Theo POV:

I was in the kitchen chatting with mom and dad about my university options. I still didn’t know if I was going to go to the same university as Nathen or if Emilin already had thoughts about the university she wanted to go to. ​​

I wasn’t sure if I should go to one close to Nathen’s for convenience or if I should go to one in a different country to better spread our manpower.

The connections we would make would be completely different either way.

I didn’t really believe I would learn much but going to a top university would just open too many doors for me.

I told mom and dad that I was most likely going to wait to see Emi’s decision because mine would vary accordingly. That was also when she happened to come down.

Emilin’s expression was a little off when she came down, which I’m sure everyone was able to tell. She seemed a little nervous.

Maybe she had already made a choice and didn’t know how we would react? But that didn’t seem right either. I pulled her chair out for her to sit. Then we just waited for her sort to her thoughts out.

“I’ve already made a decision on where I want to go for the next two years.” Question marks filled my mind. University was 4 years and I’m sure that Emilin wouldn’t want to skip more grades. She also said she knew where she wanted to go rather than study. But my doubts were answered in no time.

“I want to take a break from school.” She explained. Mom and dad were also visibly shocked. I think none of us thought of this option before.

If it was just taking a break, I’m sure we would all be fine with it, but the question was, what was Emi going to be doing meanwhile. Knowing her, it wasn’t that simple if even she was nervous.

“I’ll call big brother so that he can add his input on this too,” I said as I took out my phone to call him. He answered within 2 rings.

I quickly explained the situation. Then I placed my phone on the counter where we could see him, and he could see us through the video call.

Nathen: [Well, she doesn’t really need to go to university this early. If she goes in two years later, she can go to class with people her age. But Emi, what do you want to do in these two years?]

Those were my thoughts exactly. Even though Emi is my little sister, sometimes even I forget how much younger she is.

It’s strange now that I think about it, she’s always been so much more mature. I guess girls really do mature faster.

Thinking about Emilin’s troubles with making friends, maybe taking two years off would be the right choice after all.

I was just being convinced when I heard what Emi said she wanted to do.

“I want to take this time to travel.” Emi was really serious. I think everyone, including me, was stunned for a bit.

“You want to go traveling alone? Where?” Mom was the first to ask.

“I’m not sure yet, but I was thinking of applying for visas over the summer and leaving when school starts so that we can still spend the summer together.” She explained her thoughts.

“Emilin, I know you’re already all grown up, but traveling alone takes a lot of planning and it can be really dangerous. Have you thought things through? You need to decide if you want to get tour guides, where to eat, sleep and there would be a lot of other issues you would have to solve. You don’t know what kind of people you’ll meet outside, and what about the language barrier?” Dad was always one to care more for the logistics and safety.

Of course, we all cared a lot for Emi’s safety, but dad seemed to understand more about the specifics.

He just had more real-life experiences.

“Language barrier shouldn’t be a problem, as for tour guides, I think it will depend on where I go. I just want to widen my horizons. I know that it can be dangerous, I’ll be really careful. I’ll message you guys every day and call whenever I can.” I could tell that Emi had already gone through her coaxing speech a couple of times.

It was also funny to see dad worry about a measly language barrier. I remember how shocked I was when I found out the number of languages Emilin knew how to speak fluently in.

When we first started working with some international associations, they didn’t always speak our language. At that age, I was totally lost.

We were having a call with an associate from another country and I had yet to integrate the automatic translator through my voice modifications. In the end, Emilin started to speak in their language and I still had no clue when she found the time to learn.

We didn’t need it a lot, but it was enough for me to see her prowess.

Actually, even now I’m not sure of the exact number of languages she had learned, but it was definitely more than the ones that dad knew or even the ones I could think of from the top of my head.

Nathen: [Dad is right. Though I’m sure you can take care of yourself, we’ll all be very worried if you go alone, and I don’t think anyone can go with you either.]

I nodded my head in agreement and watched as Emilin tried to come up with a reasonable answer.

“That’s the thing. Mom, dad. I need some fresh air. I need some space to see what I want to do in life.”

“I feel like I’ve been moving too fast all this time. When I finally got sick this week, I feel like I finally stopped for a bit. I want to take things slowly so that I can enjoy the scenery that the world has to offer.”

I was already getting a little emotional from hearing Emilin’s speech, and I see that mom is even tearing up a little.

This little girl really knew how to pull on one’s heartstrings to get what she wanted. While I wiped my eyes to try to get the sand that was making my eyes water, I swore to myself that I really had to start taking psychology classes seriously.

I might want to make that my second major, or minor if things don’t work out.

All I could think about was how there was now absolutely no way that mom and dad wouldn’t give in. Emilin already had us all figured out.

Brother and I had already given in when Emi first opened her mouth, the only ones she had to convince were mom and dad.

Which she definitely succeeded in.

Gabriel POV:

Sometimes I felt like I didn’t really have to raise my children. Other parents complained about how naughty their children were and how they didn’t listen to their parents at all.

At first, I thought they were all exaggerating, but later on, when one of my colleagues brought their child to work, I realized that I was the one who was mistaken.

Everyone looked at me like I was an alien when I questioned how a child could be so misbehaved.

Colleague 1: “But I thought you had 3 children. Aren’t they all like this at one point or another?”

‘Yes, three children and they’re all little angels.’

Colleague 2: “Mr. Wei must be joking, it’s okay, no one wants to let others know how their children actually behave. But deep down, we all know how children are.”

‘???’

Colleague 3: “This is the reason I didn’t want kids. When I was younger my nephew was just like this child. I don’t think I would be able to handle it.”

Colleague 4: “Yeah but they’re also cute kids you know. Some can be really well behaved.”

‘Yes. Exactly.’

Colleague 2: “Haha, you can say that because you don’t have children.”

Well by the end of the conversation I was really confused. I asked my wife if she had been going through many hardships while raising our children when I got home, but she ended up just as confused as I was.

That was when I first noticed how well behaved my children were. They never asked for anything that was excessive and after Nathen turned 9, none of them even asked for toys anymore.

Though they spent a lot of time on the computer, they went outside to play just as much. Signing up for sports without having to be forced to. As a parent, I could only watch and sigh as my job was being done for me.

Seeing as they were so well behaved. All I had to do was provide all the love and care I could to my family. I couldn’t even spoil them, well, maybe with food.

When Emilin said that she was going to take a two-year break, I was smiling inside. I hoped that school wasn’t too stressful, because she was already learning two years ahead of her time and she still had to maintain good grades.

It couldn’t have been easy.

Elena and I didn’t care too much if they got top grades or just average ones, but we would still celebrate in our hearts when our children did well.

When Emilin said she wanted to go traveling my instinctive reaction was to agree. There was finally something that she wanted to do for herself. But then, while thinking of the possible dangers, I couldn’t agree so easily anymore. I wish she chose something that was closer.

With Elena’s secret project going on and my work, none of us could accompany her. It was also clear that our daughter didn’t have that in mind.

Yet, after hearing her thoughts, there was nothing left to show her other than our support for her every decision. That was the least we could do as parents.

So, in the end… it seems that we gave in without much of a fight.