[From Lightning's diary]

[WRITTEN ON 27 JUL 2022]

When we moved to Bordeaux, Valerie and Conroy looked very happy about it. I can understand them since our apartment in Paris was very small and both of them needed to be in the same room although they are of different genders. Now, each of them has their own room and more freedom.

Valerie has a blonde hair with green sharp eyes (small pupil size), athletic build, and she likes to style her hair in a ponytail. Conroy has brownish spiky hair, a thin build with a doe, blue eyes (large pupil size). Since neither of us has blonde nor brown hair, I speculated that Valerie inherited her hair color from my dad, as he is also blonde and Conroy inherited his from Bartholomew, who has brownish hair.

At this time, Valerie already does most of her daily routine by herself, such as showering, changing clothes, washing plates, using her spoon and fork, combing her hair, and going to the toilet. She likes to play ball games, so I brought a mini basketball hoop and a soccer goal. Every time she threw and got in, she always cheered and said, "Look, daddy, mommy! I can score!". I feel so happy every time I hear her saying that. She also understood simple ethics like always keeping your promise, do not harm others without cause, and listening to what people say before answering.

For Conroy, he just started to talk, including calling family members (daddy, mommy, sister), singing a few songs, and counting. I still need to help him change clothes, but he is already able to walk and jump. But unlike Valerie, he is more obsessed with coloring books, reading, and writing. He is able to recognize more patterns and shapes compared to Valerie at the same age.

Both kids also started to ask us all sorts of things, from why the sky is blue, to why man is different from woman, where the rice comes from, why do we need to wear clothes, and so on. Sometimes, you just need to be creative to answer them with the simplest language possible, and it forces me to talk. I am by nature more introverted compared to Hope, so he explains most stuff to kids. Occasionally, Valerie and Conroy fight when playing with toys and so I need to mediate and teach them how to negotiate with each other. I am grateful that so far, none of them have displayed difficult behaviors.

For myself, my daily routine in Bordeaux consists of accompanying both Valerie and Conroy to read and play. I also cook for Hope (after Serah taught me some common dishes). I still teach MMA class three times a week and spar with Hiromi once every two weeks. It keeps my fighting instinct sharp, and it was fun as she is a very tough opponent.

Initially, I was still suspicious but after verifying her online profile (Her name is on Japan's Ministry of Sports list of olympics medalist winners in 2015, seven years ago) and her regularly inviting me to her home to chat in the afternoon so I gradually trusted her.

Also, video games have become a bonding activity for our family. Before this, me and Hope did not have much common interest (other than discussing news, our daily activities, and updates from family or friends) but now we have started to watch various cartoons and playing games with our kids. Hope has become less obsessed with ancient technology like when he was still a research fellow in Ecole, and I am really relieved by that.

So, around 6 months after we moved to Bordeaux, it would finally be Valerie's first day of primary school.

"How is the taste, honey?" I asked Hope as he took another spoonful of spaghetti from his plate. The four of us were sitting at the dining table and starting to chat about the possible activities for Valerie tomorrow. Today, I made black pepper chicken, spaghetti, salad, and tomato soup. For Conroy, I still need to cut the chicken into pieces and put it on a separate plate.

"It's getting better than the first time, " he replied, winking his eye, "Soon, you will be better than me."

"Not a chance," I denied but he stretched his left arm to touch my hair. "I need to do it more often if I want to improve..."

"Mommy, I want tabasco.", Valerie stretched her hand to take the tabasco bottle from the middle of the table.

I held her wrist and shook my head, "Val, you are not old enough to taste it."

Soon she pouted her face, "Can I try just a spoonful of it...please, " she pleaded.

"No, " I firmly replied, "But you can try a bit of pepper." I opened the pepper bottle and poured a little of it on her spaghetti.

"Mommy...I want to watch Cocomelon." Conroy pleaded, he seemed reluctant to finish his food. Cocomelon is an online cartoon for infants, and it is Conroy's favorite song series. I have been playing it since he was a baby. Valerie also used to like it, but now she prefers more TV cartoons and outdoor sports.

"Finish your food first, Conroy." Hope ordered, "Listen to mommy and daddy. You want daddy happy, right?"

"Yes, daddy, " Conroy responded while trying to put the fork with spaghetti into his mouth. I helped him to hold his fork correctly as he held it backward and then refilled his cup with more water.

"Mommy, what will I do at school?" Valerie asked curiously, "Will people there be as nice as mommy?"

"Yes, Valerie...you will learn many things," I answered, "You will also have a lot of new friends."

"What things will I learn?" she asked, "Will it be the same as what mommy reads to me?" She pointed to the poster I attached on the wall just beside the fridge. It showed various pictures of vegetables and fruits with their names.

"Same thing, but there will be more.", I kissed her cheek and hugged her from behind, "More books to read and more games to try."

"What about me, mommy?" asked Conroy, "I want to make more friends too..."

I looked at him and touched his chin, "Your time will come later, sweetie.", I wiped the stain from his mouth, "But now, you will still spend more time with mommy..."

"Hope, tomorrow you will go to the office, right?", I confirmed, "Could you drop us at the bus stop in front of the complex?"

"Why don't I bring Val with me and drop her off at school?" he suggested, "Have you applied for the concession cards for the kids?"

I put my fingers on my forehead, trying to recall the event, "Yes, I made a payment and requested online delivery. The cards just came this morning."

"Ok, maybe you can use the card to send Conroy to his preschool?", Hope suggested again.

"We need to talk about that later, " I assured him, "Right now, he does not need it yet..."

"Okay." Hope finished the last spoon of his food with confused expression, because just last week we actually agreed to send him to preschool in our district, "Alright, Val...time to go sleep...it is 9pm already..". He rose from his chair, carried her up by her armpits, and kissed her cheeks.

I also approached her and kissed her forehead, "Good night, sweetie..."

After Valerie returned to her room, I switched on our flat-screen TV and played a Cocomelon video. Conroy immediately become enthusiastic and giggled. Sometimes, it can be irritating when my kids are naughty but watching his happy face like this always makes my day.

Half an hour after that, I returned to my room and put Conroy to sleep in his small bed in the corner. Hope was still looking at his laptop, trying to clear his emails. Since he was promoted to senior scientist in Inria, there is more paperwork that he needs to do and there are more emails since he is currently in charge of the grant application, procurement and maintenance of lab equipment, and so on.

I climbed into our bed, approached him and kissed his ear. He turned and glanced at me, quickly closed his laptop and put it on the side table.

"Do you enjoy your new workplace?" I asked him while wrapping my fingers around his, "I hope you are not involved in some sorts of dangerous project..."

Hope did not reply to my comment immediately, his eyes looked concerned, and he seemed deep in thought.

"Hope...whatever confidential thing that your boss said...you know that you can trust me, right?", I said to him. "During my farewell party with Guardian Corps, Amodar mentioned to me about this Skynet project..."

"What did he mention about it, Light?" He seemed surprised, his eyes were wide...

"Not much, " I replied, "But I know it is related to artificial intelligence for military purpose."

Hope circled his hands around my body and kissed my forehead, "Right now, it does not seem to be dangerous...but I feel that there are some things that my boss does not want me and other staff to know. Like if anyone knew about it, it could be scandalous..."

"How do you know that?" I asked curiously.

"In the minutes he sent to me after the presentation with the Guardian Corps and Minister of Defence, " Hope replied, "My boss mentioned that it has been decided that administrative access to the Skynet system, including original whitepaper and source code, can only be granted to those in high-level position...so not even me and my staff are able to know what is inside Skynet right now..."

"How do you guys work without knowing its specifications?" I questioned, feeling very suspicious concerning the nature of his project.

"My boss will define certain tasks for me, we discuss possible best algorithms for the tasks and available open source code which can accomplish the tasks in the most efficient way...", Hope explained, "But the task description is quite generic, and he does not say in what way the algorithm will be integrated into Skynet..."

"But he wrote the project description in the career portal where you applied...it was written that this project is only for civilian purposes, " I argued.

"That's true...that's why I said on the surface it looks fine...but then if that's the case why I am not allowed to see it?" he wondered.

"So, you deduced that he's trying to hide something...", I concluded and for a short while, I somehow agreed with him.

"Hopefully, I am wrong...", he sighed and kissed my lips, "Let's put that matter aside. Just now you mentioned you want to talk about Conroy?"

"Yes...Serah contacted me this morning...", I responded, "She just obtained her childhood teacher certificate...so she asked if I want to bring Conroy to her for homeschooling instead of sending him to preschool. And as I told you previously, Snow still has not got any new projects yet..."

"I see, so you want to pay her to take care of Conroy...", Hope listened with concerned expression, "I suppose you want to know my opinion..."

"Why not? If it helps her and also creates bonding within our family...", he replied, "He will get to know Robin..."

"Because you are always concerned about enrolling them in good schools...not sure if Serah will be the best teacher...", I commented.

"Light...I also believed that we should help our family in need, " Hope emphasized, "Charity will take precedence over our own convenience...and at his age, I don't think school name matters a lot."

I touched his cheek and kissed him, "Thanks, Hope...". After that, both of us fell asleep.

The morning afterward while Conroy was still sleeping, me and Hope went to Valerie's room to wake her up. After grumbling, because she was still not used to waking up in the morning, I managed to get her to go shower and took her breakfast. After that, I took her uniform for her primary school from her wardrobe drawer and watched her wear it.

The uniform for upper body consisted of white short-sleeve shirt covered with a navy blue vest and lime green bow tie. For the bottom part, long navy blue skirt with vertical brown stripes and long socks. She looked so cute wearing that uniform. I stood with Valerie in front of the mirror in her room, adjusting her shirt to be tidy.

"So Val...behave in the class, OK?" I reminded her, "Be polite to your teachers and friends."

She glanced towards me, giggled and nodded, "Yes mommy...if they are as nice as you."

"They will...", I assured her, "Ok, let's take a picture while you are pretty." Hope was waiting at other side of the room, using his phone camera to take the picture of me and Valerie before we went outside.

"Daddy, I want you to join too, " Valerie pleaded after Hope finished taking the picture.

"Ok...let's do it one more time...", Hope approached us and then bent down, while turning the camera to selfie mode, "One, two, three."

"Yay!" Valerie cheered, watching her picture on Hope's screen, "Daddy, can I have a mobile phone like you?"

"No!" both me and Hope replied at the same time, "Time to go, sweetie."

After that, Hope brought Valerie outside our home. I stood by at the terrace and watched Hope turn on the car engine, while Valerie was sitting beside him. Hope turned down the window and waved goodbye to me. Valerie also followed as the car slowly went backward. After the car was completely outside our garage, I pressed the remote in my hand to close our front sliding gate again.

So, this was what normal life looked like. It was certainly not bad, I thought. Although it lacked thrill like the Dissidia tournament, but there is no chaos and our home environment is very peaceful. I glanced at the watch on my hand and it showed 755am. Valerie should arrive at her school around 820am, whereas Hope will reach his office around 850am.

Right now, I need to send Conroy to Serah's house for half-day homeschooling before my part-time maidservant, Paula, comes in at 10am. Usually, either Hope or I need to supervise her. If I am doing my MMA class, Hope will be at home and if Hope need to go to the office, I will be at home.

I went back to our room and found that Conroy had already woken up. He was playing with his toy car on the floor.

"Conroy, " I called while glancing at him, "Time to get prepared...we are going to Serah's house."

I brought the stroller outside; I put Conroy inside it. This is the first time I went to Serah's house by walking. It took around 15 mins, as opposed to 5-mins driving. For a kid as young as Conroy, 15-mins walking can be tiring, so I let him relax inside the stroller. While I was walking towards Serah's house, I encountered some of our neighbors. They normally jog around the area, sometimes with their children or pets.

Near our neighborhood, you can find a cluster of commercial properties consisting of shops, restaurants, and a supermarket. I usually bring my kids there when I want to shop with them. On the weekend, it is usually crowded so I prefer to go there on a weekday.

When I passed through that cluster, I saw Hiromi among the crowd who went out from the supermarket exit door, wearing her white sports attire, carrying two recyclable bags with daily items. Apparently, she just went jogging and was doing her weekly shopping. I waved at her, she recognized and smiled towards me, and looked at Conroy.

"Ah, this is your kid...so cute." She bent down while stretching her hand towards Conroy, "What's your name?"

"Mom said not to talk to strangers, " Conroy pouted and replied. Hiromi burst out laughing at Conroy's honest confession.

"His name is Conroy, " I answered, "Conroy, this is our neighbor, aunty Hiromi."

"Nice to meet you, Conroy." Hiromi took Conroy's small palm into her hand and shook him.

"Are you not working?" I questioned her, noting that today is Wednesday morning, "I suppose this is already office hours."

"Ah, I did not tell you. I am not working right now. I am doing my masters in ancient history by self-funding...", she explained and opened her water bottle, and drank it in front of me.

"You pay postgrad degree yourself?", I asked curiously, "That is quite unusual...how do you pay for your living expenses?"

"Come on, Lightning." Hiromi crossed her arms, and frowned, "You should know, we have a similar history. I won a gold medal during the Olympics and the Japanese government awarded me 50 million yen - the dividend of that cash prize is more than sufficient for my cost of living..."

"But why here?" I probed further, "It's not like Bordeaux has the best universities here...you would be better off in Paris...or maybe other European countries.."

She grinned and shook her head, "It's not the appropriate time to tell you the reason yet."

I sighed and put one of my hands on my hips, expressing my displeasure, "All this time, and you still play secretive with me...I don't know why should I trust you."

"I also don't know your past history in the old world...and I do not ask for that, " Hiromi argued, "Some things are meant not to be known...even to close friends. I seek your understanding, as a friend."

"I see...hopefully you are not involved in something dangerous," I commented while started to push the stroller forward, "Alright, I need to bring my kid to preschool. I will excuse myself now..."

She nodded, "Enjoy your day. See you."

After my encounter with Hiromi, I walked further and reached Serah's house. I saw that Kelly was lying down on the terrace and when I rang the bell near its gate, he started running towards me enthusiastically, barking and jumping out from the gate. She sniffed the stroller, and then climbed upon my body. I caressed her back and watched her.

"I do not have food, Kelly, " I talked with her in monologue, "Play with Conroy, won't you?"

Not long after, Serah came out from inside and opened the gate. We hugged each other and I brought Conroy down from his stroller, and we walked together inside. I learned that Snow had gone to Maqui's vehicle repair shop sometime earlier.

When I arrived at Serah's living room, I saw that it had been dramatically reorganized. The sofas were pushed to the walls and there were many toys laid on the floor in the center of the room, including various mini cooking utensils, a mattress, rubber balls, a ring toss set, and a blackboard. There were also stationeries such as crayons and paint sets, and various books, with names of animals, objects, and places. Robin was sitting at the small table at the center and playing with lego, whereas Lumina was sitting opposite to him, playing with her bear doll.

I was amazed and shook my head. "Wow, you are really into this, Serah," I praised her, "I cannot imagine doing the same thing."

"Of course, I need to teach my own son and nephew, " she chuckled, pointing out the obvious, "Lumina, Robin...Conroy is here...". Both kids were excited when they saw each other as Conroy immediately joined Robin to arrange legos on the table.

"Are there any other kids joining you?" I asked.

Serah shook her head, "Nope...it will be nice if you can refer me to someone...I am thinking of teaching up to five children..."

"Why don't we just ask people in our church? It is quite near our neighborhood, " I suggested, "There are a lot of kids at their age attending Sunday school, but our church does not have child care or preschool. So, we can ask parents of those kids..."

Serah thought about it for a while, "I think it is a good idea, " she replied, "Hopefully, there will not be many competitors around."

"If I am not wrong, Carla and Bethany told me last Sunday that their kids almost reached 3 years old. And they are staying quite near this area, I can message them and said that you are currently looking for students." I took my mobile phone from my pocket and messaged those two friends about Serah.

"Ah, Carla and Bethany...yes I know them...", Serah commented, "Robin actually quite close to their kids...I can contact them, thanks sis."

"No problem...", I answered while getting my wallet from my pocket, "How much do you want me to pay you?"

"Let's just talk about that later after a month, " she recommended, "Then maybe you can see if I am a good teacher or not..."

"I see." I put back my wallet again, "Ok, it's up to you Serah...let me know if Conroy causes you any problems."

"Definitely, " she confirmed. After that, I excused myself and left her with the three kids.