........CAPTAIN ATLANTIS! Ruler and defender of oceans far and wide. Protector of the great sea dwellers and friend to all with scales. CAPTAIN ATLANTIS! ............
Judah was dimly aware of a theme song playing on the wall-mounted holovision across the room. Face buried in his pillow, he reached out and patted a few spots on the space opposite from him. Instead of finding Thessa, his hand came into contact with a unruly mop of curly driftwood-streaked hair. Judah gave the curls a little tousle and rolled over onto his back. Eyes struggled to focus in the bright morning light of Ceto. Over the sounds of the colorful cartoon show, the ocean could be heard crashing against the beach.
No sooner had his eyes just began to adjust, a little scaled creature leaned over his face. Curls fall against his brows with the movement. A serious look crossed the young face.
"You snore Daddy.Loud." Makai was quite matter of fact with his assessment, still peering down into his face.
"So do you buddy, don't act so innocent." Judah pushed the pillows against the exotic wood headboard, sitting up so he didn't feel as he was being interrogated. "No one told you to watch Captain Atlantis in here. My snoring would be much less of a problem down stairs."
"Mama says I can't go down stairs by myself in the morning if she's still asleep."
There's a lot of rules I don't know, Judah thought. With Thessa away on an assignment for the Silver Sanctum, he was in charge of the household til she returned. Whenever that was....she couldn't give him a solid date. On the practical level, he understood. On a different plane, well....he just wanted her by his side. Safer that way, looking out for one another an' all. Judah trusted her fully -- not to put herself in extreme danger and what not. Didn't mean that danger often found her instead.
"Right. Your Ma is right...good call."
Judah stretched and reached for the comlink on his nightstand. His shoulder was still sore, stiff. Ziost had reminded him how much he had fallen behind on all the soldiering and fighting. Sky-blue eyes squinted as they searched the screen. An update from Salacia Consolidated [since he was working from home for now...] , a message he could be a winner of 15,000cr [so long as he wired 5,000cr to a Prince on Tatooine], and a report from various holdings in the Silver Sanctum. Salacia was looking to expand to Mon Calamari, the question was with what.....
"Did Mama send a message?" Makai looked incredibly eager, trying to lean over his father's good shoulder to read. Not that he could read well yet....this was besides the point.
While he never wanted to lie to his son, there were times stretching the truth would save a world full of hurt. To be honest, they hadn't heard from Thessa in well over a week. This didn't stop Judah from making up a message every morning at breakfast or when his son came bounding in, all too eager to start the day.
"Of course....Lets see..." Judah was getting better at making these up on the fly "....Hope you and Makai are having a great time and haven't turned our home into a frat house. Makai, don't forget to take your goggles to swim class, we've already lost enough pairs. Also, don't let Daddy forget the coupons when he goes shopping, I'm putting you in charge of keeping him in line. Stay out of trouble, I miss both of you."
"What's a frat house?"
"A house some boys live in while at University. Generally likened to be smelly and dirty with lots of parties."
"Oh." Makai shrugged a little. "Thats weird. I don't wanna go to school. I wanna come work with you."
"You say that now. As for school, no exceptions. Your Ma and I haven't been working our tails off to save every credit towards your education for nothin'. You've got awhile to worry about that now. Right now, lets head down and make breakfast."
"I'll get started on the kelp juice shakes!!" Makai jumped out of his parents bed, hitting the floor with a thud. The sound of little feet running against the wood flooring echoed in the all too quiet house.
As for Judah, he was left wondering how exactly Thessa did this when he was gone. His time playing Mr.Mom was certainly going to be a trial by fire.