Chapter 59: Misunderstanding, Mistaken Identity, Apology, Dinner Invitation
They went to the Thomas Villa on their own? So once again, they ran off without saying a word.
She was freaking out when she found out they were missing. She thought Joshua had taken them, pointed her finger right in his face and yelled at him, almost went crazy on him!
And now they're telling her they went to Joshua's place by themselves!
So all along, she had misunderstood Joshua.
Ava slapped her forehead in frustration, emotions churning in her eyes. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She kept telling herself - they're your own kids, stay calm, your own flesh and blood, you have to stay calm. Maybe they had their reasons. Listen to their explanation. Can't get mad at the kids. Right, can't get mad at the kids.
Ava took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice calm. "Go ahead, before I die of anger, get it all out."
"Mommy, do you remember Buddy?"
"The gift Finn wanted to give me. I remember."
"That time Mommy went to the Thomas Villa to treat Mr. Thomas..." Finn explained everything to Ava in detail.
Ava rubbed her forehead. The overwhelming amount of information almost made her faint from anger.
"Mommy, go ahead and scold us. It's our fault." Cleo's little face scrunched up.
"It's my fault. Mommy, you should scold me."
Ava's brows furrowed and relaxed, tightened and relaxed again. Finally, she let out a deep sigh. Looking at these two pitiful children, how could she bear to scold them?
After a long while, Ava slowly said, "I won't scold you. If I scold you, the one who feels bad is me."
"But..."
When the two children heard Ava say this, they looked up with bright eyes, but then there was a "but," so they lowered their heads pitifully again.
"But what you did wrong this time is very serious. It's so dangerous for you to run off like that. Don't you think I'd worry? I've told you before, you're still young and don't understand many things or have full control. You made decisions on your own - what if you ran into danger?"
Ava was both helpless and couldn't bring herself to really discipline them, so she patiently reasoned with them.
Finn and Cleo had always been smart. They could understand what Ava was saying. Finn especially had been full of ideas and sensible since he was little.
Besides, the kids had good intentions for her sake. Ava couldn't really get angry, but she did feel somewhat apologetic toward Joshua. This time she really had misunderstood him.
And today, when she saw the children, Ava had seen the joy in Joshua's eyes - the kind of joy that came from a father seeing his biological children for the first time. That was instinctive and couldn't be faked.
Ava furrowed her brows. "You two need to really think about this, understand?"
"We understand." The two children answered in unison.
"But Mommy, what about Daddy? It's our fault that you misunderstood him." Finn felt apologetic about this.
Ava was also troubled.
"Actually Mommy, I think Daddy isn't that bad. He didn't do anything today, and even when he was wrongly accused, he didn't get mad. Daddy's pretty nice."
Ava didn't deny Cleo's words. Today Ava was also surprised that Joshua hadn't taken the children, and when he saw them, he let them come back without any fuss.
From what she could see now, Joshua's promise not to take the children away seemed to be true. Otherwise, with such a good opportunity today, he wouldn't have let it pass.
Ava's brows relaxed a bit. Maybe she had been too sensitive all along. Thinking of this, her anxious heart settled down a little.
But what Ryan said about the Thomas family investigating the children - what was that about?
If Joshua didn't want to take the children away, he had no reason to keep investigating. So who else in the Thomas family knew about the children's existence?
Ava held her phone and let Isabella know they were safe, chatted a bit, and replied to some questions from patients' families. Just as she was about to wash up and go to bed, Ava's eyes fell on a familiar phone number, her face full of hesitation.
She really had wronged Joshua and should apologize to him, but how should she bring it up?
Finally, she pressed the cold phone against her forehead and let out a somewhat weary sigh.
The two little ones being punished and reflecting in the living room propped up their little heads, quietly watching Ava struggling with her phone.
"Finn, why is Mommy holding her phone when the screen is black and not looking at it?" Cleo asked in a tiny whisper.
"I don't know either."
"Finn, today Mommy misunderstood Daddy and was really mean to him. After all, it was our mistake. Shouldn't we make it up to Daddy somehow?"
"I think so too. It was our fault, so we should take responsibility. Because of us, Mommy and Daddy's relationship got even worse. We need to do something to make up for it. Plus, Daddy doesn't seem as bad as we imagined today. What do you think?"
Cleo's soft little face took on a thoughtful expression as she nodded.
"Finn, let's have Mommy and Daddy eat together. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, won't everything be fine?"
"Good idea. Should we have Mommy invite Daddy to dinner?"
"No way." Cleo immediately objected, hands on her hips, refusing. "Daddy's a boy. How can we let the girl make the first move? Daddy has to be the one to ask Mommy out."
Finn nodded. "Then how do we get Daddy to ask Mommy to dinner?"
The two children became troubled again. This was still a difficult problem.
After all, both Daddy and Mommy were too proud and unwilling to back down to each other.
"Let's call Daddy." Finn had a good memory - he had seen Joshua's number on Ava's phone and memorized it.
Cleo was very much in agreement.
The phone rang for several seconds before being answered. The other person didn't speak. Finn tentatively called out, "Daddy?"
The person on the other end paused for a few seconds before a low, slightly slow voice responded, "It's me."
"I'm Finn."
"I know."
"We came clean to Mommy. You didn't take us away. What happened today wasn't your fault. You were wrongly accused because of us. I'm apologizing to you. I'm sorry." Finn said apologetically.
"..."
The other end went quiet again for a few seconds. Finn and Cleo exchanged glances, thinking Joshua was angry. After all, no one likes being wrongly accused. Feeling anxious, they asked tentatively, "Daddy, are you mad?"
"No."
"Then do you forgive us?"
"Knowing your mistakes and correcting them - your mommy taught you well. What else?" Joshua's eyes took on a thin layer of helplessness, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a smile. Where was there any trace of anger?