Silo stopped just as he stepped into Lola’s office, his entire body frozen. Inside the office were not just two adorable yet mischievous and judgmental children named Chacha and Second, but also their little clones.
Lola, busy fixing the shelf, paused and glanced at the little playpen she had set up earlier. "I can’t leave them anywhere today." She shrugged and resumed her work. "Slater has some things to do, and even if he wanted to take care of them, his manager had to drag him away so he could do what a superstar should be doing. Then, Atlas had some very important arrangements, and he had two options: take the kids to the meeting or cancel the meeting."
"So you volunteered?" Silo gasped, treading carefully until he was right beside her. "Lola, I get it that you’re crazy, but do you think you have the clearest schedule in the world? For your information, you have a mountain of paperwork to work on since you keep putting things aside."
He hissed, shifting his eyes to the twins, who were playing with the quadruplets, then back to her. "This is your office — your official office. And there’s a playpen. How are you going to do business with that in here?"
"We have another day before this building opens and becomes operational," she hummed. "A day babysitting the twins and their cute little cousins isn’t going to hurt anything or anyone."
"Did Atlas ask you?"
"No." Lola paused, facing him squarely. "But if he did, Silo, do you think I would say no? If you were in my position, would you?"
This time, Silo zipped his mouth and looked up, thinking about it. Seeing how his face soured, she nodded and shrugged.
"See?" she chuckled and resumed her work. "You would be agreeing with him just like I agree with every word that comes out of that damn mouth of his."
Silo narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms slowly. But even without looking, she already sensed that posture — the one her old rival always used.
"Silo, I told you to back off. This is not high school anymore. Atlas is mine now." She smacked her lips and cocked her head at him. She leaned closer to whisper, "And for your information, he really has a good body and unremarkable stamina. All for me."
He gasped. "You monster!"
"Uh-huh." She smirked. "His beautiful monster... so he said."
Silo puffed his cheeks, looking at his traitor of a friend — the greatest opportunist he knew. "I hate you," he hissed.
She snorted. "Didn’t you say you like girls now?"
"First love is first love. I can’t believe you’d betray me like this." He huffed and turned, only to stop when she spoke.
"Where are you going now?" Lola tilted her head. "Didn’t you come here to tell me something?"
Silo scoffed. "Unbelievable! I’ll just reset myself and pretend my friend didn’t betray me. I’m coming back with some shocking news. Just wait!"
After saying that, he fled so dramatically that Lola could almost see the tears forming.
"He didn’t have to run like his stepmother maltreated him," she murmured, shaking her head as she stared at the open door.
"Is Uncle Silly alright?" Second cocked his head. "I think I just saw tears."
Chacha nodded. "He was crying. Should we cheer him up?"
"How can we cheer him up when he cries more whenever we do? He’s a bit emotional and gets too touched by our words."
Lola chuckled as she listened to the children. Leaving the corner shelf, she squatted near the playpen.
"Kids, are you hungry?" she asked, distracting them from worrying about Silo. "We can order from here. I’m just a little busy, so... I’m sorry."
The twins beamed, shaking their heads.
"It’s okay, Mommy," Second reassured her. "We just ate before coming here. Mommy, don’t worry about Chacha and Second. You also don’t have to worry about Thirdy, Mauce, Tian, and Enzo. They may be very young, but they’re smarter than Uncle Haji."
"Haha..." Lola bit her tongue, stifling laughter. If Haji heard this, he would be very livid.
"We’re telling the truth!" Chacha intoned. "Fourplets, let’s show Mommy!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
Lola’s face twitched as she watched the children, who weren’t even two years old, saluting her while sitting up straight.
There’s no way...
"Say, can they speak fluently?" She asked out of curiosity, watching the four blink.
"Mommy, they can speak, but only to their father." Second raised a finger and leaned forward as if sharing a secret. "They needed to learn fast because they really wanted to argue with their father. So Chacha and Second taught them!"
Her face twitched, giving the quadruplets a nervous look. All she saw were innocent smiles, yet having known the twins and their cleverness, Lola didn’t take their words lightly.
"I hope you have a good relationship with your father," she remarked politely, catching herself a second later at how formal she sounded.
"Hihihi." Thirdy giggled. "We’re on a truce with Daddy."
Lola almost choked — the first time she’d heard them speak more than a word.
"When big bro is home, we will decide what to do with him," Enzo added, backed by Mauce: "Papa needs to keep his promise."
"Or no mercy!" Tian added, his little finger raised, brows knitted together, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Wow..." Lola was in awe. Moments ago, she didn’t know they could talk, only giggling or babbling in front of her. But Atlas had warned her.
She leaned over the playpen and muttered, "You guys are like... superbabies, huh?"
"We are superbabies." Thirdy crossed his arms. "Chacha and Second said we are."
The other three babies nodded, crossing their little arms as well. Lola shifted her gaze to the twins, whose faces were painted with pride while watching the babies like proud parents.
God, Atlas. You were right. I’m glad I didn’t say anything reckless around them. Otherwise, they’d have been used against me.
Knock Knock
Lola’s attention snapped to the door. Looking up, she saw Amala standing there.
"Cute babies," Amala glanced at the playpen and the bunch of children in it before meeting Lola’s eyes. "You called?"
"Mhm." Lola nodded. "Wait for me outside."
She then shot the children a look. "SuperBabies, SuperTwins, can I leave you here for a moment? Will you promise to behave?"
"Okay~!"
****
Minutes later...
"Hey, Lola, there’s something I need..." Haji trailed off as he walked into Lola’s office, only to stop when he sensed danger. His eyes fell and quickly spotted the empty playpen.
I don’t feel good about this.
"..." Moving his eyes to the corner, Haji gulped as he caught sight of children — little ones — holding books as if they were arranging them. The babies blinked, staring back at him innocently.
"Uncle?" Suddenly, Haji heard that familiar bubbly voice from his side. When he turned to his right, he saw the smiling Chacha. "How are you?"
"We miss you, Uncle!" Second’s voice echoed from the other side, almost making him cry. The moment Haji met Second’s eyes, the latter’s smile turned into a grin. "Uncle, can you help us?"
"Please..." Haji slowly clasped his hands together. "Little Master, Little Miss, can we talk about this first?"