"Daddy! Daddy! Daddyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"
"Richard, she's calling you" commented Rachel Grayson, once known as Raven.
"Yeah, I think so too" sighed her husband, getting up from the sofa and walking towards the garden, where his daughter's voice came.
"What's up, darling?" he asked, exiting in the garden. The answer was in front of him: his daughter, Vera, was in a net, wrapped up on the tree, while his son, William, was laughing in the middle of the garden.
"Daddy! William imprisoned me" cried the little girl, moving in the net like a fish out of water.
"Stay calm, I'm helping you. William, may I ask you why did you do that?" asked the man, marching towards the tree, to help his younger daughter.
"But daddy, you told me I had to keep in exercise for the day I'll be a Titan!" whined the boy, stopping laughing.
"That does not comprehend imprisoning your sister in a net, you know that, don't you?" Richard commented tiredly, cutting the net and taking the imprisoned girl in his arms.
"So how can I exercise, then?" asked his son, almost crying.
"You could use the training room I made uncle Cyborg built, for example, don't you think?" answered his father, putting Vera down. "Come on, goes to mummy" he said then, poking her on her arm. Vera turned towards her brother, showing him her tongue and then running to her mother, who hugged her lovingly.
"But that's not funny" mumbled the boy, pouting.
"William. Come here" ordered his father.
William jumped, worried. Usually, it was his mother who gave orders, not his father. At least, not when he was at home. When he had to coordinate his superheroes team, he was the first in line.
Anyway, he walked to him, better not to disobey.
With his enormous surprise, his father placed an arm around his shoulders and said: "Come with me."
Father and son entered in the house, walking through the living room, where Rachel was reading aloud a tale by Edgar Allan Poe to Vera, who was listening in awe.
Hearing them passing by, the woman raised her eyes from the book: "Where are you going?"
"Men's thing. Don't scare my little baby with these stories" answered Richard playfully.
Rachel was starting to reply, but Vera claimed for her story and the woman had to let her husband and her first son pass by.
"Where are we going, daddy?" asked William, a bit worried.
"Firstly to your room, you have to change. Wear something comfortable. Shorts and tee will be perfect, I think. You have two minutes" his father answered, pushing him into his room, before vanishing in his own. After a couple of minutes, the two Grayson males met in the corridor, both clad in a similar way.
"Follow me" Richard said, after having examined his son's clothes.
The boy followed him, without saying a word.
His father stopped in front of the training room's door. He opened it and made him enter, then closed it again.
"Daddy?" William asked, worry in his words.
"We're training. You versus me" announced his father, leading him to the center of the room and taking two weapons from the wall. He gave one to his son, then stood in front of him in position of defense. "Come on, attack me" he said, seeming himself at his son's age.
"Dinner's ready!" cried Rachel. None of the two males appeared.
The woman sighed. She already knew where she would have found them. She took her cooking apron off and told her daughter: "Vera, I'm going to catch your father and your brother up. Don't touch anything while I'm away."
"Yes, mommy."
Rachel smiled and exited the room. She arrived in the corridor, in front of the training room. She opened the door and saw her two men sleeping, William resting on his father. She chuckled softly, then approached to her husband. Gently, she caressed his forehead, brushing his dark hair from his eyes. The man opened his eyes, worried.
"Hey" Rachel murmured softly, caressing his hair to calm him down.
"Mmh" was his only answer. He was still sleepy.
"Dinner's ready. You and your apprentice are coming?" she asked, joking.
"What? Dinner?" he mumbled, trying to understand what was happening.
"That's it, dinner. One of the most important meals. Never heard about it?" she asked, waking William.
The twelve-year-old boy mumbled in his sleep, before opening his purple eyes, similar to hers.
"Go washing your hands, darling. It's dinner time" Rachel said, helping him getting up and pushing him towards the bathroom.
Then she turned to her husband, who had joined her at the door. "So? Hard training, wasn't it?"
"Hey! He almost won, you know?" Richard replied, placing his arm on her shoulders and leading her to the kitchen.
"He's the same as you" his wife simply commented, kissing him on the cheek, before joining her children in the kitchen, where they were waiting in hunger.