"Mother, I'm going to bring Athena and the children to help in the store starting today." I informed my stepmother after eating.
"Why? What does that country girl know?" Stepmother asked, dissatisfied.
"She can help watch over the shop and get things. It will save me more money than hiring help for the shop." I explained.
"Let her go with him. She's not doing anything at home anyway." Father decided.
Stepmother couldn't disagree anymore.
"But who will take care of the children?" Stepmother murmured.
"I will bring the children to the shop. After school they should all just head there and help also. They are big enough to help anyway." I said and my father nodded.
"It's time for them to gain experience. But Eric, Henry, and Garrett are still young." Father said.
"Justin was in the shop with us a while ago but he was not making a fuss. Those three would be fine too." I replied.
I need to remove my children from my stepmother and the nanny's claws.
"If you said it's fine then it's fine. You're the one who's going to be responsible if something happens to them." Father warned.
"Of course. I'm their father!" I said arrogantly.
"You four heard that, right? Tomorrow, I will fetch you from school and bring you to the shop with me." I told them but these monkeys just ignored me.
After the meal, I went home while my sons stayed with my stepmother. I really should find a way to get them out of her claws.
When I got home I saw my daughters and Athena doing their assignments. I went in and tried to help them.
"Are you studying how to read?" I asked Athena and she nodded.
I looked at what she was reading and saw that it was Christine's book. I was pretty surprised. It's only been a month and her reading skills have improved a lot. I never thought she was this smart.
"Wife, you are very smart, no wonder our children are so smart." I complimented her and she lowered her head.
I held her chin and lifted her head slowly.
"Wife, you shouldn't keep your head lowered. You should raise your chin. Be more confident. We will open the shop soon too. You should try looking confident when you communicate with customers. Don't worry there's me. There's nothing to be afraid of." I told her charmingly.
"Okay… I will try." She replied.
"Oh, right. I told mother and father that the children would be joining us in the shop. I will fetch the children from the school tomorrow and bring them to the shop." I told her.
"Mother agreed?" She asked, surprised.
"Father did. I think it'll be good for the children to learn a little bit more about responsibility." I told her and I'm sure I saw a ridicule in her eyes before she looked down.
I sighed. I can't blame her. It does sound ridiculous coming from me. I'm the most irresponsible man I know.
The following day, I brought Athena and the younger children to the shop again and continued arranging the clothes.
"Umm… husband?" Athena called after while we were taking a break after finishing our lunch.
"Yes? Is there a problem?" I asked.
"I… I'm just wondering if… we could set up a stove here." She suggested.
That is not a bad idea. We could save money from buying our meals outside. I still have some money left but if there's 12 children and two adults then it would be hard for us to feed all of them.
There's still a small space behind the store, enough to make a dirty kitchen. It shouldn't take long to make one.
I agreed to her suggestion and told her I'll go ask someone to set up a dirty kitchen for us. We continued arranging things and before I went out to fetch the children from school we were already halfway done arranging. If we can continue our pace, we can open the shop 3 days from now. Right, I still need to meet my grandfather to ask about trademarks.
I decided to head to the foreman first to discuss the kitchen renovation and was told they would go tomorrow. It was already late to head to my grandfather's house so I'll go tomorrow.
"Ashley!" I called my eldest child, who was heralding her younger siblings out of the school campus.
They all saw me and my sons ran towards me. I then noticed the bruises on David's nose.
"What happened?" I asked when I saw it.
My eldest daughters flinched.
"David was fighting with our classmates." Christine, his twin sister replied.
"Why?" I asked, shocked.
"They were making fun of him because he's… fat." Christine replied in a small voice.
"I"m not fat. I'm healthy." David exclaimed.
I looked at him and he's definitely not healthy. He's round and was already sweating so much just from walking a little bit.
I then looked at my other sons and realized that they are the same while all my daughters are thin. My children looked like binary numbers.
"What did your teacher say?" I asked.
Surely, the teacher would need to call the parents and discuss the issue, right?
"The teachers didn't know. They've beaten him up and left him at the back of the building." Brittany said.
"Do you remember who beat you?" I asked but David wouldn't answer.
I sighed. Fine, if you don't want to tell then don't tell but these guys need to learn how to fight to at least defend themselves.
When we arrived at the shop, Athena also saw the bruises on David's face and gave me a questioning look. I explained to her what happened and she just nodded. She told her daughters to help in arranging the clothes.
"Husband… can I ask for some… money… to buy ice… for David's face." Athena said in a small voice.
"Yeah, sure. Can you also order our dinner? Let's eat here. You should also buy some eating utensils. The foreman said he will come here tomorrow to make the kitchen." I told her as I gave her some money.
There was a market not far from here. I told Ashley and Brittany to go with their mother.
"David, you and Eric, carry another bundle of clothes from the stock room and bring them here." I ordered them but they just looked at me.
"Shouldn't you ask Christine to do it instead?" David asked haughtily.
"I'll go get it father." Christine said but I stopped her.
"You know what I learned in the army?" I asked the boys and they just shrugged their shoulders.
"If you don't work, you won't get to eat. Now, if you want to eat, I suggest you get the clothes from the stockroom or else you will not eat." I said.
The boys looked at me in horror.
"Also, starting from today onwards, all of you will return to the house and sleep there. No one would be sleeping at the main house anymore. If you don't want to listen to me then I will send you to the army. There, you will learn how to listen. You want to go there?" I stated.
David and Eric reluctantly went to the stockroom and grabbed some clothes while Henry and Garrett helped their older sisters to arrange them.
When Athena came back, she looked surprised to see all of us working hard. I helped her carry the things she bought and also took out the table so we could have our meals. After the meal, I helped the children do their homework before we all went home.
The following morning, I woke up all of my sons early except for Justin and told them to exercise with me.
"Father, I am still sleepy." David complained.
"Get up or you won't have any breakfast." I told them and that seemed to do the trick.
They all woke up unwillingly and we went to the backyard to do a little stretching before I got them to follow me to jog on the compound for a few rounds.
"Seth, what are you doing so early in the morning?" Stepmother asked.
"I'm exercising with the children." I replied and smiled proudly at her.
"You should stop now. My grandsons are already sweating so much. They looked so tired." Stepmother said worriedly.
"Alright, mother. Henry and Garrett can stop now. David and Eric will do another lap with me." I said before dragging my two sons for another lap.
"Seth, enough! They're tired already." Stepmother complained.
"It's alright mother. There's nothing to worry about." I said and ignored whatever she said next.
These children need to lose weight. They also need time away from you and the nanny. After another lap, we stopped and stepmother fussed on the boys saying I was bullying them and all but my father agreed with me when I told her that boys need to exercise. After all, isn't this what she told me when grandfather decided to send me to the military.