“Hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs…” Bob chanted as he waited for the back ramp to come down. The instant there was enough room, he scrambled through the gap and took off across the garage.

  “Open the door gently!” I screamed after him. “I don’t want to replace it again. And let Jane know I gave you permission to go in before you start hugging! She broke a frying pan on you the last time you burst in!”

  By the time the ramp settled on the ground and I stepped off, the big bear had already disappeared into the residence. The big bear could move when he really wanted to. I really hope he heard me shouting before bursting into the residence. It looked like the door was still intact, that was a start.

  Instead of sprinting after the bear, I just slowly sauntered towards the residence, flicking through the bear feeds, and double checking to make sure things were quiet before I stepped inside. The last thing I wanted was to step inside, sit down for two minutes, and then have to sprint off to deal with another emergency. Once I was convinced that the Antithesis weren’t going to jump out of every hole and interrupt my family time, I closed everything down and finally pushed my way into the residence.

  As soon as I cracked the door, the air was filled with a chorus of screeches and giggles. Bob was standing in the middle of the living room, with all three kids hanging off different parts of him. Jenifer was using one of his outstretched arms like a jungle gym, while Eddie was hanging off the back of his neck. Isabelle had somehow crawled up onto the top of his head, where she was sprawled out like some sort of lazy cat.

  “That doesn’t look like hugging,” I muttered.

  “They finished hugging quickly and moved onto roughhousing,” Alan declared lazily from his seat at the table. He took a couple seconds to finish reading whatever was on his tablet before slowly putting it down on the table and looking at me. “You could have called, let us know the situation, or at least told us you were coming back.”

  “Nice to see you too,” I sneered. “Just so you know, I spent the last two days in nearly constant combat with the Antithesis. It took that long to calm the situation down so I could take a break.”

  Alan looked me up and down with an unimpressed expression and tired eyes. “I’ve been looking after the hooligans for the last two days, while we’ve been locked inside due to the Antithesis warning. Want to trade?”

  My eyes flickered to the living room, then back to Alan. “Naw, I’m good.”

  Alan snorted as he scooped up his tablet again.

  “Where’s Jane?” I asked as I collapsed into the chair across from Alan.

  “She’s up at the school. As you know, there isn’t much space around here, and she really needed a bit of peace and quiet,” Alan replied. “I’m just shooting her a message now.”

  I nodded, leaned back in my chair, and turned to watch the kids. They really must have been bouncing off the walls, considering how violently they were playing with Bob. Jumping off the couch to constantly climb higher. Well, two of them were. Issi was barely moving, lying there with a wide, sleepy smile.

  I don’t know if she’d been so distracted by Bob to see me come in, or what, but when she finally noticed me, her head shot up, and she pushed herself to all fours. “Teddy!”

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  “Hey squirt, what’s shaking?” I replied casually.

  The little girl giggled, leaned slightly to the side, and slowly slid off the front of Bob’s head. I shot to my feet, ready to vault the couch in an attempt to catch her, but before I could, Bob's free hand shot up and caught the girl by one leg. Issi burst into a fit of giggles as the bear gently lowered her to the ground.

  Once she was down, Issi violently wiggled, struggling to her feet before throwing herself onto the couch. She just barely poked her head up over the back of the couch, staring at me and giggling.

  “Don’t let me see you do that again,” I snapped. “That was dangerous!”

  “No, it wasn’t. Bob was there,” Isabelle declared, popping up fully and throwing her arms over the back of the couch. “Bob is amazing, he can do anything.”

  I did my best to avoid looking at Bob and the smug smile that was growing on his face. “He may be amazing, but he’s not infallible, so no performing dangerous feats just because he’s around.”

  “But…” the little girl started.

  “Do you want me to tell Jane?” I asked, interrupting her. Her mouth snapped shut, rapidly shaking her head back and forth. Alan and I might have been responsible, but we lacked the resolve to pass harsh punishments down on the munchkins. Jane was the only one that seemed to walk that perfect balance between fairly rewarding good behaviour, and punishing the bad.

  I, on the other hand, had a bad habit of rewarding the kids for bad behaviour, as long as they got away with it around Jane or Alan. It was a habit I was trying to kick.

  “Since you’re here, does that mean you’ve finally killed all the Antithesis?” Jenifer asked, dropping down from Bob’s arm and collapsing onto the couch next to Issi. “Can we go back to school again?”

  I leaned forward and tousled her hair. “Sorry, kiddo, but not yet. We managed to clear the immediate threats off the streets, but the cleanup is still going on. We should get the all clear from the cleanup crew sometime tomorrow.”

  “I don’t know why you’re being so cautious,” Eddie grumbled. “You used to go out during incursions all the time and let us go out the instant the alerts stopped. Why are you being so protective now?”

  “We used to go out during incursions not because we wanted to, but because if we didn’t, there was a good chance we wouldn’t have been able to afford to feed you three. I’m sure you haven’t really forgotten how bad things were last year.”

  The boy paled a little, then shook his head.

  “Good. Well, now that things are good, we can afford to both keep you protected and fed, so we’re not going to compromise. While there are Antithesis out there, you stay in here,” I said, first pointing at one wall, then the floor.

  “How come there are still aliens out there?” Issi asked. “Bob is super strong, he can stop em!”

  “Bob? What about me?” I asked, feigning disappointment.

  The little girl cocked her head to the side. “Also strong, not as strong as Bob.”

  “Well… I can’t really argue with that,” I chuckled. “The truth is, Bob is strong, but he can’t be everywhere at once, and there are alot of aliens out there.”

  “What about your other bears?” Jenifer asked, her eyes narrowed. “Your garage is normally packed with them.”

  “They’re still out there,” I insisted. “When I said there were a lot of Antithesis out there, I mean a lot of Antithesis. Don’t worry, we’re dealing with them as quickly as possible, so you’ll be able to get out here soon.”

  “The sooner the better,” a voice announced from behind me.

  “I’m doing my best!” I declared, turning towards the garage door where Jane was standing.

  She looked me up and down coolly. “You know you could have called, let us know you were alive.”

  “I was busy! This is the first break I’ve had since the assault began,” I said, with a sly smile.

  “Did you at least stop and wash your armor off before sitting down?” Jane’s eyes narrowed.

  “Nope! I literally just got back,” I chirped.

  “Up! Go wash that gunk off,” Jane shouted. “I don’t want you tracking it through the house, leaving traces where the kids can step in them.”

  “It’s not going to leave any traces, it’s already dry,” I replied flippantly.

  “Up!” Jane declared again. “I don’t want to see you again until you're clean!”

  I pouted but still did as she asked. Slowly shuffling off towards the bathroom.

  “When you finish, I’ll make a special meal for everyone,” Jane declared from behind me. The kids cheered, and Alan even managed a non-sarcastic hooray.

  “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt out there,” Jane added quietly. “It’s good to have you back.”

  I smiled slightly in response. “It’s good to be home.”

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