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The second son of the Henituse family, the younger twin, was rumored to have started the flower shop on the east end of the city. This rumor was true.
He was known to locals by the nickname ‘Soo’ because he was part of an infamous yet well liked trio of senior college students.
Some thought it strange that he had started a business. With his family’s money, there was no need to work and if he did work, then it should have been in his family’s company. His oldest brother’s reputation as an actual delinquent who partied often and fought even more often meant that Soo Henituse should inherit the company.
He disagreed. This was partly because he knew better: his brother never actually smoked. It was just lollipops or candy cigarettes. The fighting happened because the other people were causing trouble. The other part of why Soo Henituse was running a florist shop was that just like his older brother, Cale Henituse, he didn’t want to run the family business either. He was too busy with college and his three adopted children.
It was a lazy morning for Soo Henituse and the kids. Sunlight filtered through the windows on the front of the shop. There was a sign outside that declared them open and listed their wares.
Soo Henituse was drowning his sorrows—of being up this early despite not having morning classes—through chugging his large thermos of coffee. He refused to share with the children. He knew that they liked theirs sweeter and would just spit the black coffee out. In his first life, sugar had been a luxury and in his second, he ate far too many sweet things. At the same time, there were some bitter things he had in his second life that he did not enjoy but tried to hold onto the memory of having them with those people.
Weekends meant that there was no school. Customers trickled in slowly searching for bouquets, plants, pots, or seeds. There were few who urgently needed to find flowers in the morning.
Alberu Crossman was one of the few people who needed flowers in the morning. Most people with his salary would find it laughable to personally pick out flowers for an event he was holding, but he was old friends with the shop owner. “Sorry for the late notice.” He was wearing a full suit and his blond hair was gelled.
“You usually aren’t this last minute,” Soo Henituse replied. He was picking out flowers after consulting the colors that Alberu had texted him.
“My father wanted to have a lunch celebration for the latest business deal.”
Soo Henituse nodded. He was using Alberu’s arms as an extra place to hold the small bits, like the baby blue forget-me-nots. They talked more about the other accent colors and added some daffodils. “Ah. Is it a business or family celebration?” He rang up the bouquets and added the family discount.
“Family,” Alberu confirmed with only a small grimace.
Soo Henituse nodded and sent him off with a, “Good luck.”
It was not silent long enough for Soo Henituse to check on what the children were up to. He was suspicious of the quiet from behind him.
Witira and Paseton came by. They needed corsages for some social tonight that required them.
When he was done, Soo Henituse glanced down the short hallway. He watched Raon, On, and Hong continued to add flowers to crowns of woven sticks. They weren’t old enough to be trusted to use a hot glue gun. Four crowns were being made through weaving and poking flower stems into the crown. They yawned less as they went along, slowly waking up properly.
Flower crowns were fine. One of the reasons he was running a flower shop and not something else was the lack of chance for injury to the children. All of them were past the age of sticking random things in their mouth like a baby. Thorns could scratch but they were always removed soon after the shipments were delivered.
The shop was back to quiet for a moment. Fresh flowers in full bloom gave off a nice smell. Shadows on the floor grew shorter.
His phone rang. Soo Henituse picked up, apprehensive because of the contact name that was displayed.
“Hello Ron. Is there a problem?”
“No?”
“I'll pick him up from the clinic later if you need to.”
He waited a few more seconds but it was just an update on his brother Cale's latest bar fight. “Okay. I'm going to hang up.”
“No. I'm not running away. I have work.”
He argued for a little bit more and then hung up. If Ron asked him later, then it was because of the people walking in.
The bell above the door chimed. Three men, who looked largely identical, entered one by one. They were fraternal triplets. Their hair cuts and expressions were the only way to differentiate them.
“Hans,” Soo Henituse said.
“Good to see you!” Hans replied. His ponytail was neat.
Soo Henituse sighed and pointed to the back. “Raon, On, and Hong are back there.” He ignored the squeal. It was normal for Hans, as his usual babysitter that tended to spoil the kids. He suspected that Hans had always wanted younger siblings.
Redika was messing around. He had a habit of looking for leftover thorns. His hair cut was similar to Hans, but he usually braided part of his hair. The crooked grin He had also gave him away. He was a weapons dealer, but the main point was that his family kept him from terrorism.
The third triplet always was a bit unnerving to Soo Henituse. His hair was short than the other two and a self satisfied smile was almost always present on his face. Star was not Cale Barrow, not the White Star. He was someone else, but Soo Henituse had no idea who Star was—neither him nor the children could remember.
He snapped back to the present when he was addressed.
“I would like some recommendations. We're here to buy some flowers for our parents'.” Star tapped his fingers against the counter. “It's their wedding anniversary.”
It makes sense why all three triplets would be together then.
“Any particular colors, or meanings?”
Star listed them off, “Red, white, gold.”
Soo Henituse nodded. He was mentally running through their inventory
“Marigolds come in red and yellow. Lillies. Dianthus. Roses.”
“Lillies and roses then,” Star responded.
The bouquet was put together. He didn't use Star's help. There was a discount added, because of Hans. Soo Henituse was pressured into setting the next time for Hans to babysit, but that was fine with him. He had some studying to do next Friday.
When the purchase was done, the triplets left. Hans was dragged away by Redika.
The bell chimed.
Soo Henituse looked up. He stared.
It was Rosalyn, Lock, and Choi Han. The palace destroying trio. They looked well.
A fancy designer bag was hanging off Rosalyn's shoulder. Her hair was still long and bright red. She was talking on her phone, but finished and hung up.
Lock's pants bore paint stains from many tiny hands. His eyes were wide as he looked around.
Choi Han was in a sweater with the name of the local university. A camera was around his neck—it was the expensive kind.
Soo Henituse hadn't seen them in this life before.
“Who is it?” Raon called.
The children clustered together around Soo Henituse. They looked and after gaping for a moment, rushed over.
It did not take long for the three adults to be distracted and talk to the children. They were gifted the flower crowns. Rosalyn put hers on and then urged the other two to follow suit. Lock looked a bit embarrassed, but he never liked being the center of attention.
Soo looked down when his pant leg was tugged.
“And this one is for you,” On said. She stood with her hands on her hips until the crown was put on.
“Thank you.”
Rosalyn waved and moved closer, abandoning Choi Han and Lock to the whims of Raon and Hong. “We're looking for some flowers to press?”
Soo Henituse chatted with her about the project and introduced himself and the children.
He didn't mention that he was charging a discounted rate.