Chapter 19
Cayden drove off with his face clouded over. Zachary watched as his father left and knew he had really hurt his father now by targeting that cold, lonely heart of his.
Rory walked out and asked her brother, "Where's Daddy?"
"He left. I think I hurt him too much." Zachary looked down guiltily as he confessed his mistake to his sister.
"Zach, I miss Ms. Ery!"
Cayden would not play with them, nor would he bring them out for good food. All he would do was put on a straight face and be strict with them. To them, he was even worse than their teachers, and Rory couldn't care less whether or not their father was home on weekends.
Avery, on the other hand, was different. She was pretty, and she smelled nice.
"Rory, how about I take you to meet Ms. Ery? I know where she lives." Zachary grabbed his sister's hand excitedly.
Rory nodded and the two of them glanced at each other understandingly before hailing a taxi.
After telling the driver the address, they went straight to the residential area where Avery lived.
A driver from the Moore residence was following closely right behind the taxi.
Once they arrived at a residential area named Quakersville, the driver called Cayden and reported, "Mr. Moore, Mr. Zachary and Ms. Rory have arrived at a place called Quakersville. It seems that they're waiting for someone at the gates."
Cayden told him to keep an eye on them, and he said, "Yes, Sir. Don't worry about it."
The driver hung up, then fixed his eyes on the children.
"Zach, should we call Ms. Ery?" Rory asked, glancing up at the people milling in and out of the residential area. Those people kept looking at them, causing her to feel rather nervous.
Zachary only knew that Avery lived here, but he didn't know the exact block, floor, or unit that she lived in.
He furrowed his brows, and it was then he noticed a car from the Moore residence on the road. I knew Daddy would send someone to follow me and Rory.
Just as he was about to drag his sister to the public telephone to call Avery, Avery appeared right in front of them.
Speechlessly, she looked at the two children who were holding hands tightly.
They're my boss' kids. Why do they keep coming to me?
Avery liked the kids, but she didn't want to get too close to them. After all, if anyone caught wind of her taking care of Cayden's kids, who knew what sort of rumors they could make up?
More importantly, she might lose her job.
Helplessly, she walked over and looked at their innocent faces. "What are you two doing here?"
"Rory and I took a taxi here. We argued with Daddy. He lost his temper and scared Rory to tears. W-We didn't have anywhere else to go," Zachary said.
In order to stay, he had to make his father look like a bad person.
Avery crouched down. She studied the children's adorable, pitiful faces and reached out to stroke their soft cheeks. "Be good and go home, okay?" she said gently. "He's still your daddy at the end of the day. I'm sure he didn't mean to lose his temper and he must be feeling guilty about it right now."
Avery's heart ached for them, but they were someone else's kids after all. She didn't have the right to butt in.
Having lost their only excuse to stay, Zachary squeezed Rory's hand helplessly.
Rory looked down and pouted aggrievedly. She looked as if she was about to cry at any second.
"Sorry for bothering you, Ms. Ery. We'll be going now." Zachary pulled his sister's hand and wanted to leave, but Rory stood unmoving.
Zachary gave her a tug again, causing her to fall down and scrape her knee on the rough asphalt.
Immediately, Rory burst into tears.
Avery no longer cared about anything else as she picked Rory up. Patting her on the back softly, she comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay. Don't cry. I'll take you home and make you something nice to eat."
Rory stopped crying when she heard that Avery was finally bringing them back with her. She nodded and leaned into Avery's embrace. "Okay... I love you the most, Ms. Ery!"
Avery let out a sigh and walked home with Zachary in tow.
Once they got home, Avery put Rory down, then went to look for some new slippers for them to put on.
Rory and Zachary stomped around the apartment excitedly in oversized slippers. Avery lived in a one-bedroom apartment, which was much smaller than the Moore residence, but the kids loved it regardless.
"Rory, come here and sit down," Avery said as she brought out the first-aid kit.
The little girl did as told.
"This might sting a little. Tell me if it hurts," Avery continued as she took out some ointment, a cotton swab, and a bandage.
Rory's knee had a scrape the size of a fingernail.
Zachary stood next to them and patted his sister's shoulder with his small hand. Indeed, she was strong and didn't shout or cry in pain. She only frowned a little until her knee was nicely bandaged.
"This is so pretty!"
Rory looked down at her knee, in awe at the little bow that Avery had tied the bandage into.
Avery patted her on the head with a chuckle before looking at the clock. It was almost eleven.
"Have you guys had lunch?" she asked.
Zachary shook his head.
"Watch some TV first. I'll go make you guys lunch. What do you want to eat?"
Avery turned on some cartoons for them to watch before opening the fridge to see what ingredients she had.
Zachary looked at Rory and replied, "Rory likes fried chicken, and I'm okay with anything. I'm not a picky eater."
"I'm not a picky eater too," Rory quickly said.
It's easy to raise me. You just have to feed me.
Avery's plan was to let the kids eat their fill before sending them back.
It would take a while for the water to boil.
Avery had never saved Cayden's phone number. She only remembered vaguely that his phone number was eleven digits that were pretty memorable; but since he was a frigid sculpture of a human being, she had forced herself to forget about it. And now, she couldn't remember a single number.
As a matter of fact, even if she had saved or remembered his number, she dared not call him and ask him to pick up his kids.
However, since the kids had taken a taxi to come here, she reckoned they could take a taxi back too. Or perhaps she could see them to their doorstep quietly before leaving.
She ended up making some soup, a salad, and some pasta. It was a healthy, balanced meal.
Avery had some faith in her cooking skills.
After telling them not to go anywhere, she took her keys and went downstairs to buy some fried chicken.
There was a fried chicken store just downstairs, and it looked clean and safe.
Once she was done, she rushed back home, afraid that her food would get too cold to eat.
After inserting the key into the lock, she gave it a twist and pushed the door open.
She had thought that Rory would wait expectantly at the door, yet little did she expect to see a handsome man standing right in front of her.
Her smile instantly froze as she stayed rooted to the spot, not daring to move.
This is my home, right?