“Sorry, Dr. Felch. I can’t do anything here, much less save you.” Zachary shrugged, and then he smiled.
“You guys are a couple. You’ll sort this out soon enough.”
“I am not his wife!” Francesca was obviously enraged by Zachary’s remark. “Zachary, you fool! Bust me
out of here right now or you’ll just die rotting!”
“Send him out!” Danrique lost interest in the argument, and he was about to leave with Francesca.
Suddenly, someone in the courtyard screamed, “Oh my god! It’s Mommy! That’s Mommy right there!”
“Mommy! Mommy!”
Danrique looked back and saw Robbie and the other kids coming into the front yard. The kids were really
excited to see Francesca, and they quickly ran up to her.
“Kids!” Francesca flailed her legs around again when she saw her kids. “Put me down now!”
Danrique frowned, but he put her down nonetheless.
“Mommy!” The kids pounced at Francesca, and the impact made her fall back to the ground.
Danrique reflexively tried to hold her, but Francesca didn’t seem to feel any pain at all. She rubbed her
butt and played with the kids happily. A frown dotted his forehead, and Danrique pulled his hand back.
“I’ve missed you, girls!” Francesca held the kids and slobbered all over them.
The kids were also hugging and kissing her as well. They lay in her embrace, refusing to leave.
Danrique was envious of the love between Francesca and the kids, for nobody had treated him with that
kind of love before.
“Mommy, Mommy, we’ve missed you so much!” The kids held her tightly, and they started sobbing all of
a sudden, their eyes filled with tears.
“I’ve missed you too, kids.” Francesca was tearing up as well. She was a petite woman, but she held the
kids tightly in her arms.
Danrique gazed at her. She only shows this side of her in front of the kids.
“Ahem.” Zachary coughed a few times to draw attention to himself. “Alpha, Beta, Gamma. Uncle Zachary
is here, you know.”
The kids shifted their attention to him. They were surprised at first, but when they snapped out of it,
Alpha and Beta got so excited, they almost pounced at him. “Uncle Zachary!”
“Hold it!” Gamma stopped her siblings and stared at Zachary warily. “Someone impersonated our uncle
before, and that guy’s a villain. He yelled at us. You might be an impostor too.”
Zachary quickly brought up the kids’ favorite stuff, “Alpha likes seedless grapes as well as the grilled
mutton and demi-glace ribs Mrs. Rawlston makes. Beta loves meat and hot cross bunnies. You always
get into a fight with Jamie because of that. Gamma loves snake soup, and the snake must be freshly
caught by Marino.” He paused for a moment. “I think I got all that right, correct?”
“Yep, yep!” The kids knew that was the real Zachary, so they left their mother’s embrace and pounced at
their uncle. “You’re finally back! We’ve missed you!”
“And we’ve missed you too, Robbie, Jamie, Ellie, and Aunt Charlotte!”
“Hey, what’s wrong with your leg, Uncle Zachary? I know, Mommy can help you with that! She’s super
great at this kind of stuff.”
“Thanks for the concern, kids.” Zachary patted the kids’ heads lovingly, and for the first time in a while, a
gentle smile curled his lips.
Danrique had mixed feelings about the scene. The kids didn’t even recognize him, but they showered all
their love on Zachary the moment they saw him.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda