Xeik was starting to understand why Lewis mostly kept his mouth shut during these exchanges. Simone was not a woman to be trifled with, and when she started to go off, she didn’t stop. It didn’t help that Mrs. Reid seemed to be almost antagonizing for the sake of it, and not providing anything of real value when it came to the children’s ‘wrongdoings.’ The only one that actually held merit was the Alshaya and Everett one, at least to Xeik, but even then there was almost a precedent set.

So, when Simone referred to Xeik as ‘love’ and asked for his input, Xeik was a little thrown off and surprised. First, it took him a moment to realize that Simone was referring to him and not the ‘real’ Lewis, due to their body swap. But when he finally realized that both Simone and Mrs. Reid were waiting for a response, Xeik sat up and cleared his throat.

“Well, based on the way I see things here, it may just be a simple adjustment to the curriculum.” Mrs. Reid gave him an incredulous look, as though she had never heard Lewis speak like this before. “Well…you have at least twelve kids who all seem to give you problems…but maybe it’s because they’re bored?”

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at,” Mrs. Reid responded haughtily.

“Maybe they’re not challenged enough, so they have the energy to do other things. If Ezili is passing all of her classes, then maybe she needs to graduate out. Lucas too. Mira and Fiori aren’t taking class seriously either…maybe you should focus some of the lessons around their interests. Aquatic life and design. Both of them have a history and require math and study. Jules is sick, but I’m sure he and Corrine are doing quite fine…so maybe be a little lenient when it comes to their learning speed. As for Alshaya and Everett….they just have a lot of energy. What do you have in terms of physical education here? What about things they can do to expend energy after class?”

He thought for a moment, realizing that he wasn’t being very Lewis-like. “Oh…and about Pearl…Peterson was it?” Xeik gave the best glare he could, given the circumstances. “You seem to take the words of a spoiled brat to heart. Maybe you should rethink your priorities if the children here aren’t your focus…”

Once the meeting with the teacher was over Simone gathered up some work for Jules that would be needed since he wasn’t all too well right now. “I’ll make sure these are done and send them in with Lucas.” Mrs. Reid could be a good teacher if she wasn’t so biased.

Simone sighed as they left the classroom. “She gets more irritating the more we talk to her.”

Coming around the corner was Alice and her eyes lit up. “Mrs. Terrowin!”

Oh come on! Can’t we go one day without seeing some hussy that Rex was fucking… Still her face was calm. “Can I help you, Alice?”

“Well… it’s just… Does Rex miss me? At all?”

“No, he’s very busy with his very own family now. Four more months and his children will arrive and Hazel is quite suited for him. He’s grown up immensely. No thanks to you.” Simone pushed past Alice and the girl started to cry.

There are plenty of other dicks in the sea. She’s been weepy like that since I guess her boyfriend dumped her? She looks for Rex in town once in a blue moon. There was an eye roll. “At least she’s not Natayl.”

She pulled Xeik with her. “Now, we have a strict schedule that we must adhere to.” She ran down the schedule of playtime with the children. “Equality is everything with thirteen children. The oldest kids not so much but the younger ones will want your attention evenly. We make sure not to make them feel left out or unloved. Some children like Corrine and Jules or Alshaya and Everett like to have their playtime with us together. Any questions?”

Thankfully the meeting with the teacher was over, but as they were leaving, Simone ran into one of the girls that Rex had been with. Alice was her name, and while Xeik had never met her, he could understand why Simone didn’t seem to like the girl. She had all the makings of someone who craved attention for the sake of it, and that meant that Rex had been a perfect target…at least before Hazel.

Simone was ruthless in the way she talked to Alice, but from what Xeik remembered, the girl had practically insulted both Rex and Hazel on their first trip together into Benin. He was pretty sure that Rex or Hazel told Simone, and that more or less cemented what Alice was in her mind, and nothing save for an intervention from the gods would change her mind.

Being somewhat of a pacifist, Xeik almost felt bad for the girl, but with Simone moving so quickly, Xeik really didn’t have much time to figure out how or what he should feel about the whole thing. It wasn’t his place. Maybe Rex is part succubus or incubus and he doesn’t know… That was almost a viable explanation.

“How do you two keep up with this!?” Xeik exclaimed as she went on about how each child needed equal attention. “How do you keep track of it all? What happens when they all try to get more!?” This was something that Xeik may as well learn now…with the way Mia was…

That thought terrified him, and it easily slipped through the resonance into Simone.

“So much…”

Maybe, probably. Rhenakos would stick his dick in anything that he thinks looks good.

Simone felt his worry and patted his shoulder. “It takes practice. If they try to get more we ask the next child if they can join. If the child wants individual times we make time later in our free time slot. We have most of it cataloged almost.” In their shared mind space Simone showed Xeik a detailed timetable she kept in her thoughts. “I like to be on time so I always have it readily available for Lewis to access. Most of our children are independent and a lot of the time they understand. The only ones who don’t understand are the three youngest for obvious reasons.”

With that in mind, Simone took Xeik by the shoulders, “Whatever you do… Do not give in to demands without talking to me. Everett once asked for bacon as a snack and Lewis caved exactly one time three years ago. Every morning it’s the same thing ‘But Dad always lets me do it’. Communicate with me so we can handle it. They will eat you alive otherwise.” She gave a smirk.

They proceeded to have play time with the children and the first up was Alshaya and Everett. They sat them down on the couch and Shaya put Xeik’s arm around Simone’s waist before both children climbed into their laps. “Can we read this one today?”

“Oh… That’s a good one. Daddy loves this one. It’s about a trapped princess and a man who rescues her. Should I start from the beginning or middle? You’ve both heard it a thousand times.”

“THE BEGINNING!” They cheered.

“Da?” Everett looked up after they were all snuggled under one blanket together. “Can I have a snack?”

Fruits. They only get fruits for snacks. Chocolates are rewards for children who don’t punch their sisters in the face. She could see Alshaya’s face slightly bruised and knew there had been another fight just before playtime.

Xeik was careful not to get too close to Simone. Despite having to appear as Lewis, it felt too awkward to snuggle up to her, but the children seemed not to notice, nor care, and instead focused their efforts on trying to get a snack out of their ‘father’. Xeik smiled, “Sure, a snack it is. What kind of fruit would you like?”

“Fruit?” Everett said, disappointed that his ploy didn’t work. “I guess…strawberries.”

“I want a kiwi!” Alshaya said happily. It didn’t take long for the house help to bring it, and already Xeik was reciting the story that had been requested. It was a simple enough tale, one that was read all across the realm. There seemed to be a few moments, though, where Simone told Xeik to embellish, and there were parts that she read as well. The kids seemed to love it, and even played along with some of the parts, reciting the story lines from memory.

As Simone started to read her passage, Xeik took a towel to Everett’s face where he had some strawberry juice. This is…not as bad as I expected, he thought. It was almost relaxing.

No, most of the time the children are good. They look forward to story time the most. Where we can all be a family. We do that on certain days. They all crowd in even the older kids and we read to them. Most of the time its me reading. Lewis likes to hear it.

“Let’s play knights and dragon!” Everett bounced up once their time was up.

“LETS GO GET REX TO BE THE DRAGON!”

“Don’t beat on your brother too hard,” Simone smiled a bit.

“He needs the practice,” Shaya said before they sprinted out of the room.

Simone smirked more and pulled Xeik with her. Corrine and Jules are next. Today, they were promised some form of arts and crafts. So we will be painting.

Going to their playroom upstairs Jules and Corrine were putting the art supplies out. “What are we painting today?”

Corrine and Jules thought about it. “How about cats?!”

“We can paint cats. WE can’t get a model for a kitty though,” Simone laughed. "What do you think Dear? Cats?" The kids got the canvas out and gave each. "Thank you my lovelies."

"You're welcome Mama." The paint brushes were well taken care of by the children with care and it showed as they got them out.

Alshaya and Everett seemed excited with their new plan to torment Rex. When they scampered off, Xeik let out a sigh of relief. First round of children done, and there were no real hang ups. Still, Xeik had underestimated what it took to be a parent, and was already feeling the wear on his energy levels. Compared to his own work, this was much more draining. He was pleasantly surprised, though, that Jules and Corrine had asked for arts and crafts.

Is Lewis any good at it? Xeik asked. He didn’t want to make a problem for Lewis later down the line. As they walked in on the kids pulling out the art supplies, Xeik did his best Lewis impression and knelt down, looking over the supplies.

“Cats, huh? I think we can manage cats.” He stood up as they handed over the canvases. “What made you pick cats?” He knew the Terrowin family had a wolf who was prowling around, but where would they have gotten the idea for cats? Perhaps Benin?

Lewis sucks at it but we’re able to draw on each other’s skills. I’m not amazing at it but if you concentrate on me. You should be able to actually see my skill.

Corrine was excited when he asked her and she left and came back with a book, “Mama read us this book remember? It’s about a boy who collects cats!”

“Ahhh, yes because his sister loved cats.” Corrine showed Xeik the cats in the pictures as Simone smirked.

“I think tigers are my favorite animal!” Corrine yelled.

“Tigers are too big for you Corrine…” Jules said. “Father? Can you show me how to throw daggers tomorrow? You promised soon.”

Go ahead and say yes and I’ll explain it to Lewis. He did promise Jules.

It was really impressive at how much the resonance helped with aiding Xeik as he started the painting. It wasn’t as if they were sharing the talent, per say, but more that the talent was being shown, and Xeik was doing his best to copy it. It was like having all of the mental experience, but none of the muscle memory or physical experience to back it up.

“Tigers are quite exciting creatures,” Xeik said as he finished up the basic outline of the cat he was drawing. “Fierce and powerful hunters, but they can also be quite lazy.” This was a random thing he remembered reading a while back. “Jules, Corrine is allowed to have large favorite animals. It’s not like you’re going to get one as a pet.” At least, he hoped not.

When Jules asked about throwing daggers, Xeik was surprised that Simone was so willing to let the boy learn. “Of course,” Xeik replied. Is it really necessary, though? His pacifism was showing through. These kids were loved and had no need for the talent, unlike he and Lewis. It bothered him a little bit, but these weren’t his kids.

“Ah, there we go…” Xeik said as he started on the smaller details. Despite his own lack of talent, he wasn’t doing too badly based on Simone’s skill. “What about you two? What do yours look like?”

Jules held up his own, which was a crudely drawn, grey cat. There was promise in his work, but it was definitely done by a child. It did, at least, look like an actual cat.

“But what if she gets hurt?” Jules was always concerned for his sister’s health.

“That doesn’t mean we’ll buy her a tiger.”

“Oh..” Jules nodded that Corrine was allowed to like tigers and her mood improved.

He asked Lewis to help him protect Corrine. For him, it’s important to learn. Plus in our household, something bad is always happening so it’s a good thing they know how to defend themselves.

Simone was almost done with hers as she was putting in finer detail. She was a fan of the arts so she was pretty good.

Corrine’s actually looked pretty good too as Simone helped her technique. She definitely had talent and Simone wanted to help it. They are such good kids.