Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 436: A dictator in shorts.

Sunshine drew her hands up, "I have no defense to that because I have no idea where it is coming from. Look, you are his therapist but I am his mother. He is my kid. I won’t stop calling him kiddo because he is a kiddo." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Hades nodded. He was not going to treat his eleven year old son like a seventy year old retired veteran.

"Not in his mind." Dr. Flora said calmly. "I have been avoiding you both because I had a feeling you would not respond positively to my feed back. But still, I encourage you to think about it and make small changes. Ariel did not say you cannot call him such things, he just wishes you would do it in private.

In front of his squad, he believes that he is equal to the acting commander of his base. He takes his role as a leader seriously. If you can take him seriously during committee meetings, then do the same around his peers. Especially during training or work hours."

Above them, more bird beasts slammed against the bubble as Pink ripped through them, still shrieking.

Dr. Flora continued. "He has nothing against being called icicle. Of course, this too in private. And he is open to two hugs a day. One in the morning before leaving the house and one before bed. Exemptions can be made for when you survive danger or during a celebration."

More shrieking came. All three ignored it.

"Point two." Dr. Flora said.

"Oh goodie." Sunshine said sarcastically.

Flora ignored it. "Maybe don’t waste resources on frivolous luxuries. I agree with him on the birthday cakes and celebrations. We are living in an apocalypse, cake is not that important."

Hades frowned. "The birthday cake is made once a month and its made of compressed flour and a lot of sweeteners. That is hardly luxurious."

"Ariel disagrees." Flora said. "He wanted to file about it but he does not know who to complain to as his parents own the base. The cake is giant sized because it must feed everyone on the base. He thinks one thousand three hundred buns can be made from that flour. The sugar can be used by eighty households for two to three months. The...."

Hades raised his hand. "We get the picture. He is our son, we know what he is like."

Dr. Flora’s eyes lit up. "Oh right, Ariel did file a complaint."

"With who?" Sunshine laughed.

"Me." Flora gestured vaguely. "I saw that it was bothering him a lot so I told him to write it down as part of his therapy. When someone has an itch, they must scratch it or else they could lose their mind."

Sunshine raised her hands. "Fine, no more birthday cakes."

"And parties." Dr. Flora said with a faint smile. "He understands that you want to give the people a sense of normalcy. Everyone wants to pretend that we are camping and the world outside is not overflowing with beasts, killers and thieves. But celebrations and dancing are not the answer."

Hades sighed. No wonder Ariel needed a place to vent, he had a lot to complain about.

"He thinks movie nights are enough." Flora shared. "If the people want to be entertained, they can find other means to do it. He would gladly share ideas on his thoughts.

One is that you can introduce battling challenges. Let ordinary people and soldiers face off against superhumans or the fake mutated beasts created in the lab."

"He is eleven!" Sunshine groaned. "He really ought to stop thinking beyond his responsibilities."

"He’s precocious." Dr. Flora said in Ariel’s defense.

Hades muttered. "Precocious my foot. He is a dictator in shorts."

Dr. Flora chuckled. "About the shorts....." she looked at Sunshine who provided most of the children’s clothes. "Ariel prefers trousers and while he appreciates you preparing his clothes, he would like to be included in the decision making process."

"I allowed him to do that recently and he wore a bow tie, suspenders and got ridiculous glasses." Sunshine laughed. "I don’t want other kids making fun of him for his outfits. That is why I dress him up to look cool. You have met Ariel. You have seen his personality. He does not have many friends...actually I have never met any of his friends. Is it wrong that I want him to fit in with other children his age?"

Dr. Flora shrugged. "Still, your preferences are not his and you cannot force your choices on him or he could grow to resent you. If you are worried about his choices I suggest you explain this to him and you can work together to meet halfway."

Sunshine sighed. She thought her biggest problems were apocalypse related. Ariel’s therapist had seemed like a joke but she was raising some heavy stuff.

"Why didn’t he just tell us any of this?" Hades asked.

Flora gestured around. "We are living in an apocalypse and you two are running a base. You are always rescuing people, fighting off mutant beasts and creating new weapons or trying to figure out how to grow food so we all don’t go hungry. His discomfort is the last thing he wants you to worry about. He understands your priorities. That is why he came to me. Not because he could not talk to you but because he needs to have a healthy outlet."

"What else should we note?" Sunshine asked the doctor.

Dr. Flora looked at her notes, then Sunshine. "Err...how do I put this without offending you? Cut down on the singing, especially in the car when you are driving the children to school."

Sunshine gasped.

"Oh-Oh." Hades whispered.

Dr. Flora quickly said, "It is not because he does not like your voice. Its because he uses that time to read or schedule his day. The singing is a distraction. Silence on the other hand is a tool for efficiency."

Sunshine collapsed against Hades like all of her energy had been sucked dry.

Hades pulled her closer. "Listen, Dr. Flora. I...we appreciate all this but Ariel is our son. You cannot tell a mother not to hug her son or sing to him. These are ways in which she expresses her affection for me. And he may not show it, but Ariel needs it. If he did not, he would not have brought up the loyalty clause or freaked out when he saw her hauling a suitcase."

Dr. Flora nodded calmly. "Correct."

"Yes," Sunshine pushed back with renewed vigor. "He is my champ. He needs hugs, cake and lullabies. Sometimes, a little rap, pop or rock music. Life is not a straight line. It is not all spreadsheets, training and ration counting. He used to hate my tickling, now he loves it."

Dr. Flora shifted her head. She wondered if continuing to break the woman’s heart was wise. Ariel tolerated the tickling, he was not a fan. He knew Sunshine needed to see him enjoying it so he indulged her. But, she figured that she said enough so she kept that to herself.

"You two may be right about all that, but as his therapist I must respect his perspective. But like most parents, you are going to ignore my advise and do what you think is best for him. You will do so hoping that he will outgrow all the quirks and become the normal child you so desperately want him to be."

Sunshine and Hades blinked.

Above them, a soft gentle like voice called Sunshine’s name. She looked up.

Pink was looking directly at her, claws wrapped around the neck of the last bird beast. Seconds passed. One, two, three, four...

Then, a loud sickening crack.