Chapter 190
After dinner, Joshua loaded everything into the car.
He then took the kids and Ella for a walk by the river.
The two kids, both about six or seven, were having a great time, chasing each other ahead, their laughter filling the air.
Joshua and Ella followed behind, watching them with eyes full of happiness and affection.
Joshua tried to reach out and hold Ella's hand, but she pulled away.
Not giving up, he tried again, and Ella dodged again.
Joshua simply grabbed her hand tightly, making it impossible for her to pull away.
Ella glared at him. "Let go."
Joshua just smiled at her. "Why not? Give me a reason."
Ella was helpless. "Do I need a reason to reject you?"
This man was getting more and more shameless.
Now he was starting to get handsy with her.
The little bit of goodwill she'd finally developed for him started to waver again because of this forceful tug-of-war.
Joshua said patiently, "You clearly liked it before. Have you forgotten about our time abroad? Which night didn't I satisfy you?"
Back then, he thought Ella had completely accepted him, which was why she did those things with him.
When he asked Ella if she would be his girlfriend, she said they'd talk about it when they got back.
They'd been back for several days now, and he had to get a clear answer tonight.
Otherwise, he really couldn't sleep at night.
Thinking about what happened during their time abroad, Ella felt embarrassed and ashamed.
She must have lost her mind back then, or been overwhelmed by desire, to have done so many things with Joshua that they'd never done before.
Her face flushed red, and she still shook off Joshua's hand and walked forward.
Joshua caught up with her. "Ella, please don't be like this. Just tell me—do you need more time, or in your heart, have you never even thought about being with me?"
Ella didn't look back.
Facing Joshua's question, she didn't know what to say to him.
She didn't deny that during their time abroad, when they were in a difficult situation, having Joshua there made her feel safe rather than scared.
In her heart, she no longer had any barriers with Joshua.
It was just that, being with him now, she still had some concerns.
Ella didn't speak and kept walking forward.
Joshua caught up and reached for her hand again. "If you don't refuse, I'll take it as your agreement. From now on, I'll work even harder to make it up to you and the two kids. Trust me, I won't let you down again."
This time, Ella didn't pull her hand back.
After all, it wasn't marriage.
Dating someone to take the edge off her loneliness wasn't such a bad thing.
If she found out later that Joshua still wasn't worth it, she could walk away anytime. She wouldn't lose anything.
"I knew it—you say one thing but mean another." Seeing that Ella didn't refuse anymore, Joshua leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek, unable to hide the smile on his handsome face.
Ella glared at him. "Can you not do that? There are people around."
Joshua immediately straightened up. "Okay, I won't mess around when there are people. I'll behave myself when we get back."
Ella didn't want to deal with him.
That's just how he was—give him a little hope, and he'd take a mile.
Sometimes, she really shouldn't give him too much face.
The two kids ahead stopped fooling around and walked close together, occasionally looking back at their mom and dad.
Seeing Joshua kiss Ella, Aurora was thrilled and quickly tugged at Dorian.
"Dorian, did you see that? Dad kissed Mom, and Mom didn't even pull away."
"Dorian, do you think Mom and Dad will get married?"
"If they get married, can the four of us live together forever?"
Dorian looked back and saw that Ella was indeed holding hands with Joshua.
And Ella didn't refuse.
It seemed like Ella really did want to be with Joshua!
He sighed helplessly. "You really want them to be together?"
Aurora nodded. "Of course! If Mom and Dad are together, it's good for us too. Don't you want Mom and Dad to be together?"
Dorian said, "I just want Mom to be happy."
If Joshua could really turn over a new leaf and be good to Ella, making her feel happy...
Then he would try to accept Joshua.
"Dorian, I also want Mom and Dad to give us a little brother. What do you think?" Aurora grabbed Dorian's hand and said cheerfully.
However, the children's conversation reached the adults' ears without warning.
The two adults felt awkward.
Joshua gripped Ella's hand even tighter and comforted her. "Kids say the darndest things. Don't take it to heart."
He knew that Ella couldn't have children anymore.
Actually, having this pair of children already made them very happy.
He didn't want Ella to go through the pain of childbirth again.
Ella naturally didn't mind.
Actually, in her heart, having Aurora come back alive was already the best gift from heaven.
She would cherish this hard-won happiness.
So to give Aurora a complete family, she was willing to try again with Joshua.
As for everything else, she'd leave it to time and fate!
Aurora had probably eaten too much and didn't want to walk anymore. She stopped and looked at Joshua with a pleasing smile. "Dad, can you carry me? My feet hurt, I can't walk anymore."
Joshua let go of Ella, walked forward with a smile, and lifted Aurora onto his shoulders.
Aurora was scared at first and quickly held onto his head.
When she saw he was holding her securely and she wouldn't fall, she happily showed off to her brother.
"Dorian, look! I'm taller than you now. Try to hit me—you can't reach me anymore, can you?"
Dorian was helpless and signaled to Joshua. "Squat down."
Joshua was suspicious. "Are you really going to hit your sister?"
"She said I couldn't reach her. Squat down and let me hit her."
Aurora quickly cried and whined, "No! Dad, don't squat down. If Dorian hits me, I'll never talk to you again."
Dorian also said, "If you don't squat down and let me hit her, I'll never talk to you again either."
Joshua suddenly felt torn and looked to Ella for help. "What should I do?"
Ella watched the three of them and found the scene oddly warm.
She stood aside watching the show, staying out of it.
"You're clearly playing favorites. I'm never talking to you again." Seeing Joshua wouldn't squat down, Dorian got angry and walked forward with a sulky face.
Joshua quickly tried to please him. "Dorian, don't be mad. I'll squat down, okay?"
As he spoke, he first let Aurora run ahead, then squatted down in front of Dorian.
Aurora was quick and immediately ran forward.
Dorian looked at his dad, deliberately blocking his way, and felt helpless.
"You did that on purpose." Joshua picked him up and chased after Aurora.
"I didn't do it on purpose. I'm taking you to chase Aurora."
After catching up, he put Dorian down and carried Aurora forward, with Dorian chasing behind.
The scene of father and children chasing each other made Ella's heart stir. She felt happiness spreading all around them.
She could see that Dorian was making an effort to work with Aurora in accepting Joshua.
She could see that Aurora was very happy being with Joshua.
Joshua was also trying hard to entertain the siblings.
If their life as a family of four could always be like this, then choosing to reconcile with Joshua wasn't out of the question.
Anyway, it all depended on Joshua's performance!
The family of four played outside until very late before going home.
By the time they got home, Aurora had already fallen asleep.
Joshua carried her back to her room, took care of her, and put her to bed, then left to find Ella.
Ella had also coaxed Dorian to sleep. As she walked out of the room, she ran into Joshua.
The two looked at each other, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Ella glanced at the time. It was very late. She reminded him, "Aren't you going back?"
This was the Lewis family home.
No woman would bring a man back to spend the night.
She was no exception.
But Joshua said, "It's the weekend tomorrow. Mason said he's taking Vida and her son camping. Should we go too?"
Ella didn't refuse. "Then go back and rest."
"But your parents have already arranged for me to stay here, in the guest room next to yours."
Joshua smiled. "If you don't want me to stay in the guest room, I can keep you company."
"You go to the guest room." There was no way Ella would let Joshua into her room at home. She turned and went into her room, quickly closing the door.
Joshua stood there, feeling like crying.
Looked like he still needed to work harder.
Back in the guest room lying down, he still couldn't sleep.
Joshua took out his phone and sent a message.
[Ella, I miss you so much. I can't sleep. What should I do?]
[Let me come keep you company. Even if we don't do anything, just sitting by your bed watching over you would be good.]
[Ella, please reply to me, okay?]
Looking at the messages Joshua sent in the WeChat chat box, Ella felt something stir in her heart somehow.
She felt uncomfortable and quickly put down her phone, forcing herself to sleep.
Early the next morning.
Joshua and Mason arranged everything early on. They prepared all the supplies, and after the kids woke up and had breakfast, everyone went camping in the suburbs together.
They drove an extended sedan that could easily fit ten or so people.
Mason drove.
Joshua could only sit in the passenger seat.
The kids and Ella were in the back.
The three children sat in the middle, while Ella and Vida sat in the very back.
Thinking about how Mason had now returned to the Lewis family and joined the company as her assistant, she wondered how things were between him and Vida.
Ella leaned close to Vida and asked in a low voice, "Have you let him back in your room?"
Vida knew what Ella was asking and shook her head. "No, since he came back, he's been sleeping with Tommy."
Tommy was Vida's child's nickname. He was three years old this year.
Ella looked at Mason driving up front, then at Joshua in the passenger seat, and said sincerely, "That's how it should be. Make them perform well. Don't let him back in your room too easily. If it's too easy to get, he won't know how to cherish it."
Men were all the same.
Joshua, Mason, and Samuel were all pretty much alike.
Not one of them gave their women peace of mind.
Vida agreed. "You're right, so I'm making Mason prove himself until I'm satisfied."
Thinking about how Ella and Joshua were also getting closer, she asked, "What about you two? Have you thought about starting over with him?"
Ella looked at Joshua again.
From her angle, she could only see a little bit of Joshua's profile.
But even so, her heart still rippled.
She didn't deny her renewed feelings for him and told Vida, "Aurora likes him. You know, I'll give Aurora whatever she wants."
Of course, she had already accepted Joshua in her heart too.
Aurora was just an excuse.
Vida understood and smiled. "That's good. As long as they're willing to change, and they change for the better and won't make the same mistakes again, it's not unforgivable."
"Anyway, from now on, having them around will at least make things easier."
That way, they could fully devote themselves to work.
The kids could be left with the men.
Switching roles, the men would no longer have the right to dominate them.
The group soon arrived at their destination.
Mason and Joshua were eager to show off, doing everything themselves.
Laying out mats, setting up tents, preparing food and supplies.
Aurora and Dorian were older now and didn't need supervision. They even helped Aunt Vida look after Tommy.
The most relaxed were Ella and Vida.
The two sat on lounge chairs to the side, sipping tea, eating snacks, watching the men work and the children play.
Actually, this kind of life was quite nice.
Vida smiled. "See? Men do have some use."
"Otherwise, if just the two of us came out, taking care of kids and preparing all that stuff, we'd be busy for half the day, and it would be afternoon already. That's not really going out to have fun."
Ella thought so too. "In my opinion, the biggest use for men is doing work."
With them around, she and Vida were truly relaxed.
In the past, when they didn't have Mason and Joshua, the two of them would also take the kids out on weekends, but maybe the kids were too young back then and a bit rowdy.
Anyway, after all that running around, they never got to rest properly, were too busy to even eat, and had to go home.
This time, bringing the two men along, and with the kids being older and not needing their supervision...
The two of them were really here to enjoy themselves.
After the two men set up the tents, they started setting up the barbecue grill and preparing food.
The grilled meat and vegetables were brought to the two women first thing, along with chilled drinks, as they smiled and invited them to enjoy.
The emotional value they provided was particularly good.
Ella and Vida clinked glasses, enjoying everything with peace of mind.
Aurora ran over and sat next to Ella, saying, "Mom, see? Having Dad and Uncle Mason around does have its benefits, right?"
"They're tall and strong, and they have great strength. Not only can they do work, but they can also protect us from being bullied by others. Isn't that great?"
Ella couldn't help but glance again at the two men not far away, busy preparing food.
Indeed, having them around was quite nice.
So she decided that from now on, all the heavy and tiring work at home would be handed over to Joshua.
After all, he seemed to enjoy doing it.
Just then, Ella received a phone call from the company.
They needed her to urgently sign a document.
Ella asked Chris to bring the document over.
Chris quickly arrived. When he approached Ella to hand her the document, Joshua happened to see it.
Joshua immediately felt upset.
Not knowing the truth, he thought Ella had deliberately called him over, and his heart immediately turned sour.
Mason was adding fuel to the fire from the side.
"Chris has stayed at the company and often looks for Ella in private. He's very sweet-talking. You'd better step up your game."
Joshua couldn't stand it.
Really afraid that Ella would develop feelings for Chris, he stormed over aggressively to assert his claim.