Just then, the bell rang. Lucas said, "Noah's here."
He got down from his grandmother's embrace and ran towards the door. Sienna once again shouted, "No running inside the house."
Receiving no reply, she sighed. She looked at her mother and said, "You pamper him too much. Why weren't you like this when I was little?"
Mrs. Z said, "You will understand once you become a grandmother yourself. Also, my grandson is a genius. When you were his age, you were learning the alphabet, and he's already reading books."
Sienna looked at her mother speechlessly. She said, "I'll go check on the kids."
She went to the backyard and saw the kids playing with a huge tiger. But it wasn't a normal tiger. Its fur was a deep blue in color and had golden stripes. But what really set it apart was the pair of wings growing out of his back. She said, "Raast, be careful not to hurt them."
She heard a voice in her head, "Of course I won't, Sienna. Your son somehow makes sunbathing even more fun."
The tiger yawned. He was Sienna's first contracted beast, Raast. She looked at her son lovingly as she remembered the day she had first introduced Raast to him. He had been scared in the beginning but had soon gotten used to the big cat. Beast Tamers with children often introduced their children to their contracted beasts when they were between the ages of three and four. They did so to make sure that their children were comfortable with beasts and wouldn't get startled when they had to contract their own.
Just then, she got a phone call. It was an unknown number. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello."
"Hello. Is this Lucas Zenith's mother speaking?"
"Yes, this is her."
"I'm Lucas's class teacher, Ella."
"Did Lucas do something wrong?"
"No, no. It's nothing like that. Lucas is a very well-behaved child. In the past year, I have observed that he has been very fond of learning. The school has an opportunity for him. If it is fine with you, can we talk about this face-to-face tomorrow at school?"
"I will come tomorrow then."
"Great. Then I'll see you tomorrow. I hope you have a nice day."
"Thanks, you too."
Sienna hung up. She was curious about the opportunity Ella was talking about. She didn't think that she had been lying because the elementary school that Lucas went to was trustworthy. She told her mother about this. Mrs. Z said, "Well, I do have an idea what this opportunity could be. But I'm not sure."
Sienna asked, "You do? How?"
Mrs. Z said, "I said I'm not sure. I heard some things in my circle. Just go tomorrow and check it out."
Sienna nodded. She did some work while the kids were playing and soon, it was time for dinner. She yelled, "Boys, come back in."
She also sent a message to Raast to bring the boys in case they hadn't heard her. Soon the boys were running inside the house. Sienna yelled again, "Boys, no running inside the house. And wash up before coming to the table."
She heard them replying simultaneously, "Ok Mom/Aunty."
They went to the washroom and freshened themselves. Then they ran to the table. Sienna looked at her son and said, "Lucas, if you run inside the house one more time, you will not get any books no matter what your grandma says."
Lucas said, "Sorry Mom. I promise I won't do it again."
Sienna said, "You know what happens to people who break promises, right?"
Lucas nodded cutely and said, "No beast would be their friend."
Sienna nodded and said, "Remember that."
This was a very common lie that parents told their children to instill morals in them. After all, being a Beast Tamer was almost every child's dream.
Sienna looked at the boys and said, "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
Lucas asked, "What are we having for dinner, Mom?"
Sienna replied, "Lasagna."
Lucas froze as he asked hesitantly, "Um…Mom, did you make the lasagna?"
Sienna blushed. The truth was that she was abysmal at cooking and her son knew it. Her cooking was so bad that her mother would often tease her by asking if she had ever considered selling poison. No matter how many cooking classes she attended, she just couldn't seem to improve.
She said, "No, it was your Grandma."
Lucas sighed with relief evident on his face. He really loved his mother but that alone wasn't enough for him to eat her food. Soon, the food was ready, and Mrs. Z joined them. After they were done eating, Sienna looked at Noah and said, "I've called your mom. She said that she will be here soon."
Noah nodded and replied, "Thank you, Aunty."
Lucas said, "Noah, can't you just sleep over?"
Noah's eyes lit up, but before he could say anything, Sienna said, "No, he can't. You boys have school tomorrow."
The boys looked at her with the cutest look that they could muster but it was ineffective. She once again said, "No."
They became sad. Seeing them like this, Sienna said, "But…I'll talk to Noah's mom if he can sleep here tomorrow."
The boys became excited once again and asked, "Really?!"
Sienna nodded. The boys hugged her. Then they ran off to the living room. The boys sat on the couch and started what was probably the most intense debate for them.
Lucas said, "No way Gigarath would win."
Noah countered, "Yes, it would. It's a pure attack type beast that also has very impressive defenses. Imperiacron is a support type beast. It would lose very easily."
Lucas said, "That is only half true. Imperiacron can just heal itself. It is near immortal with its huge mana reserves and Self Heal. Not to mention, its Beast Tamer can amplify its mana reserves by ten with her Innate Talent."
While they were engaged in this intense argument, the bell rang. Sienna said, "Alright boys. You can confirm who would win in the episode that is airing tomorrow. Noah's mom is here."
Soon, Noah had returned to his house with his mother and Sienna tucked Lucas in bed.
The next day, she accompanied him to his school.