Lost in Arcadia

The Harkers

From his second-floor bedroom, which had been left exactly as it was before he went off to college so many years ago, Kade heard the sound of a car pulling up outside and headed excitedly downstairs.

The door opened just as he reached it, and with his arms spread wide, he shouted, “Surprise!”

Though already expecting something was up because the lights were on in the cottage, Kade’s dad was indeed still pleasantly surprised as his son went up to hug him. 

The older man had auburn hair that was graying at the sides, and his aristocratic face had more lines than Kade remembered. But despite these obvious signs of aging, Mr. Harker returned his son’s hug just as tightly before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Behind Mr. Harker, his wife beamed happily and said, “I didn’t know our favorite son was coming home today.”

After releasing his dad from his crushing embrace, Kade enclosed his elegant and more youthful-looking mom in an equally enthusiastic hold. 

“Hehe,” he laughed boyishly as she also kissed him. “I made Addie not tell. How are you guys? Have you eaten yet? I made dinner~!”

“Oh?” Mr. Harker replied in obvious pleasure. “Well, in that case, I think there’s space enough in our stomachs for your cooking.”

Having lived alone for so long, Kade had become an expert in the kitchen and was proud of the dishes he had whipped up. And as his parents owned several sustainable and profitable farms in the countryside, all the ingredients were fresh and the best of the best. 

While Kade was setting the table, the handsome couple in their fifties went up to their bedroom to change out of their formal clothes. After the three sat down together, Kade then watched in satisfaction as his parents dug in.

“Honey, I think our son is more than ready to be married off,” Mr. Harker commented in appreciation upon sampling bites of each dish.

While Kade only laughed, Mrs. Harker gently agreed before sighing. “If only we could say the same of our daughter…”

As if said daughter had been summoned, they heard the front door crash open, followed by the sound of rapid and heavy footsteps.

“KADE!” Addie called angrily. “You little t**t—where are you?!”

From being so shocked, the older couple looked at their son in quiet resignation as he answered cheerfully, “In here~!”

Knowing exactly what was coming next, Mr. Harker left his seat with a sigh just as Addie made her thunderous way across the corridor to reach the dining room.

Her eyes immediately locked on to her target and saw nothing else. Obviously ready for a fight, she went straight for Kade but was held back by their dad.

"Arden couldn't even look me in the eyes when he got back!" she shouted while trying to struggle out of Mr. Harker's steady hold. "If he quits because of this, I’ll stop at nothing to make your life a living hell!"

"Calm down, Paradis," Mrs. Harker said from her seat, herself very much relaxed despite what was going on. "Have you had dinner yet? I'll set a place for you." Only after saying that did she stand up. But before she left for the kitchen, she looked at Kade and admonished, “Do wipe that grin off your face, Arcadia. Whatever the matter is, talk it out with your sister.”

No one in the world but their parents could address the siblings by their given names and get away with it.

Seeing Kade obey like a goody-two-shoes and pretend to look repentant, Addie sneered in disgust, but she also stopped struggling against Mr. Harker. 

The older man didn’t let go at once, wanting to make sure that his daughter was really calmer now. Though he released her eventually, he was still prepared to hold her back again. He only returned to his seat once his wife had set a place on the table diagonally across from Kade and Addie had grumblingly taken it.

“Now,” Mr. Harker said while he and his wife took turns filling Addie’s plate. “What is this about?”

And so Addie, who had begun eating unthinkingly, relayed the story in a complaining tone to their parents, including the part where she suspected Kade had managed to seduce Arden despite the overwhelming odds against that happening.

“Do you know how hard it is to retain talent like him these days? He could go and work for a larger company with a much higher salary. I don’t even know why he chose to join mine to begin with, so I’ve been bending over backward since then just to make him want to stay. But you!” Addie glared murderously at her younger brother. “What you did today jeopardized all my efforts! What am I supposed to do if he really quits?!”

Both their parents turned to Kade as well, and for some reason, they now had the air of people who were just here to watch a show.

Kade gave Addie a weirded-out look. “Are you really that blind, sis?” he replied, his tone faintly incredulous. “The last thing that guy would do is quit. I bet you could even ask him to marry you tomorrow and he’d only say, ‘Yes, President. At once, President.’”

Amid Addie’s shocked silence, their parents leaned forward in their seats and said at the same time, “Oh?”

“Why…” Addie began hesitantly, her wide eyes unblinking. “Why would you say that?”

Kade shook his head slowly and sighed. “This is the problem with people who are all work and no play. They end up so clueless about relationships, it’s downright pitiful.”

In anger this time, Addie’s eyes widened even more. “You—!”

Mrs. Harker cut in to say, “Do explain what you mean, Arcadia.” 

She took a relaxed sip of her wine as she and her husband looked expectantly at Kade. If they had popcorn available, Kade felt certain the two of them would be munching on it.

He smiled, finding himself feeling wistful all of a sudden. But he quickly shook off the strange feeling and made his smile look naughty.

“It’s like this," he said. "The entire ride, that guy wouldn't speak a word to me unless strictly necessary. He was only there as my driver. As far as he was concerned, it's just another workday for him. But after we got here and I invited him in, he magically didn't find my chatter annoying anymore. He sat and listened to me tell childhood stories while he flipped through our album. I'm pretty sure he wasn't interested in anything that had to do with me, which means he only paid attention because I was also talking about his dear President."

At this point, Kade and their parents turned their gazes towards Addie.

The woman looked like she had just been cornered by three stalking beasts.

"W-what?" she asked, trying and failing to sound snappish. "That means nothing! He was probably just curious about his boss!"

Kade sighed condescendingly. "Oh, Addie… I can swear to you, unless there are other feelings involved, no one would ever be that curious about their boss."

While their charmingly flustered daughter was trying to take that in, Mr. and Mrs. Harker turned to each other.

"Should we invite that young man over for dinner?" asked Mr. Harker. "Or would that be too obvious?"

"Wouldn't we want it to be obvious, dear?" Mrs. Harker replied. 

Her husband nodded. "You're totally right." He turned to Addie again. "So when can you bring him—"

"Stop!" Addie exploded, unable to take it anymore. "He's my employee, for heaven's sake. Do you want me to get sued? Just what are you guys going on about?"

"But sweetheart…" Mrs. Harker said gently. "You're turning thirty soon…"

Mr. Harker nodded. "Exactly…" he added in the same tone. "Time is ticking, my darling…"

Smiling softly, Mrs. Harker reached for Addie's hand. But there was nothing soft about her grip as she stated baldly, "We want grandchildren."

By the side, Kade held back a snort of amusement. 

But while it might look like their parents were only having some fun at Addie's expense, he knew deep down they were being serious.

Most female alphas found it difficult to bear even one living child. Like their male counterparts, they were more equipped to sire children themselves. And the older they get, the more difficult it would be for them to get pregnant.

If Addie wanted a child of her body, she needed to find a partner soon. 

Of course, she also had the option of finding a woman or a male omega to be partners with.

It's just that it might take so much time for her to even get around to doing that, so Mr. and Mrs. Harker wanted to hurry her along the first chance they got.

Looking nothing like a woman of nearly thirty and instead a girl of thirteen, Addie said in complaint, "Mom, Dad, come on!"

"We're getting so old, Paradis…" Mr. Harker said, trying to sound pitiful. "We want to hold our grandbabies while we still can…"

"Then why don't you ask Kade to give you some?"

"He's actively trying to already," Mrs. Harker answered with a tight smile. "I believe we've long ago established that."

Having been reminded of it, Mr. Harker looked at Kade inquiringly. "Still no progress with that, son?"

Kade echoed his mom's tight smile. "Afraid not, Dad."

"Oh…" Though feeling disappointed on his son's behalf, Mr. Harker rallied himself and clapped Kade on the shoulder. "Well, cheer up. What's meant for you will find you. All in its right time."

Addie looked between her father and brother and quipped bitterly, "Gee, I sure hope I can be told the same. But nooo—because I also have a uterus, I have to hurry!"

The evening deepened as the parents tried to pacify their ruffled daughter and comfort their moping son.

It was getting late when they finally rose from the table and did the cleanup together. Addie was cajoled into staying the night, and they each headed to their separate bedrooms.

"Enjoyed your meal, sis?" Kade asked, still standing by his door.

Addie stopped on her way to hers and looked suspiciously at him. "Yeah. Why?"

"Hehehe. Tell me anytime if you want to eat such great food again. I'll gladly cook more for you!"

Addie's eyes nearly popped out in surprise, which was exactly the reaction Kade wanted.

"No way… You made all that? I thought Mom and Dad ordered in…"

All of a sudden, she hurried to her door.

"Yo, what?"

"I'm going to throw it all up!"

"You—!" Kade said, deeply affronted. "It's bad to waste food!"

"Blegh!" 

After making a throwing-up sound, Addie slammed her door shut.

"Hmph!"

Though it was less effective, Kade returned the favor and slammed his door as well.

Inside the master bedroom, their parents heard all the shouting and slamming and looked at each other.

"How come our children never seemed to have grown up?" asked Mr. Harker. "Did we fail them, do you think?"

Mrs. Harker smiled as she went to embrace her husband. "On the contrary," she replied. "I think we did all right."

Early the next morning, as the family of four was having their breakfast the way they used to, Mr. Harker slid a credit card across the table towards Kade.

"You'll be needing this," he said. 

Neither of the women paid more than a fleeting attention to the act, and Mr. Harker himself didn't think much of it.

But Kade only looked at the card and didn't immediately reach for it. He seemed to be grappling with something.

"You sure, Dad?" 

Mr. Harker frowned in confusion. His wife and daughter also seemed to have been alerted by something in Kade's tone because they both looked at him.

"Of course," Mr. Harker replied. "In the first place, you should have taken it with you everywhere you went."

Kade quirked up a corner of his lips in a small and subdued smile. "I would have ended up overspending if I had."

Addie scoffed. "You ended up overspending anyway. I'm expecting interests on my loans, do you hear me?"

"Arcadia," Mrs. Harker called, sounding and looking worried. "Darling, what's wrong?"

But Kade only went back to sporting his usual careless smile as he shrugged. "It's nothing, Mom," he said brightly. "I just thought, you know, it might be high time for me to start earning my own money."

As both Mr. and Mrs. Harker came from fairly wealthy alpha families who supported them all the way and got them their headstart in life, they had trouble grasping Kade's present mentality.

Surprisingly, only Addie understood.

"Well, duh," she said, taking her turn to be condescending. "You even went to the trouble of getting an engineering degree. Shouldn't you be putting that to good use?"

"It did come in handy during my travels. But…"

When Kade didn't continue, Addie went on for him, "But you don't know if that's really the career path you want to take."

Kade gave her a playful shove. "I knew you weren't my sister for nothing!"

"F*ck off," Addie replied in mock annoyance, then she caught their parents' looks of admonishment. They didn't like it when their children cursed—at least in their presence. "Sorry," she said before turning back to Kade. "Anyway, your problem is easy to solve. You're a privileged brat anyway. Might as well own it and try different jobs at your leisure, see what sticks." 

As another thought occurred to her, she suddenly showed a devilish smile that was so much like her brother's.

Kade was instantly worried. "What?"

"All that money you owe me…? I know exactly how you can pay it back."

"Oh no," said Kade in mounting horror, shaking his head as he tried to draw away. "No, no, no, no…"

Addie's smile grew wider in pleasure, and she reached for Kade's shoulder to keep him where he was.

"You start on Monday, kiddo—but feel free to start calling me Boss now."