It was already dark when Damian and Laura left the restaurant.
They had spent several hours eating and talking, their topics of conversation becoming more and more trivial, until they finally seemed like two friends discussing their interests.
Laura's old friend dismissed them and closed the door, Damian saw him move a small part of the curtain to secretly see them.
So they both stood on the sidewalk before Damian looked at Laura with a smile, but before he could say anything, Laura beat him to it.
"Let's go to the beach," said Laura, boldly taking Damian's hand before starting to walk.
"Sure, it's been a while since I went," said Damian, smiling while also wrapping his fingers around Laura's hand.
Laura walked with a smile as she looked at the city, enjoying the slight bustle of people, the lack of car noises, and the absence of the smell of smoke—something very different from other big cities in the world.
Since they were already on the outskirts of the city, they didn't have to walk too far to start hearing the waves.
They both continued walking until they reached the beach, where several seats were arranged a few meters away. Laura walked with Damian until they both sat down.
A gentle breeze occasionally blew toward them.
"Sometimes I like to come here in my free time, feel the breeze, and think," said Laura, moving her fingers over Damian's hand.
"It's a good place. Do you pretend to be a cold and lonely girl here?" said Damian, looking at her and teasing.
"Hey! I'm not pretending, I am a lonely girl," said Laura, looking at Damian while laughing.
"You weren't when we lived together in New York, you used to go from place to place with my daughters," said Damian, laughing.
"They told me I would be a bodyguard, but I ended up being a nanny," said Laura, chuckling.
"A bodyguard is just a nanny who knows how to fight," said Damian, joking.
"Did you choose me, or was it a coincidence?" asked Laura suddenly, looking at him with curiosity.
"Who knows? Maybe I said to send me the prettiest Spartan?" said Damian, looking at her while laughing.
"Pff," Laura let out a soft laugh upon hearing Damian, her short hair swaying gently with her laughter.
"I had fun today, I haven't had such a good time in a long time," said Laura, smiling at Damian.
"Of course not, you were stubbornly working, even though you were invited several times to visit us," said Damian, shaking his head at how stubborn the woman in front of him could be.
"I admit it, I was stubborn, it was just...complicated," said Laura, smiling ironically.
She always insisted that she and Damian were from different worlds and that she shouldn't get more involved with him to avoid false hopes, despite repeated attempts to bring her closer to them.
It seems that continuing to run away would be stupid.
They both remained on the bench, talking about trivial things until an hour had passed.
The breeze had become quite cold, and Laura was very close to Damian while he put an arm around her.
"Let's go back, don't want you to catch a cold," said Damian, joking since the Spartans were immune to all known diseases on Earth.
"Hm, the clothes I chose aren't exactly the warmest," said Laura, smiling slightly while standing up with Damian.
Damian looked at Laura before smiling and making both of them appear in front of the building where she lived.
"Here we are," said Laura in a low voice, looking up at her building.
"It was an incredible night, thank you," said Laura, turning around and looking at Damian with a smile.
"It was, I had a lot of fun," said Damian, smiling back before approaching and kissing her gently on the cheek, dangerously close to the corner of her lips.
Laura was surprised for a moment before smiling and hugging Damian for a few seconds, then giving him one last look and entering the building.
Damian just watched her go in with a slight smile before turning his gaze toward the palace.
As if his eyes could pierce any obstacle, his gaze reached his tower, where he saw Carol sitting in her chair.
Damian disappeared from where he was and in an instant appeared behind Carol.
Carol, who was watching Damian through the system, saw where he appeared, so she turned her chair around without any surprise before looking at Damian.
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Carol gave him a smile before standing up and hugging him.
"Tell me, why do you do this?" said Damian, sighing while running his fingers through her silky golden hair.
"What's the problem? Don't you like Laura?" said Carol, smiling at him while hugging his waist and resting her chin on his chest.
"No, it's just that I feel a little guilty," said Damian, admitting it.
"I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to see you with another man, so I don't understand how you can accept and encourage this," said Damian, sighing.
Carol seemed to give Damian a satisfied smile; it was okay as long as he knew.
She took Damian's arm before moving it and pushing him to sit in the chair, then she climbed onto his lap before looking at him.
"You've given me everything I ever wanted, I have you, a beautiful daughter, a great family, the sisters I never had, every day is fulfilling for me, I just want to fulfill everything you desire," said Carol, looking at him while her hand caressed his cheek.
"Sigh...what am I going to do with you," said Damian, resting his forehead against Carol's.
"How about...something naughty?" said Carol, laughing flirtatiously while her hands became mischievous.
....
The next day.
Damian woke up and saw that only Carol was by his side; the others had already gotten up.
Last night, things had gotten a bit crazy with Carol. Hours later, when they got to bed, things heated up again with the others.
Making it a really busy night.
Damian turned on his side and looked at Carol; her words still echoed in his mind.
Looking at her, he saw her disheveled hair covering part of her face, and she seemed to be sleeping so deeply that a bit of drool was trickling from the corner of her lips.
His hand extended, moving the hair away from her face and allowing him to see her.
His lips inevitably curved as he saw her; he was truly fortunate to have her.
Despite the fact that with his power he could have lived a wild life, changing women every day, from the first time he saw Carol, he was captivated.
Damian extended his hand to her waist before pulling her into a hug.
Carol moaned softly, waking up groggy.
"Enough, let me sleep a little longer," said Carol, frowning.
"I love you," said Damian, smiling, and kissing her head before getting up.
Carol responded in an almost unintelligible way before falling back asleep.
Damian quickly cleaned himself up and dressed before leaving the room.
Going down the stairs, he reached the kitchen and saw his three daughters having breakfast.
"My three little princesses," said Damian, coming up behind them and kissing each one on the cheek.
"Hi, Daddy," said Alice, quickly swallowing what was in her mouth before greeting him ahead of her sisters.
"You woke up late, Daddy," said Ivy, looking at her father.
"Hm, you should have had breakfast with us," said Emma, nodding, as they were almost done and would have to go to school.
"I'm sorry, I had a little matter to attend to with your mother," said Damian, apologizing.
"In return, I'll play with you all afternoon when you get back," said Damian, smiling at them.
"Alright, don't go back on your word," said Alice, nodding satisfied.
Damian chuckled before taking a napkin and gently wiping Alice's cheek.
"I want you to feed me to make up for it," said Ivy, dragging her plate in front of Damian and looking at him adorably.
Damian couldn't resist and took Ivy's cutlery before feeding her. Ivy opened her mouth and then chewed with her cheeks slightly puffed.
Alice and Emma couldn't stand watching this and also asked Damian to feed them.
"Seriously...will you still be feeding them when they're older?" said Sophia, sighing at the scene. She had come to check if they needed anything before going to school.
"I'll still feed them if they want," said Damian casually before giving Alice the last spoonful of food.
"Alright girls, go brush your teeth, hurry up because it's already late," said Damian, suddenly laughing as he tried to retrieve the spoon Alice held tightly in her mouth.
Seeing that she wouldn't let go of the spoon, he extended his other hand and pinched her nose to prevent her from breathing.
Alice held on for several minutes until she finally let go of the spoon, looking at her father in protest.
Emma and Ivy laughed at seeing their sister like that.
"Alright, hurry up, girls," said Sophia, trying to avoid laughing and speaking in a serious voice.
The three little ones got down from their chairs and ran to brush their teeth.
Sophia looked at Damian, who had followed his daughters with his eyes.
"How did it go with Laura yesterday?" asked Sophia, sitting in Ivy's chair.
"How nosy," said Damian, joking.
Sophia just looked at him silently, sternly.
"We just talked, got to know each other better, ate a lot, and came back," said Damian casually.
"Hmm," Sophia hummed while looking at him, shaking her head and saying nothing as she approached him.
Sophia hugged him from behind while her hand stroked his hair.
"Remember to focus on what you really want, don't accept someone into your life just because. Right now, nothing will happen, but we will live for an innumerable amount of years''
"Your relationship must be ready to withstand that terrible amount of time''
"Humans lived only around 80 years, but few marriages were truly 'till death do us part. Imagine how your relationship will be after a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years," said Sophia with a bit of concern.
"It's okay, Mom, let's just live one day at a time, don't worry about such distant things that we can't control," said Damian, leaning against Sophia with a slight smile.
Sophia smiled slightly, ruffling his hair before letting go.
Damian watched his mother leave before standing up and accompanying his daughters as they came toward him until they got on the shuttle.
Damian stayed for several seconds watching as his three little princesses left before disappearing from the spot.
He reappeared in the laboratory. The scientist had told him a few days ago that he had something to discuss with him, but since he had been lazy, he hadn't gone to see what it was about.
"My lord, do you finally have time in your busy life to come see this humble scientist?" said the scientist upon seeing Damian.
His expression was so sincere that it almost made Damian doubt.
"I just saw your message, you said you needed me, is something wrong?" said Damian, smiling as if nothing had happened.
The scientist coughed slightly upon hearing his king's response, hesitating whether to argue about the messaging system.
He finally decided to forget it and get to the main topic.
"My lord, do you remember the particular metal we found in Antarctica?" said the scientist, looking at Damian.
"That's right, Anti-metal," said Damian, nodding.
"Exactly, I have dedicated some of my free time to studying its properties and developing devices.
"I succeeded in one of them, and it's quite interesting. I'm sure you'll want to try it," said the scientist, smiling proudly.
"Alright, let's see it," said Damian, chuckling at the scientist's behavior.
"Hm, it's in the restricted area," said the scientist, nodding before starting to lead the way.
Damian raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing it was in a restricted area; it must be quite important for that.
The scientist arrived in front of a door before scanning his hand. One of Cortana's clones operating in the background analyzed both of them before directly opening the door.
They both passed through the door, and the first thing that caught Damian's attention was a large black metal ring with several tubes connected to the floor.
Damian looked questioningly at the scientist to explain.
"This is an Omniversal gate," said the scientist, his eyes shining with excitement as he presented his greatest creation to date.