"Dad," Seeing his father take out his phone to call him, Ace called out to him from the corner and nodded. As he neared his parents, he noticed his mother had bought quite a few things including a customary gift for his uncle's family.
"Dad, give me the car keys. I will bring the car around," seeing his father hesitate, Ace persuaded, "It's already late and there is no traffic around here. You taught me how to drive. Have you no faith in me, Dad?"
"Fine," Alwin reluctantly handed his son the key, with a stern glare as a warning to be careful. After all, the Toyota Camry was like the third child he never had. Not to mention, it has been with him longer than his son. It was a trusty and dependable machine, all it was missing was a heartbeat.
Taking the key from his father, just as Ace was about to leave, he noted the lottery tickets machine by the checkout area. Eyeing it, a thought crossed his mind. Then, with great anticipation, he asked Dame Wasp, 'Rose, can your cybernetics see through the scratch-off coating of a lottery ticket?'
'Yes, master, I should not have a problem seeing through them,' Dame Wasp replied confidently.
"Son, what are you doing standing there? Go, bring the car around," Alwin said, noticing his son had not left yet.
"Dad, give me five dollars," Ace requested, though he and Dame Wasp had made over $100,000 this evening, they were all in cryptocurrency. He needed cold cash. Not to mention, he wasn't of legal age to buy lottery tickets. But there was no law against his parents buying him one.
"No," Alwin refused firmly, having noticed his son eyeing the lottery machine.
Ace did not bother to continue to pester his father and head to his mother who was checking out the items they had bought.
"Mom, do you think your son is lucky?" Ace asked, knowing his mother's response.
"Yes, you are son," Mary replied without thinking, only to hear, Ace demand, "Mom, help me buy a scratch-off lottery ticket?"
Mary paused what she was doing, turned to look at her son, and asked him in disbelief, "Are you out of your mind?" She could not believe her son would ask her that. It was as if he did not even know her.
"Come on, Mom. I don't ask for much, just do this one thing for me, please," Ace pleaded making puppy eyes, even though that had never worked for him.
Mary was about to reject her son and give him a stern lecture about gambling, but she suddenly found she could not resist his cuteness. It was a surprise to her, as she was under the belief that her son stopped being cute when he turned fourteen. Regardless, she caved and said, "Just one, but don't make a habit of it."
"..." Alwin wanted to stop his wife but he didn't recalling she worried their son was growing too fast.
"Don't worry, Mom," Ace assured his mom. Then, he heard the cashier say, "Sir, the lottery machine doesn't dispense scratch-off lottery tickets, you will have to buy them here."
"Do I get to choose the ticket I want?" Ace asked. The cashier nodded saying, "Yes, sir. But we currently only have $10 tickets left."
Ace turned to look at his mom, feeling he might not be able to try Dame Wasp's ability on scratch-off lottery tickets today. Considering his family's finances, $10 was too much to spend on a fleeting moment of rush. He knew he would win something but his mother had no idea. This was why he was surprised when he heard Mary say, "We will be taking on one."
"Please wait, I will show the ticket to you after billing this," the cashier informed politely.
Meanwhile, Ace and Alwin looked at Mary dumbfoundedly, as this was unlike her, only to hear her say, "Consider it as an apology for embarrassing you at the party."
"You are the best mom," Ace hugged his mom in joy. He made over $100,000 a few hours ago, but he was happiest now.
"I was embarrassed too, you know," Alwin said feeling left out, only to receive a stare for his loving wife. Now that was the Mary he knew and loved.
After billing and bagging the items, the cashier took out the $10 scratch-off lottery tickets and said, "Please, take your pick."
"Yes," Ace nodded while silently summoning Dame Wasp in her 1/100th form with camouflage.
Without waiting for Ace's instruction, Dame Wasp scanned all the lottery tickets with her cybernetics and found that about 9/10th tickets were a dud. As for the winning tickets, there wasn't a single big cash reward let alone the jackpot prize, $1 million.
'Master, there isn't a single big cash reward. But, I found a $35,000 and a $10,000 cash reward ticket. Also, there are three $5,000 cash reward tickets,' Dame Wasp informed Ace, causing Ace to wonder what were $10,000 & $35,000 if not for a big cash reward. It seemed having made $100,000 in an evening, Dame Wasp no longer had eyes for such amounts. Ace's family could be satisfied with a $5000 cash reward ticket let alone the $10,000 & $35,000 ones.
"Mom, I want this one," Ace said, pointing at the $35,000 cash reward ticket.
"You heard the boy, we will be taking that ticket," Mary informed the cashier since she was the one buying the ticket, not Ace for legal reasons.
"Go ahead, scratch it, son," Mary passed the ticket to Ace taking it from the cashier. Ace scratched the card without hesitation, knowing that it was a winner.
"$35,000, I can't believe this," the cashier said in disbelief. He has bought his share of lottery tickets, but not once has he won more than 10 dollars.
Mary and Alwin were too overwhelmed, they only reacted when they heard Ace say, "Mom, we won $35,000."
"We won?" Alwin asked his wife, unable to believe it, as it was more than half his annual salary.
"We won!" Mary exclaimed
"Mom, can I buy one more?"
"No!" Alwin and Mary rejected their son simultaneously.