Chapter 166: He’s not so scary now
"I want revenge on Papa." Olivia declared, her eyes burning with flames of determination but those flames were not what Zoey could handle.
"Right. That, I can’t do." She said, smiling awkwardly. "Oh, but does this mean you don’t want to take the hamster anymore?"
"No, that’s not it." She shook her head and sniffled. "I want to take revenge on Papa and in order to do that, I need to show him that I’m not scared of a hamster running around my body."
Michael stifled a laugh and then turned around.
Ah, such an innocent goal. What sort of revenge was that?
"I’m sorry, sorry." He said, waving his hand. He did not intend to laugh but his daughter was just so cute. "Alright, Olivia. Since you’re on a quest to get revenge, let’s see what you can do."
Olivia huffed, steam coming out of her nostrils like she was a chu chu train.
She squared her shoulders and marched up to the hamster cage with the conviction of someone about to fight their greatest war yet.
Just how would she look dressed as a samurai, Michael wondered while watching her innocence.
Zoey, amused but patient, looked at the little girl with raised shoulders and full bar determination.
"Are you ready?" She asked her and Olivia nodded.
"Yes. Please open it."
Zoey nodded and opened the lid, gently scooping the little creature into her hands and stroking its back so it wouldn’t panic.
"Would you like to hold her now?" she asked.
Olivia hesitated, pressing her wobbling lips together for half a minute before she steeled herself once more.
"Yes. For my revenge, I will take on this challenge with my head held high."
"Not too high, I hope." Zoey said, laughing softly. "You don’t want to lose sight of the ground, do you?"
"I understand." She said, and Michael snorted again, but she ignored him. The only way to show her Papa and get her revenge was to hold the hamster and not cry like she did before, even if it ended up running around her.
"Now, don’t be scared if he runs around you. He’s not hurting you. It’s just excited, and its little claws won’t be able to hurt you either, so... Stay calm, okay?" Zoey gave one last piece of advice and Olivia nodded.
She was holding herself together with her palms stretched out.
Zoey carefully placed the hamster into Olivia’s open palms. The tiny creature twitched its nose, sniffed around, and then scurried up Olivia’s arm, making her squeal, but this time, she did not overreact.
Though her body trembled, she did not move an inch and bit her lip as the hamster searched around her as if it were in a jungle, trying to get to the highest point to see beyond.
"I... I’m not scared!" she said, although she was half-squinting and trembling like she was going to explode.
The hamster paused on her shoulder, then nuzzled the side of her neck causing Olivia to gasp in surprise.
"He kissed me!" she suddenly announced but not too loud, as she was scared of scaring the hamster.
Michael turned to Noah, shaking his shoulder as he pointed at the hamster that was fawning over Olivia. "Hey, she’s gone. It’s over. We lost her to a fluffball."
Noah chuckled softly.
"Didn’t even take five minutes for her to get used to it. I’m proud of you, Olivia."
Olivia giggled as the hamster climbed into her cupped hands again.
"He’s not so scary now," she murmured, cheeks puffed and red with pride. "I think... I think I’ll name him Vendetta."
Michael blinked, surprised by the sudden name.
"Vendetta? That sounds... intense."
"It means revenge. But stylishly," Olivia said, nodding with satisfaction. "You wouldn’t understand."
Michael looked at the tiny fluffball chewing its own foot.
"Right. A very sophisticated name for such a fierce warrior."
"Exactly," Olivia said seriously.
"But I think you should tone it down a bit." Noah said. "If you keep calling him vendetta, you never know what might happen."
"He’s right." Zoey added, nodding in agreement. "They say names affect one’s character and growth, so maybe something less violent and shorter, like ’Ven’, maybe?"
"Hm, Ven." Olivia gave it a brief thought and then nodded. "I like it. I’ll call you Ven from now on."
They were relieved she didn’t act stubborn concerning this.
Olivia lowered her head a bit and with a fierce whisper, she said to it, "You and me, Ven. Papa won’t know what hit him."
Then, she raised her head and grinned.
"Papa, you’d better sleep with one eye open."
Michael looked at that grin and felt maybe he had taught his daughter a tad bit too much.
He looked at Noah who simply cleared his throat and looked away. He did not want to be a part of their war.
"You made your bed, so you lie on it." He said but Michael grinned and stepped closer.
"You seem to forget that even if I’m the one making the bed, we’re both going to be lying on it," he said and poked Noah’s chest with his index finger. "So, this is yours and mine to take care of."
Noah held his hand and pressed it on his chest completely.
"Gladly," he said and then kissed it.
Michael cleared his throat and looked away, trying to hide his blush but Noah had already seen it and felt proud.
Zoey watched them and thought they were such a nice family of three.
She didn’t think she would meet a gay couple with such synergy. If not for how Michael was dressed, she might’ve mistaken him for a lady cause he was so pretty and slender too.
He also looked young, so she deduced maybe he was in his late 20s or so.
(Wrong. He’s in his late 30s, lol)
"Then, Olivia will play with Ven for a while before we take him away." Zoey said. "In the meantime, I need you to fill out the adoption papers."
"Certainly." Michael said. "I’ll go fill out the papers and handle whatever procedures while you play with her."
"Alright. I’ll look after her." He said and watched Michael follow Zoey back to the reception desk.
It did not take long to finalize the adoption papers as well as purchase hamster supplies, like a cage with a spinning wheel inside, water, and the rest of the space had toys.
He got the hamster’s food and then sighed, feeling he had done something quite stressful after a while.
This much is fine, right?
Olivia was so excited to get a pet that he felt like teasing her so much. She did cry but it allowed her to chest her fears and face the furball she wanted to take care of.
’But mismatched eyes? Olivia really has a sense for things.’ He thought and then looked at them.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Zoey added. "Because Ven might not be used to your household, I recommend that Olivia avoid carrying or playing with him if he shows signs of not eating and is hiding."
"Okay, thank you for your help." Michael said to her.
"It’s a pleasure. Your daughter is really cute, by the way. I’d love to see her again when you bring Ven back for a check-up."
"That’s not a problem." Michael said. "She’ll be happy to come. I just hope another doesn’t catch her eyes when we come a second time."
Zoey laughed.
"Yes, children can be so unpredictable in such a sense." She said.
Ven was given a little check-up by the vet so that there wouldn’t be any complicated issues for the first few weeks he stays with his new family.
Zoey said goodbye to them as they left.
"Is that the hamster you got?" Alyssa asked, looking at the hamster in the cage Olivia was carrying.
"Yes. Isn’t he just the cutest?"
"Oh. So it’s a he?" Alyssa asked, snickering and Olivia answered while smiling innocently,
"Yes, Ven is a boy."
"Apparently, Olivia now has someone she likes and there’s nothing we can do." Michael said with a grumbling tone.
"Oh, cheer up, Papa. You’re just sad I was able to get my revenge." She said, giggling to herself.
"Hm, so I guess something went down while you guys were in there. Olivia definitely came out victorious, right?"
"That’s right, aunty." Her nose stretched into the air in pride. "And there was nothing Papa could do about it. He was at a loss for words when I faced my fear and allowed Ven to climb my arm."
"So you were scared of the little rat." Roland said but Olivia shook her head.
"First, Ven is not a rat. He’s a hamster. And second, I wasn’t scared of him. I just got startled when he climbed my arm, that’s all." She said, closing her eyes in a sassy way. "But now he can climb my arm and I won’t even flinch."
"Is that so?" Roland’s tone sounded like he didn’t believe her, and she pouted her lips, her cheeks puffed in defiance.
"You can test me if you want," she said, lifting the cage a little higher like a trophy. "Ven and I are partners now. We have an understanding."
