Then they saw Marlene wrapped in a large bath towel, rushing toward Aiden in a flurry.
"Uncle..." Marlene elongated her voice as she shouted, diving into Aiden's embrace. But her hair had not yet been dried, and the wet hair soaked a large part of Aiden's clothes.
Before Aiden could speak, Aerith also came out from the bathroom. She wore a shower cap on her head, held a towel in her hand, and hurried over.
"Marlene, next time you have to wait until your hair is dry before coming out. Look, you've gotten your uncle's clothes all wet." Aerith straightened Marlene's body from Aiden's embrace and then began vigorously rubbing Marlene's hair with the towel.
"Sorry, Uncle."
Looking at Aiden's chest, which was soaked by her hair, Marlene lowered her head a little embarrassedly, letting Aerith vigorously rub her hair.
"It's fine. Anyway, I was going to take a bath and change clothes." Aiden originally wanted to pat Marlene's head, but since Aerith was still helping her dry her hair, he had no choice but to pinch her cheek instead, causing Marlene to puff up her cheeks unhappily.
Seeing this scene, Elmyra seemed a little lost. She suddenly thought of her husband. If he hadn't died in the Wutai War, she should also have been able to enjoy this kind of warm moment.
Gradually, the corners of Elmyra's eyes became moist.
After helping Marlene dry her hair, Aerith let out a sigh of relief, pulled off the shower cap on her head, placed her hands on her hips, and said to Marlene, "After taking a bath, you know what you should do next, right?"
"Of course! Eat!" Marlene raised her little hand and shouted.
Aerith had thought Marlene would say "go to sleep," so she was a little surprised by the answer and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Luckily, Elmyra had already broken free from her sadness.
Taking the opportunity of smoothing her hair, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and then smilingly said to Marlene, "My poor little one, you must have suffered a lot these past few days. Tell me, what do you want to eat tonight?"
"Hot soup, bread, and fried eggs." Marlene counted on her fingers and said.
"And you, Aiden?" Elmyra looked toward Aiden.
"I'm fine with anything," Aiden said.
"Alright, then the same as Marlene, a double portion."
Elmyra got up and walked toward the kitchen. Then she turned around and said to Aerith, "Aerith, you chat with them for a while."
"Okay, Mom." Aerith nodded, then picked Marlene up from Aiden's arms, sat down where her mother had been sitting, facing Aiden.
Then, she began carefully looking Aiden up and down.
While Aerith was examining Aiden, Aiden was also examining Aerith. Before, he had only taken a quick glance at Aerith. Now, sitting face-to-face, he could look more carefully.
He had to admit, Aerith was truly beautiful, even more beautiful than in the game. And in real life, she had a certain special, indescribable feeling.
After examining each other for a while, Aerith gently played with Marlene's hair with her fingers and asked, "Just now, when I was in the bathroom, I vaguely heard that Mom wants you to stay?"
"Yeah." Aiden nodded. "Ms. Elmyra was worried that I had nowhere to go."
"She's always so kind." Aerith pouted slightly, then curiously asked, "And did you agree?"
"I originally wanted to refuse, but Ms. Elmyra was very insistent, so I could only agree." Aiden nodded and repeated what he had told Elmyra earlier, "But don't worry, I won't stay for free. I'll do what I can."
"Do what you can..." Hearing this, Aerith's eyes lit up, and a faint smile appeared on her face, "You said it yourself, you know."
"Of course." Aiden continued to nod.
"Then, could you do watering and fertilizing work?"
Aerith thought of her own flower garden, now she could relax a bit.
"No pressure at all." Aiden roughly guessed her thoughts and answered without hesitation.
"That's great." Aerith smiled so happily that her eyes curved into crescents. Even the kindest girl would have her own little tricks.
Listening to their conversation, Marlene raised her head doubtfully and asked Aiden, "Uncle, are you going to stay at Sister Aerith's place?"
"Yeah. After all, unlike you, I don't have family here. I'm all alone in this city," Aiden said with a smile.
"Ah! I was hoping that after you sent me home, I could invite you to stay at my house." The little one said with a bit of frustration, her idea had been taken first.
But she quickly thought of another way, immediately looking pitifully at Aerith, "Sister Aerith, can I stay here too? I'm so small, I don't eat much, and I can help you with work."
"No way. Your uncle already said you have family here. Doing that would make your family worry." Aerith looked down seriously at Marlene and said.
"Hmph!" Marlene unhappily crossed her arms, turned her head to the side, and puffed up her cheeks.
"Alright, don't be mad." Aerith gently pinched Marlene's puffed cheeks with both hands and lightly pulled them to the sides.
"Tell Sister where you live. Then we can come visit you."
"Seventh Sector!" Marlene said vaguely.
"Seventh Sector, huh... That's good, not too far." Aerith breathed a sigh of relief. She quite liked this cute little girl.
"If we take a car, we'll get there quickly. So don't be mad."
"That's right, Marlene. I'll definitely come to play with you," Aiden chimed in.
"Not just you, Uncle! Sister Aerith said it too, it has to be both of you together!" Marlene emphasized.
Hearing that, Aiden and Aerith looked at each other, then nodded together and said in unison,"No problem."
Hearing Aiden and Aerith's promise, Marlene stopped pretending to be angry and laughed happily. Then she began hopping back and forth between Aiden and Aerith.
While the three of them were playing around, Elmyra had already finished making the food. However, she didn't disturb them, she simply stood by the side, arms crossed, quietly watching.
Aerith was the first to notice her. She quickly stuffed Marlene into Aiden's arms, tidied her hair a bit, and stood up, "Mom."
Seeing Aerith suddenly stand up and call out "Mom," Aiden had to forcibly press the excited Marlene down. But the little girl mischievously stretched out her neck over Aiden's shoulder and shouted to Elmyra, "Aunt Elmyra, is the delicious food ready?"
"Of course, just waiting for you all to come taste it." Elmyra winked at her.
Aerith's house wasn't big, but it had everything needed.
Even though the dining table was a bit small, it could still fit four people just right.
Once Aiden and Marlene were seated, Elmyra and Aerith brought the food over.
The meal was very hearty, not just the hot soup, bread, and fried eggs Marlene mentioned, but also salad, grilled meat patties, and sweet jam for the bread.
Aiden knew the conditions at Aerith's house weren't very good, otherwise, she wouldn't have had to work so hard selling flowers. So this meal showed Elmyra's utmost effort.
"Come, eat." Seeing Aiden hadn't moved yet, Elmyra asked, "Are you not used to the food?"
"No." Aiden shook his head, picked up a piece of bread, stuffed it into his mouth, then picked up a bowl and drank a big gulp of soup. The delicious flavor of the soup amazed him.
After quickly finishing the bowl of soup, Aiden held up his bowl and asked, "Can I have another?"
"Of course." Elmyra smiled and nodded, handing the bowl to Aerith.
"Go on, give him another bowl."
After dinner, Aiden sat on the sofa, holding the drowsy, overfed Marlene, watching the old TV.
Honestly, the living conditions in Midgar's slums were really poor. There were only a few channels they could receive, and none of them were interesting.
Of course, it could also be the TV's fault. Anyway, after flipping through the channels a few times, Aiden found nothing new to watch.
Watching TV idly for a while, Aiden noticed Marlene was already sound asleep in his arms. At that moment, Elmyra came over, glanced at Marlene, and quietly asked, "Is she asleep?"
"Yeah, sleeping very soundly this time." Aiden remembered how, when they first met, even a little movement would wake her.
Elmyra nodded, gently picked up Marlene, and said, "I'll take her to my room to sleep. When Aerith finishes up, she'll show you to your room."
"Thank you," Aiden nodded toward her.
Sitting there watching TV a little longer, Aerith finally came back.
"Mom took Marlene to bed?" she asked casually when she didn't see Marlene.
Aiden nodded and said, "She asked you to take me to the room."
"Come with me, it's upstairs." Aerith pointed overhead.
Then she led Aiden up the wooden stairs to the loft above.
The loft space was not as big as downstairs and a bit low, but at least Aiden could stand straight, that was good news.
"Here, this is your room." Aerith opened a small room and said.
Aiden glanced inside. It was very simple, basically no decorations, but very clean, obviously cleaned often.
"Not bad. I like smaller spaces. This suits me well," Aiden said.
"Good, I knew you weren't picky." Aerith smiled, then took a blanket from the biggest cabinet, and skillfully made the bed.
"Alright, all done."
After preparing the bed, Aerith sat on it to test the comfort, wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead, and nodded with satisfaction.
"Thanks, Aerith," Aiden praised sincerely.
"You're welcome, Aiden. After all, you brought my mother home. This is what I should do." Aerith sat on the bed, supporting herself with her hands, swinging her legs.
Then she suddenly stood up and said, "It's late, I'll leave first. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Aiden waved.
Aerith waved back. Halfway to the door, she turned around, winked at Aiden, and said, "Good night, Aiden. Sweet dreams."
"Good night, Aerith. Sweet dreams to you too."
Then, Aerith closed the door.
"Ah!"
Looking at the room where only he was left, Aiden first slightly sighed, then laughed.
Although he had only come for less than half a night, he felt that it was quite good, he had met Barrett's daughter Marlene, and had also met Elmyra and Aerith; such a beginning was truly wonderful.
"Mm, let's sleep, hope that the stories happening tomorrow will be even more exciting."
Aiden took off his coat and lay on the bed, slowly closing his eyes.
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