When the little ones mentioned their father, Deanna felt a bit guilty and glanced at Lance. Her eyes seemed to say, "You handle this." After all, Lance was their biological father.
Lance understood Deanna's look and lowered his gaze to the two children in front of him, his eyes deep and mysterious. "I have no problem with it, as long as your mommy agrees."
With that, the question was returned to Deanna. The two children looked at her pleadingly, "Mommy."
Deanna didn't know what to say. Seeing her silent for a long time, the two children drooped their shoulders in disappointment. "Can't we?"
Looking at their pitiful expressions, especially Chloe's reddening eyes, Deanna couldn't bear to see them upset, even though she knew it was part of their little scheme. She finally agreed. "Alright, you can sleep together tonight." She said this and instinctively looked at Lance.
Unexpectedly, Lance was also looking at her. Their eyes met, and a subtle tension filled the air. Deanna's heart raced, and her cheeks flushed under his deep gaze.
"Um, Mr. Mercer, do you need to go freshen up?" She broke the awkward atmosphere by shifting her gaze.
Lance nodded. "I'll take Gregory to freshen up, and we'll come back later."
Later that night, after everyone had washed up and gotten into bed, Deanna felt more at ease since it wasn't their first time sleeping together. Seeing the excited children, she called out, "Alright, come lie down and sleep."
"Okay, Mommy, you sleep in the middle," Chloe said, pushing Deanna towards the center of the bed.
Gregory pulled Lance to Deanna's side. "Uncle, you sleep here."
Deanna was completely stunned. Lance was also taken aback. Neither of them expected the children to say that.
"Gregory and Chloe, stop messing around!" Deanna scolded with a stern face, but her blushing cheeks betrayed her emotions.
Lance remained silent. The children protested, "We're not messing around. Godmother said boyfriends and girlfriends can sleep together."
Deanna was both amused and annoyed. Julia always taught the kids inappropriate things! "Don't listen to your Godmother. Mr. Mercer and I are not in that kind of relationship!"
Despite saying this, Deanna felt a bit guilty and nervous. She couldn't help but glance at Lance. Unfortunately, his face showed no expression, making it hard for her to read him.
In truth, Lance felt upset when he heard Deanna deny their relationship. The children were also surprised by how straightforwardly their mommy denied being with Uncle Lance. They looked at Lance in confusion. Gregory's eyes even showed a hint of disdain as if saying, "Why haven't you won over my mommy yet?"
Lance noticed this and felt speechless. Deanna didn't notice their small gestures. Seeing the children settle down, she urged them to rest again. "Alright, lie down and rest. If you keep fussing, I'll send your uncle back and he won't stay with you!"
The children had no choice but to comply and soon fell asleep. However, Deanna and Lance were still awake.
Looking at the man not far away, Deanna spoke awkwardly, "It's late; you should rest too."
Lance nodded and lay down beside the children but couldn't fall asleep. He was bothered by Deanna's denial of their relationship.
The next morning, Deanna woke up to find herself alone in the room and didn't think much of it. She got up to freshen up and was about to leave when she opened the door to find her friend about to knock.
"You're up. I was just about to call you for breakfast," Julia said with a smile.
Deanna noticed she was alone and asked, "Where are they?"
"Mr. Mercer and the kids are downstairs," Julia replied with a mischievous look. "I heard Mr. Mercer stayed in your room last night. Be honest now, what's your relationship? Are you together?"
Unbeknownst to Julia, her words reminded Deanna of the children's bold statements from last night.
"Let's not talk about that now; we have something else to settle," Deanna said seriously.
"What do we need to settle?" Julia asked nervously.
Seeing Julia's guilty expression made Deanna laugh in exasperation. "Now you know how to be scared!"
Without warning, she attacked Julia's ticklish spots. "Haha... let go of me..." Julia laughed so hard she couldn't stand straight and began to beg for mercy.
Deanna didn't plan to let her off easily and pretended to be fierce. "Do you know what you did wrong? Will you stop teaching the kids nonsense? Stop matchmaking?"
"I know I was wrong," Julia quickly admitted.
Just as Deanna was about to let her go, Julia suddenly ducked away from her hand and turned back with a cheeky grin. "I know I was wrong, but I don't plan to change. I'll behave only when you get together with Mr. Mercer!"
With that, she ran off quickly.