Ashton pursed his lip as though he was still tasting the kiss. The next second, he suddenly pulled me toward him.
Before I could react, I was locked within his embrace. He stared right into my eyes passionately. “Let me have some interest first.”
I was stunned momentarily as I struggled to get up. “There’s no such a rule…”
I almost forgot. It’s useless to talk rules with him. Forget it. I’ll just let play along…
After diner, it was almost nine. However, Audrey had no intention to go to bed as she stared at the door while hugging her doll.
Without a doubt, she was waiting for Shaun.
I nudged Ashton slightly, signaling him to ask Audrey to go to bed. After all, Shaun would never appear, no matter how long she waited.
A moment later, Ashton put down the tablet in his hand and uttered faintly, “Audrey, what time is it?”
Audrey took a glance at her watch casually. “It’s eight fifty-seven, Daddy.”
She seemed to have deliberately ignored the fact that it was three minutes until her bedtime.
Ashton’s tone turned stern. “And?”
Audrey’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately stood up and pretended to tidy up the toys.
I felt helpless as I watched her go about it with a turtle-like pace. With that pace, it will be morning by the time she finishes tidying.
With that thought in mind, I interrupted her trick to stall the time without hesitation. “All right, I’ll tidy the toys later. You need to go upstairs now and freshen up together with Summer. After that, you’ll go to bed. I’ll tell you guys a bedtime story in a while.”
“No!”
Ashton and I were startled by Audrey’s sudden shout.
Audrey lowered her head immediately as she realized she was misbehaving. “Shaun isn’t back yet. I’ve promised him that I’ll wait for him. Daddy, Mommy, I’m not sleepy yet. So can I please wait for a while more?”
The three kids had always been obedient, and they knew they should never disrespect their father. Nonetheless, the atmosphere turned tensed as Audrey remained stubborn despite Ashton’s numerous persuasions.
Audrey would probably comply with Ashton if the latter took on a stricter gesture. But still, Ashton did not show any sign of persistence.
One would quickly act up when one was emotional, especially kids. If the parents gave in to such moments, it would send the kids the wrong message. They would think they could achieve the things they wanted by acting innocent. It would be challenging to educate them in the future once they had that kind of mindset.
“Ahem…” I pretended to cough, reminding Ashton not to be softhearted.
Yet, Ashton turned toward me and furrowed his brows, his expression extremely reluctant.
I was left speechless by that.
How could a man be so useless? I thought men should be the cold-blooded ones. Forget it. Let me be the bad guy, then.
“Au…”
“Audrey.”
Before I could call her name, someone else did. I turned around and saw Summer at the stairs.
Summer nodded at me, signaling me not to be worried. The next moment, she walked toward Audrey and squatted down to her level.
“Audrey, what’s wrong? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Why haven’t you come upstairs?”
Summer was only a young girl, but she behaved exactly like a mature adult. Whenever she talked in such a gentle tone, it would remind me of Macy.
Even though Macy was more of a loud character, most of my memories were about her mild side.
Audrey lifted her head and pursed her lips, looking aggrieved. In that instant, tears rolled down her cheeks. “Summer, Shaun said he would be back. I’m not being naughty. But he doesn’t have a family, so I want to be his family. I can’t just go to bed without seeing him first…”
