In the following days, even if Lance wasn't undergoing treatment, he visited the two children daily. One day he brought them Lego sets, the next day the latest toy robots. Lance was exceptionally kind to the children, almost as if he wanted to move into Deanna's apartment permanently.
Deanna noticed all of this. Although she was touched, she didn't show him any kindness. She hadn't decided how to handle the situation, and she was particularly upset about Lance secretly allowing his parents to meet the children. As a result, whenever Lance was around, she would hide in her room.
Old Ashley and the two little ones noticed the tension between them and were quite worried. One day, the two children couldn't hold back any longer and pulled Lance into a room to ask him about it.
"Uncle, what's going on with you and our mommy? Haven't you made up yet?"
"Uncle, why don't you try to make her happy? The internet says that if you upset a girl, buying her gifts and apologizing can help."
Listening to their suggestions, Lance couldn't help but laugh. He knew they were worried about him. He smiled slightly, ruffling their black hair, and reassured them, "Don't worry, Uncle knows what to do."
The children pouted, clearly not convinced. Gregory added disdainfully, "If Uncle knew what to do, you wouldn't have been in a cold war with Mommy for so many days."
Chloe sighed like a little adult, "Adults and their pride."
Lance laughed but didn't say anything more.
Later that evening, after putting the children to bed, he quietly left the room. Just as he was about to leave the house, he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Deanna stepping out of her room in her pajamas, smelling fresh from a bath. She glanced at Lance, hesitated for a moment, then walked towards the kitchen as if she hadn't seen him.
Lance, who had been about to greet her, swallowed his words bitterly. He followed her into the living room and saw Old Ashley sitting there. Forcing a smile, he said goodbye, "Grandma, I'm heading home now. You should rest early."
"Alright, be careful on your way back. Drive safely," Old Ashley replied with a kind smile.
Lance nodded and glanced towards the kitchen again. After waiting for several seconds without seeing Deanna come out, he said gently as usual, "Dr. Deanna, I'm leaving now."
Deanna stood silently at the kitchen door with a cup in her hand. She didn't come out until she heard the front door close. Her expression was unreadable as she walked over to her grandmother.
"It's late; you should rest early, Grandma," Deanna softly advised.
"I'm not very sleepy yet. If you don't mind, I'd like to chat with you," Old Ashley said with a gentle smile.
Unable to refuse her grandmother's kind smile, Deanna nodded and sat down beside her.
"What would you like to talk about?" Deanna asked.
"Let's talk about you and Mr. Mercer. Did you have a fight or something? Can you tell me?" Old Ashley asked.
Deanna held her cup in silence, seemingly deep in thought. Old Ashley waited patiently before guessing, "Or did Mr. Mercer confess his feelings to you?"
"No, that's not it," Deanna quickly denied.
Old Ashley raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? I thought Lance confessed to you because of your unusual behavior. If it's not that, then what's going on?"
Deanna remained silent, unconsciously rubbing her cup. Finally, as if making a decision, she closed her eyes and revealed the truth. "Lance is Gregory and Chloe's biological father."
Old Ashley was stunned by this revelation. It took her a while to recover and look at Deanna in disbelief.
"Are you serious? Mr. Mercer is Gregory and Chloe's father?"
"It's true. I did a paternity test, and Lance admitted it," Deanna said with a heavy voice.
Old Ashley didn't know how to feel upon hearing this but finally understood why Lance was so good to the children. It all made sense now.
She turned to her granddaughter and asked softly, "So what do you plan to do? Will you let Gregory and Chloe acknowledge Lance?"
"I won't stop them from knowing each other. But Lance wants to wait until the children accept him more before revealing the truth," Deanna explained.
Old Ashley nodded and then asked another question, "And what about you?"