Lizzie took her job very seriously.
She stood on her step stool in the kitchen, tongue poking out in concentration, carefully packing her Papa's lunchbox exactly like Mama taught her.
Rice (shaped into a heart because Papa liked hearts). One chicken nugget (the perfect amount). Tiny heart-shaped sauce container on top.
And a note. Very important.
She wrote carefully in her five-year-old handwriting: *"PAPA I KNOW WHERE YOU HID THE MACARONS. LOVE LIZZIE"*
"Good job, baby!" Nana praised, packing Zayne's actual lunchbox beside her. "You're learning so well!"
"I'm helping!" Lizzie declared proudly.
"You're the best helper."
They presented both lunchboxes to Zayne when he emerged from the bedroom—his regular adult-sized one from Nana, and a tiny adorable one from Lizzie.
"For you, Papa!" Lizzie thrust it at him. "I made it MYSELF!"
Zayne's heart melted as he took both boxes. Opened Lizzie's to see the rice heart and single nugget and the threatening note about macaron locations.
"This is perfect, sweetheart. Thank you."
"The note is VERY important!"
"I can see that. Very threatening. I'm scared."
"You SHOULD be! I'm a good finder!"
He kissed Nana first, then bent down to kiss Lizzie's forehead. "I'll see you both later. Be good for Mama."
"ALWAYS!"
Nana smiled innocently. "We're going shopping today. Groceries and stuff."
"Please don't destroy the store—"
"We would NEVER—"
"Last time you climbed the shelves to reach cereal—"
"It was on the TOP SHELF—"
"They have ladders—"
"Too slow!"
Zayne sighed and left before he could witness whatever chaos was about to happen.
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.
.
Shopping with Nana and Lizzie was... an experience.
People watched with shock and amusement as Nana walked down the street carrying a full-sized bicycle above her head with one hand—perfectly balanced, like it weighed nothing—while holding Lizzie with her other arm.
Lizzie ate ice cream happily, kicking her legs, completely unbothered by being carried five feet off the ground.
"MAMA! That store has pretty dresses!"
"Okay! We'll go after we drop off the bicycle!"
"Why are we buying a bicycle if you're carrying it?"
"Because the store delivers tomorrow but you wanted it TODAY."
"Oh. That makes sense!"
An elderly couple stopped to stare. "Is that—is she carrying a bicycle—"
"Enhanced strength," Nana explained cheerfully. "Hunter Association. Very useful for shopping!"
"That's—that's incredible—"
"Thank you! Have a nice day!"
She continued down the street, completely oblivious to the crowd gathering to watch the spectacle.
*That's Dr. Li's wife. The specimen. Crazy strong. Very nice though.*
*And that's their daughter? She looks so happy!*
*I heard the daughter kicked through a wall at daycare last month.*
*Enhanced children. What a time to be alive.*
They stopped at a clothing store. Nana set down the bicycle carefully (blocking the entrance slightly, but who cared) and put Lizzie down.
"Okay! Let's find pretty dresses!"
They emerged twenty minutes later with:
- Three dresses for Lizzie
- Two shirts for Zayne (Nana insisted he needed more color)
- New shoes (Lizzie's old ones "mysteriously" had holes from kicking things)
- A hat (Lizzie wanted it because it had a flower)
Then groceries. Then a stop at the park where Lizzie tested her new bicycle while Nana supervised.
"MAMA LOOK! I'M SO FAST!"
"So fast! Be careful!"
"I'M ALWAYS CAREFUL!"
She crashed into a bush thirty seconds later. Emerged covered in leaves and twigs, completely fine, laughing.
"...Mostly careful!"
Zayne opened Lizzie's lunchbox at his desk, smiling at the rice heart and single chicken nugget.
The note made him laugh. *"I KNOW WHERE YOU HID THE MACARONS."*
*She definitely knows. She's too smart. Just like her mother with the climbing and me with the deductive reasoning. Dangerous combination.*
He was about to eat when he heard it.
*Ring ring ring ring—*
Bicycle bells. In the hospital corridor.
Zayne's head snapped up. "Oh no."
More ringing. Getting closer.
"DR. LI! DR. LI YOUR DAUGHTER—"
Lizzie zoomed past his office window on her new bicycle, ringing the bell enthusiastically. "HI PAPA!"
She skidded to a stop at the nurse station, parking her bicycle carefully against the desk.
The nurses stared in shock.
Lizzie waved. "Hi! I'm visiting Papa!"
"Lizzie—how did you—where's your mother—"
"Mama's stuck."
Zayne pinched the bridge of his nose. Already sensing disaster. "Stuck where?"
"On the fountain!"
"...How."
"Don't know! She said 'I'm going to check something' and climbed up and now she can't get down!"
"Your mother has enhanced strength. She can climb down—"
"She's STUCK stuck. Something's wrong with her leg."
Zayne was already moving. "Show me."
The scene was exactly as absurd as Zayne feared.
Nana sat on top of the large decorative fountain in the hospital courtyard, one leg at an awkward angle, looking sheepish.
"Hi, honey!"
"How did you get up there?!"
"I was checking if the fountain still worked! You know, quality control!"
"By CLIMBING it?!"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time!"
"And your leg?"
"Slipped. Twisted my ankle. It's healing but hurts to put weight on it right now."
Zayne stared at his wife sitting on a fountain. In the hospital courtyard. While their daughter had ridden a bicycle through the hospital to report this.
"This is my life now."
"You married me!"
"I'M AWARE."
He formed an ice slide from the fountain to the ground—gentle slope, perfectly safe. "Slide down. Carefully."
"I love your ice slides!"
"Just GET DOWN—"
She slid down like a kid at a playground, landing in his arms. He caught her automatically despite his exasperation.
"Your ankle?"
"Minor sprain. Will be healed in an hour. Enhanced metabolism."
"You're still going to let me examine it—"
"Yes, doctor. Whatever you say, doctor."
Lizzie appeared on her bicycle, ringing the bell. "Did you rescue Mama?"
"Mama rescued herself with ice slide assistance."
"Cool! Can I have an ice slide?!"
"NO—"
"Please?!"
"Lizzie—"
"PLEASE PAPA?!"
She gave him the eyes. Big hazel-green puppy eyes that she'd inherited from him and weaponized like Nana's combat skills.
Zayne lasted approximately five seconds. "Fine. One ice slide. Then you're taking the bicycle HOME—"
"YAY!"
He made a slide from the fountain edge to the ground. Lizzie abandoned her bicycle and climbed up immediately.
"WHEEEE!"
She slid down laughing, landed perfectly, then ran to climb up again.
"Only ONE—Lizzie—LIZZIE THAT'S TWO SLIDES—"
The hospital staff had gathered at the windows, watching the famous Dr. Li deal with his enhanced family.
His wife stuck on a fountain. His daughter riding bicycles through corridors. Ice slides in the courtyard.
*Just another Tuesday for the Li family.*
After Zayne examined Nana's ankle (minor sprain, already healing), confiscated Lizzie's bicycle (temporarily), and sent them home (with promises to not climb anything), he returned to his office.
The nurses were still giggling about the fountain incident.
"Your family is very entertaining, Dr. Li."
"My family is going to give me a heart attack."
"You love them anyway."
"Unfortunately."
But he was smiling. Because chaos or not, bicycle or not, fountain climbing or not—they were his.
His chaotic wife who climbed fountains for "quality control."
His daughter who rode bicycles into hospitals to report Mama's stuck on a fountain.
His perfectly imperfect family.
He ate his lunch—rice heart and single chicken nugget made with love—and read Lizzie's threatening note about macarons.
*Need to hide them better. She's too smart. Gets it from both of us.*
*This is my life. This is my family. This is everything.*
*Even the fountain climbing.*
*Especially the fountain climbing.*
Day 2,250.
Bicycle day. Fountain day. Normal chaotic Tuesday.
And he wouldn't change a thing.
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To be continued.