Life was great in many regards for the children, especially after Haruo put in a 1 lane bowling alley for them to utilize. Haruo and River had too many other things to do and didn't get much use out of it but their kids just absolutely loved it. It certainly allowed them to do things that they normally wouldn't be able to do, as they weren't able to make use of the pool table and it was too cold to swim outside.
Since Haruo was busy with his job at the Bistro (trying to become a 5-star Chef), he was unable to cook a lot for the family, so insofar as that, River had to don the mantle of family-cook - at least it increased her skill in it.
The family gathered at the kitchen table to eat.
...and when Haruo got off that night from his cooking shift, he came home and cooked a meal that was to be utilized for left-overs...oh, and "hugged..." let's just say that was what happened... his wife.
The next morning after breakfast, Haruo decided that he needed to cut some gemstones and smelt some metals. It was still a hit and miss proposition with the elixir store in terms of consigning metals and gemstones. He wasn't too sure about how much he would get for them, so instead, he hoarded them - increasing the family's net value and not only that; causing them to get taxed to almost §14K each time taxes/bills came around.
But even, so they still had the money for it. In terms of wealth; the rich didn't get rich by spending a whole lot of money, they saved, increased passive streams of income (such as investments - and Haruo was deeply considering that in any case) and finding a way to make his money work for him. There was no room for exhorbitant frivolous spending. Even at §11M it only took one bad investment or an economic downturn to cause the money to evaporate. So Haruo was a low-risk type of individual in terms of investment.
River got the mail from the mailbox then she went out to take care of a sale of a painting. It wasn't all tiberium that pulled in the money even though tiberium had been the bulk of their wealth. But it would be shrewd investing that would allow their fortunes to increase. River parked by the bridge where her customer, Haruo's dad, was waiting.
"River..." her father-in-law said as he met her gaze.
"Dad...how are you?" she conversed with him for a bit before getting down to brass tacks regarding the sale of the painting.
"How are children?" Yasunobu asked in halting English, it had been a while since they had all been together. "Study hard in school?"
River let him know that his grand-kids were on the honor roll.
Yasunobu looked satisfied, "Good...School important...need school to get good job...you OK?"
"I'm good, Dad, I really am..."
"OK...now you need to get out of cold...you get cold, you get sick...not good."
In many ways...River loved Haruo's Dad...this man had been her guiding light for quite some time in the absence of her father. If she had anything that she needed, all that River had to do was ask his guidance. And it seemed fitting that he was her father-in-law. "I love you, Dad..." she said as she hugged him tightly and that name fit...Yasunobu was like her Dad in many ways even though biologically he was her husband's father, he had filled in as Dad in her own biological father's absence.
...and even though it didn't completely erase the hole that her biological father's absence had created; just knowing that her husband's father loved her as a real father should, helped fill in some of those missing pieces in her life.
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