Poppy decided to bring me along on his marketing – not because I will be alone at home, but because of it.

He had this notion that I have to be monitored constantly ever since that day I performed a scientific experiment about mixing sugar, baking soda, and potassium nitrate I found in our garden.

To make the story short, my experiment exploded.

Poppy was so frantic that when my parents came over to check what happened, they had lost their ability to speak. No harm was done or damages incurred on the kitchen, but Poppy's reaction to the incident was totally exaggerated.

"Ah, reminds me of my youth!" Da's comment earned him a beady glare.

I never thought that buying meats, fruits, vegetables and other kitchen ingredients could be this boring. True that there were lots of impressive things going on in the market like the merchant droids that offer free tastes and Autochefs with ice pops, these menial tasks were nothing compared to Ma and Da's daily jobs.

There was basically nothing in the market that excites me.

Poppy would just fiddle the menu screens, and once he found the item, he would swipe it with his card.

"When your Da was little." Poppy said. "He would always accompany every time I go to the market. Soon he developed an interest in trading, he studied it, and now he's a very successful businessman."

Poppy would often tell me stories about Da's adventures – though I dubbed it as misadventures – to keep me entertained. I wondered if all of them were true, but whenever I ask Da about it, he would simply give a casual hum.

Another thing that kept me from boredom was the persistent cuddles I received from Poppy's friends.

"What an adorable little grandson you have here, Summerset!", Miss Imelda the fruit vendor said as she pinched my cheek. "Where's the other one?"

"School.", he replied promptly.

"So it's a bond time for both of you, eh?"

Poppy nodded as he began to check for the purchase.

Before we left the store, Miss Imelda handed me a free apple. "Here's one for you, to keep the doctors away."

I could barely finish my fruit when Mr. Sigorne gave me croquettes. Mrs. Dee gave me lollies when we passed her stall followed by Mrs. Hanson who offered me banana chips. When we entered another alley, Mr. Simpson provided me a corndog.

All for free.

"You may eat these later else you'll spoil your appetite," Poppy said as he gathered my freebies.

I really did my best to obey him, but Miss Scarlett and Miss Ginger shoved me warm sausages and ice creams before I could protest.

Poppy only sighed with disbelief.

We took our meal in a small bistro that serves good cassoulet. The owner, Mrs. Sullivan, was one of Poppy's close friend.

"Oh, Summerset, you're here! And you have a very adorable company.", she greeted then pinched my cheek.

Her daughter Anni was also pincher, and like her mom, a loud squealer.

"I've heard you got yourself hurt and now you're on house arrest. Aww, poor little lad.", Anni cooed. "Your Poppy told us that you'll go to Ireland this school break. How long will you stay there?"

"Two to three days, I guess," I answered with a shrug.

"So you know how to speak Gaelic then?"

When I briskly nodded, they nudged me to speak a few words. So I complied to their request and said "Bíonn tú do mo chiapadh."

(Translation: You're so annoying)

Despite not knowing the implication behind it, the mothers were squealing with joy. Poppy, on the other hand, rolled his eyes with bemused face.

We left the bistro with take-outs and another free dessert courtesy of Anni.

"Poppy." I tugged his sleeve as we walked towards the car. "I think I want to poop."

He gave me a concerned look. "We can go back to the bistro for a toilet break if you want."

Remembering the pains that my cheeks had suffered, I decided to control my bowel and wait until we reached home.

Before I could tell Poppy about it, he nudged me to stop. His eyes were roaming around, probably noticing that our car was parked on the other side of the road.

Then he leaned down and whispered. "Will you be alright if we walk for a bit?"

"Where?"

"Just...somewhere."

He gripped my hand tightly as we turned to the opposite direction.

When we're about to cross the pedestrian lane, he immediately carried me by his arms and walked briskly. He pulled out his 'link, encoded something on the keys then slipped it back into the side pocket.

He let me down and walked when we entered a certain boutique. After looking for nothing, we headed out and checked another store. Five buildings later, Poppy hasn't bought a single item.

Weird.

As we reached the end of the road, he scooped me up abruptly and ran.

"Poppy?!"

Behind us was an unknown man in a dark shirt running towards us at full speed.

I was enthralled yet trembled with fear when I realized that we were being pursued.

Poppy held me securely as we blend among the crowd. When we entered a small deserted alley, he placed me on the ground and hovered over my head.

"Hide behind the bins there." Poppy instructed coolly. "Don't get out until I say so. When I say run, you run. Alright?"

I nodded then followed his commands without any questions asked.

Once I secured my position, I poked my head just a little enough to see Poppy standing behind the bricked walls.

The dark man that chased us a while ago glanced at our location, but before he could react, Poppy immediately grabbed him by his lapels then slammed him into the wall.

It was a swift move I could barely blink.

I might be situated away from them but the alley was so silent I could audibly hear Poppy's deep voice - one that I've never heard before.

"Try to touch anything with my boy." his Slavic accent thickened. "And I'll remove your insides with a gullet."

"Mr. Su-summerset!" the man squeaked. "I'm not here to ha-harm you! I'm a new servi-service agent hired by Lorimar!"

Da has a business that goes with a name of Lorimar.

"Why would I believe you, bloody git.", Poppy growled as he pushed the man against the wall.

"I-I have my ID with me...and a communicator..."

As if on cue, the man's communicator hummed. Poppy snagged it from his elbow hastily then pressed the Answer button.

"Agent Malik, have you reached Mr. Summerset yet?" the voice on the other line asked.

"Agent Malik has successfully reached me, Richard. And since I believe you don't want me to incarcerate him right now, I want you to be here at 24 Bronx Street. We're in the alley between two sweet shops. ETA five minutes."

The man slipped down with relief when Poppy loosened his grip.

"Give me a single valid reason." Poppy towered him with a menacing grin. "A single valid reason Agent Malik, why I'm not going to cut your balls for following us."

The man sputtered then fumbled his words out of fear.

From the gist of it, he was hired as an intern just today and still on the training. His first assignment was to become our bodyguard for the day.

Unfortunately, they forgot to brief Poppy about it.

Poppy noticed my presence when I tried to approach Mr. Malik, but before I could utter anything, Poppy gave me a serious look, "Why don't you go to that corner then turn around? Just for a little bit."

Even though I wasn't looking on their way I could still hear Mr. Malik's grunt when Poppy punched him squarely on his torso.

Seeing Ma and Poppy's banters on the porch was a common sight, as if it was their traditional way of welcome home. This time it was different.

Instead of targeting Ma, Poppy went directly to Da.

"Why did you hire a very incompetent, very amateurish person for guarding us?" he complained. "And why you didn't say anything about us being shadowed the whole time?"

Da was grilled before he could enter the house while Ma was left stupefied on the door.

"What happened?" my sibling who just arrived from school asked.

"Poppy went to a fight this morning," I answered nonchalantly. "And it irked him."

My parents might be busy with their work but they still managed to have some time for us and eat dinners together.

Ma finally told us about her pregnancy with a precaution about her possible mood swings during the first eight months.

"I want it to be a girl." my sibling said.

"I don't want it to be a girl. Girls are quite sissy." I reasoned out. "I want it to be a boy"

"Boys are rude."

"Hey!"

"What did I tell you about fighting in front of the food, kids?", Ma warned us then sighed. "It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl. What matters most is knowing that you'll love your siblings no matter what. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." was our reply.

"Darling, It'll be a great experience for both of them if they tag along for your check-up this week.", Da said then added. "Especially if it ended up as twins."

Poppy, upon hearing his words, choked his food.