The atmosphere at Alaric and Aleksis' castle that day was very lively. They held a garden party and celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary.

Even though they weren't actually married on October 3, but Alaric and Aleksis celebrated their wedding anniversary according to the date when Caspar formalized their marriage and announced it before the members of the clan, because they thought it was easier.

The two had celebrated their own wedding anniversary intimately just the two of them when they were while still in Singapore a few weeks back. They used this occasion after Aleksis' birthday to celebrate their wedding anniversary with the family to spend quality time together.

The event was lively and warm. The chef served them venison from yesterday's hunting, and they all ate and talked merrily. Most of the game they shot during the hunting was sent to the town hall to be distributed to the townspeople. They only shared one among themselves.

"This feels nice. We can do this every year," Alaric said before he made the gesture to invite all his guests to eat.

"I would love it," Aleksis nodded with a smile. "It's so good to have everyone."

Shee was very happy to see that Lauriel and Alaric had returned to their usual selves. Previously, she had been worried because the two men seemed very affected by the experiences they shared at Holodeck.

She was afraid that Lauriel would go back to being sad and be lonely, while Alaric's hatred would be provoked. Nicolae was the only man in the Medici family who always looked calm and unaffected, so Aleksis never worried about him.

Come to think of it, Alaric's character took after his father's, and Nicolae's character took after his mother's. Thinking of this, sometimes made Aleksis sad. She could only imagine what it would be like to have her mother-in-law around, if Luna was still alive.

Aleksis believed she would really like her. Luna was definitely a great woman ...

Unfortunately, she would never know her.

Time flew when people were having fun. And just like that.. the lively celebration finally came to an end. Terry and Nicolae excused themselves to return to New York, while London and Rune took their leave to return to Berlin.

Terry and London had their responsibilities at work, while Nicolae wanted to have a change of scenery. He was worried that if he stayed too long in Targu Mures, it would be harder for him to leave Altair and Vega.

"You can come back here at any time to see the children ..." Aleksis said soothingly. "Next month, we will also come to New York. Altair and Vega need to see the world."

"I will look forward to seeing you all in New York." Nicolae nodded happily.

Altair and Vega looked very sad to see Daddy Nic leave, but they could not do anything. They could only hug Nicolae's waist from the front and back and cried together.

"You must always let me know what you are up to, okay ..." cried Vega on Nicolae's waist.

"That's for sure. We'll talk every day." Nicolae stroked Vega's hair affectionately and teased her with a laugh. "Come on ... don't be mushy. How could you say something like that around the Virconnect founder behind you?"

Of course, with Virconnect 4D technology, even if they were far apart, they would still be able to meet like in real-life. However, Nicolae would already quietly decide to limit this interaction with the twins for the next few years until Altair and Vega can bond more closely to their biological father. Only when that happened, he would come back to their lives.

He did not want his brother to feel that they had to compete for Altair and Vega's love and affection. Now, he must know his place and act accordingly. He was not their real father.

"I'll take care of your Daddy Nic for you," Terry chimed in cheerfully, winking at Altair. The boy nodded and smiled.

"But, Uncle Terry, watch what you're doing. Don't ruin our Daddy. Dad is a good man," Vega said, looking at Terry with earnest eyes.

Terry pretended to feel hurt by her remark. "Yikes! Just how bad am I that you are suspecting me like that? I'm also a good man. Ask your mother if you don't believe me."

Aleksis could only cough. She knew Terry was cautious not to have contact with women after what happened with Rosemary eleven years ago. He was always surrounded by beautiful women because he was handsome and successful, but Terry only treated them like flowers in the garden. Beautiful women were only to be admired.

"Your uncle Terry is a good man. All of your uncles are good men," Aleksis said with a smile.

"Uhm ... Uncle London has a child out of wedlock," Vega raised an eyebrow and pointed at London who was struggling to pack Lily's basket, clothes, and toys.

"Did anyone call me?" he asked.

"How can a man who has a child out of wedlock be called a good man?" Vega asked earnestly.

"Gosh ... how can you say that? This 2050 ..." London was annoyed to hear his niece's words.

He wanted to say that he wanted his child to be born inside wedlock, but the mother, who was stubborn and annoying, did not accept his proposal. But considering that Vega was still too small to understand a.d.u.l.ts' affairs, finally, he could only frown.

Nicolae only chuckled when he heard Vega. He crouched down in front of the child.

"Honey, ideally, people get married before they have children. But everyone's situation is different. Nowadays, some people get married but they can't or they don't want to have children. That's okay, right?

There are also people who want to have children, but they cannot or don't want to get married. And that is also okay. We cannot judge the choices that other people make, because we are not living their lives. We are not in their shoes."

He looked at the child deeply. "I am also not married, but I chose to be a father. Five years ago, when I first saw you and Altair, I was so in love with you both and chose to take you as my children. That is also okay ... right? "

Vega fell silent at Nicolae's words. She slowly nodded.

"Of course, it's okay ..." Vega finally said with a big smile. She hugged Nicolae's neck and kissed his cheeks. "Altair and I are very lucky to have two fathers."

Nicolae kissed Vega's cheeks, then turned to Altair and kissed his cheeks too. Everyone present felt touched by Nicolae's words. They knew his love for the two children was sincere.

Aleksis and Alaric could only hope that someday, Nicolae could find his own happiness and pour his love and affection to a woman who deserved him.

London was pleased to hear Nicolae's statement. Indeed, being a parent should be a choice, not an obligation. He chose to become a father as soon as he learned that L was pregnant as a result of their actions when Stephan tricked them.

Marrying L was his form of responsibility, but raising Lily was a choice he took himself. He had never felt madly in love with a girl until the day Lily was born. He will not trade his child for anything.

London was determined to use Nicolae's words to someday explain to his daughter about why London and L did not get married, and why Lily couldn't live in a complete family.