Later, Lance prepared to leave, and Deanna got up to see him off. Just as she moved, she sneezed twice in a row.
She rubbed her nose, feeling a bit congested.
Lance noticed something was wrong and frowned, asking, "What's wrong with you?"
The two little ones also looked over with concern.
"Mommy, are you okay?"
"It's nothing, just a bit of an itchy nose."
Despite her words, Deanna felt uneasy. She might have caught a chill from the cold shower earlier.
Thinking about it, Deanna regretted her decision. Knowing it was the season change and temperatures were dropping, she wondered why she had taken a cold shower.
Deanna hid her discomfort well, and Lance, seeing nothing unusual, didn't suspect anything and soon left.
After seeing him off, Deanna immediately took some cold medicine upon returning.
The next morning, Deanna intended to get up and make breakfast for the two little ones but found herself feeling dizzy and unwell.
At that moment, she realized she had caught a cold but still forced herself to get up, wash up, and go out.
In the living room, the two little ones and Old Ashley were already up.
Seeing Deanna looking unwell, they immediately showed concern.
"Mommy, what's wrong?"
"Your face looks so pale, are you sick?"
Old Ashley walked over to Deanna, touched her forehead, and exclaimed, "You're burning up! You have a fever?"
"It's just a bit of a fever. I'll take some medicine and sleep it off."
Deanna shook her head, signaling her grandmother not to worry.
She then looked at the two little ones and said softly, "Mommy is sick today and can't take you to kindergarten. I'll call your godmother to take you to school, okay?"
Unexpectedly, Chloe and Gregory ran over and hugged her legs.
"Mommy, we don't want to go to school. We're worried about you."
"I don't want to go either. I want to stay and take care of you." The two little ones pleaded adorably.
Deanna's heart softened, and she didn't refuse their request.
After a simple breakfast and taking some medicine, she returned to her room and fell asleep.
The two little ones stayed by her bedside out of concern.
During this time, they were very well-behaved and didn't disturb Deanna.
Seeing their mommy asleep, they tiptoed out of the room.
Outside, Gregory whispered to his sister, "You send a message to Uncle Lance and tell him mommy is sick. Try to get him to come over."
"I understand."
Chloe nodded obediently and used her watch phone to send Lance a voice message.
Meanwhile, Lance was in a meeting.
He noticed his personal phone vibrating and saw Chloe's message pop up. He immediately picked up his phone to check.
"Uncle, mommy is sick. I'm so worried. Can you come over?"
Hearing the pitiful voice, Lance immediately frowned with worry flashing in his eyes. He couldn't tell if the worry was for Deanna or Chloe or both.
On the other side, the senior executive reporting work noticed Lance's face darken and panicked. Did he make a mistake?
While he was reflecting on himself, Lance suddenly stood up, said one sentence, and left.
"Today's meeting ends here. Those who haven't reported yet, make a report and send it to my office!"
With that said, Lance was gone.
The others found it strange but didn't think much of it and packed up their things to leave.
Lance drove straight to Deanna's apartment complex.
Out of concern, what should have been a twenty-minute drive only took him ten minutes.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw the two little ones sitting dejectedly on the sofa.
Lance had never seen them like this before and immediately asked with concern, "What's going on? Is your mommy very sick?"
"Uncle, you're here."
Chloe immediately snuggled up to him.
Gregory wanted to but held back. He said in a low voice, "Mommy's fever hasn't gone down. She ate breakfast with us this morning and then fell asleep."
Hearing this, Lance frowned deeply.
He looked at Old Ashley disapprovingly and said, "If it's so serious, why didn't you take her to the hospital?"
Old Ashley knew Lance had misunderstood and glared at the two little ones with a mix of anger and amusement.
"Mr. Mercer, don't listen to them. Deanna isn't that serious... I didn't expect the kids to call you."
She paused and sighed, "But it's good to have someone here. If things get worse, the kids and I wouldn't know what to do. I remember once when Deanna hurt her leg badly; she could barely walk but still managed to drag herself back because of our issues..."