"Okay, will you call me Dad now?"
Zayn wanted so much to hear the children hail him as their father. Never before in his life
had he gone to this length to please anyone.
These days, he had his office lined with books on parenting, and invested time and effort
whenever possible to research into how to interact with children.
All that work just to convince these three little imps to willingly acknowledge him.
"I don't want to…" Venus pouted.
Randy and Josh rescinded their own attempts when they saw their sister expressed her
unwillingness.
"Is something wrong?" Zayn asked cautiously.
It could very well be the first time he had tried to be careful about what he said.
"Dad doesn't sound nice." Venus tilted her head innocently. "I prefer Daddy."
"Yes. Yes…" Josh went along and said. "If we address our mother as Mommy, we should
also call you Daddy."
"Then Daddy it is, " Randy declared with finality.
"Uh huh, " Josh and Venus concurred with a nod.
The trio exchanged looks between themselves before they looked to Carla, and Zayn.
However, none of them opened their mouth.
Zayn had his head in his hands. He yearned for them to hail him, but it seemed that
much harder than he could have imagined.
"Well, hurry it up." Even Mrs. Borah got impatient.
Carla merely smiled silently.
"On three." Venus waved her hand like an orchestral conductor. "One, two, three!"
"Daddy——"
The endearing qualities of their three voices were amplified loud and clear when they
shouted in unison.
Zayn's heart almost melted. He then drew them into his arms.
He wanted very much to kiss them the way Carla did, but he did not know how.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…"
The children crowded around Zayn as they kept calling, and even snuggled close to
smother him with kisses.
Dori was startled from her slumber and beat her wings until she landed on top of the man's
head. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"
Overwhelmed by their fiery passion, he was at a righteous loss.
"Ha, this is just beautiful to behold."
This scene had Mrs. Borah smiling from ear to ear.
Carla, however, was in tears.
She felt truly blessed for having something that she could not have imagined before coming
to fruition so quickly.
If only she could continue to stay in this perfect moment. This was when a sharp pain shot
up her right arm. It crept upwards until it reached her shoulders and then radiated outwards
from there.
In an attempt to mask her discomfort, she picked up a cushion and pressed it against her
arm.
The pain grew increasingly intense, as though there were tens upon thousands of ants
gnawing at her blood vessels until it verged on exploding.
Unable to withstand it no more, Carla abruptly stood up and took refuge in the
washroom.
"Huh?" The children were astounded when they turned to look in her direction. "What's up
with Mommy?"
"I guess she might be overjoyed." Josh clambered onto the couch and threw himself onto
Zayn's broad shoulders. "Carry me, Daddy!"
"Okay." As his focus was on the kids, he paid little mind to it. However, he was concerned
enough to turn to Mrs. Borah. "Could you kindly check on her?"
"Alright." She nodded and smiled as she got to her feet. "I'm sure all the excitement must
have been a little too much. She probably went in to dry her eyes."
"Mommy's wept till she got snot on her…" Little Venus imitated the way Carla cried. "Like
this, boo hoo!"
"Don't do that. Bad Venus, " Randy chided.
The little girl made a face at him before she ducked into the safety of Zayn's arms. "Hold
me, Daddy!"
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