The crow found himself losing track of time more often than not. With all the foreign deals, the war, and the return of his second mate, Hebe had to remind himself to juggle all of his responsibilities daily. And he was not irresponsible, far from it. From the death of his sister he had only worked harder, or tried to, until it all caught up to him again and again. It was exhausting, to have to be multiple things. He was the Crow, he was the Captain's mate, he practiced brewing on his free time and he checked in with those he cared about. On top of it all, he was a father, and it was something he found harder to fall into than he had first thought it would be.

Maybe it was because he had not physically seen a child since he and his sister were children themselves. And those memories slipped further away every year, and he often found himself unable to determine how tall any of his kids were at a given moment. Every time he poked his had too high or too low for their face, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Hebe would not blame them if they all loved the Captain better, at least he could give them a kiss without having to do child growth math in his head.

Atton and even more so Sinband gave him a lot of that trouble. They both grew fast, and grew big. Hebe found himself unable to pick them up or push them around or kiss their foreheads by tilting his head down. Multiple times he felt his nose press into his son's neck or chin instead. He wondered if they both found it funny, or pathetic. Maybe a little bit of both. Still, Hebe would not avoid any of his children, even when he felt utterly incompetent. When he felt particularly bothered by his inability to gauge his children's heights, he would blame Raikov for being massive.

And speak of the devil, the scent of his big fat son soon hit his senses, and his ears perked up. He stood from his spot on the beach he claimed with his ass cheeks and turned in his son's direction, a small smile on his face. "Atton." by now, he knew the boy's eyes were somewhere more up, and Hebe had to tilt his head upwards to look in the right direction. He wasn't sure how long it has been, but a wave of distinct guilt washed over him.

"I've... Not been around a lot. I'm sorry." he hoped the apology was read well, as he motioned Atton to come join him on the beach.