Chapter 218 Not All Men Are Jerks
Aaron's brow arched quizzically as he listened to Nora's speech. "Nora, is that what you think of me?"
Nora glanced at him, "Who knows? Maybe that's who you truly are."
Aaron laughed softly, leaning in closer to her. His long fingers teased her ear. "Do you truly not trust me?"
The tickle felt like an electric current shooting down her spine. Nora quickly held his hand to stop his playful advances.
"All right, I was just speaking my mind. Sit down. I've got some hot gossip to share." Wanting to divert him from making another move, Nora quickly changed the subject to Baldwin's mother's ordeal.
"Do you think she deserves pity? Are all men just jerks?"
Aaron listened intently and replied, "Not all men are jerks. I'm certainly not one."
'Only time will tell, challenging times reveal a person's heart.'
Driving into the Star River Bay Villa community. Noe inquired, "Mr. Gordon, Nora, which home should we head to first?"
'Please, just get married already, so he doesn't have to worry about who to drop off first!'
Aaron: "Let's go to my place."
Nora: "No, I want to go to my house."
She hadn't seen her three little ones properly in days and couldn't disappear from them again.
Seeing that Aaron remained silent and didn’t contradict it, Noe didn't ask any further. It goes without saying, Aaron would always listen to Nora.
Arriving back at Nora's villa. The triplets energetically played along with Carter.
Of course, Carter and Samantha were the stars of the show, while her brothers served as the problem-solving sidekicks, forming her audience. The melodious singing filled the room. Samantha followed Carter's lead in the play, making the house lively with activity.
Nora entered, smiling and clapping, "Grandma and Samantha, you're singing beautifully."
"Mom's back!" The children exclaimed excitedly as they rushed toward Nora as they saw her. Carter greeted her with a beaming smile, "Nora, have you and Aaron had dinner yet?"
"Grandma, we haven't eaten yet," Aaron replied.
Carter quickly turned to Rebecca, "Rebecca, is there still food?"
"There's plenty! Just give me a quick moment, and I'll prepare a few more dishes," Rebecca replied with a smile.
"Much appreciated, Rebecca," Nora said with a grateful smile.
"Of course," Rebecca said as she headed to the kitchen.
Samantha, with twinkles in her eyes, held Nora's hand and asked, "Mom, do I sound just like her?"
"You sure do!" Nora praised.
"Then you sing now," Samantha urged.
Nora quickly waved her hand, "No way, I'm tone-deaf. I'm better off as an audience."
"It's okay, I'll teach you. Come on!" Samantha insisted eagerly, wanting to play the teacher role.
Not wanting to dampen her daughter's enthusiasm, Nora reluctantly agreed. "All right, I'm listening."
Samantha cleared her throat softly and sang the first line, then asked Nora to imitate her.
Nora bravely followed Samantha's offbeat tune, awkwardly trying to keep up.
“The Siblings Scheme”
Alex and Billy, on the side, were pondering whether they could sneak away. Aaron watched the two brothers with a smile curling on his lips, a hint of curiosity in his gaze.
"Alex and Billy, did you guys do anything else besides going to the park on Sunday?" Aaron inquired, attempting to check out the situation.
"Mr. Gordon, we met two interesting old men. Alex played chess with them, beating them perfectly—it was a sight to see. Then, one of the old men challenged us with some high school problems, and we nailed them. They called us prodigies," Billy recounted Sunday's events with a hint of pride.
A smile flickered in Aaron's eyes, "Really? They must have really liked you two."
Those two interesting elderly men must have been his own grandfather and Mike.
"That's right. But being loved by everyone can be a bit troubling," Billy scrunched up his nose, sighing.
Aaron couldn't help but chuckle, "Billy, has no one bothered to inform you that you're a tad too full of yourself?"
"I'm just stating the facts," Billy said with a little defiant expression. "Jacob even said he wants to coach us so we can participate in a math competition to dazzle the whole world."
Aaron's eyebrows arched in surprise.
His grandfather had also been a man of letters and skilled in sports from a young age, taking pride in his elevated status and often indifferent to average folks, let alone mentoring children.
Aaron had been fortunate to receive personal coaching from his grandfather only a few times when he was yonger
Now, the fact that his grandfather was offering to coach the two brothers clearly indicated how fond he was of the kids. He wondered what his grandfather's reaction would be if he knew they were Nora's children.
"Time to eat," Rebecca announced as she brought the dishes to the table.
Nora let out a sigh of relief, "Finally, dinner time." She quickly left her daughter and dashed for the dining room.
"Mom, I hadn't finished the last sentence. You should finish what you started!" Samantha protested.
Nora offered a dry chuckle, "All right Samantha, no need to make more noise."
"Noise? Was our singing that bad?" Samantha leaned into Aaron's embrace, tilting her head to ask him.
Aaron smiled, lifting her onto his lap, "How could that be? You sing like the voice of an angel."
Nora fell silent as she listened to Samantha and Aaron chattering away, she started to eat ahead of them.
Aaron listened patiently to Samantha talking about her day at preschool while he fed her a bit of food. The affection in his eyes made people envious.
Nora really wanted to tell her daughter to get off his lap, not to cling to Aaron and hinder his meal. Yet couldn’t bring herself to speak up in the end. She was afraid that if she said anything, it would seem like she was jealous of Aaron.
When they finished eating, and Aaron was about to leave when it began to rain outside.
"Mom, it's raining outside. Let Dad stay over at our place tonight!" Samantha didn't want Aaron to leave and was looking for an excuse.
Nora replied without enthusiasm, "His house isn't far. I'll just get an umbrella for him."
Samantha blinked her large, expressive eyes and said sweetly, "But Dad's not feeling well, and with the rain and strong wind outside, even with an umbrella, he could catch a cold!"
Nora fell silent again and in disbelief.
Aaron, feeling moved by Samantha's tight grip on his fingers, said, "Samantha is right, I'm still not fully recovered. Getting caught in the wind and rain can easily lead to a headache or a fever. How about I stay here tonight?"
Nora glared at him, unimpressed, "We don't have a spare room for you to sleep in."
Samantha immediately raised her hand, "I can share half of my bed with Dad."
Nora frowned, "Samantha, you're a girl. You can't sleep with him."
Samantha's brow furrowed as she looked at Alex and Billy for help.
Billy understood, "Mom, Mr. Gordon can sleep in my bed tonight, and I can bunk with Alex."
Nora was speechless.
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