Chapter 63
A breeze rustled through the mountain forest, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees.
William had exceptional hearing. Even while stepping on soft fallen leaves, he could accurately catch every unusual sound.
He deliberately slowed his pace, gently pressing his palm against Emily's arm, signaling her to wait.
"What's wrong?"
Meeting Emily's questioning gaze, William answered in a low voice.
"There's a rocky slope three meters to the left. The surface soil is pretty loose. You take the kids along the inside path, I'll scout ahead."
Emily didn't refuse and followed behind him with the children.
William went ahead first.
He stepped onto the ground on the left side, firmly planting his hiking pole into the earth. Only after confirming it was stable did he nod at Emily.
Emily understood his meaning. She had the three children move forward together while she stayed at the back, watching their movements, as if afraid one of them might fall.
However, when Emily's gaze rested on William at the front, she noticed his leg seemed to stiffen for a moment.
His injury had only healed when he left before.
Emily had thought he would go home to recover properly, but clearly, he hadn't fully healed yet.
She unconsciously pressed her lips together, displeasure flashing in her eyes.
Setting aside their relationship issues, just from the perspective of a doctor who had saved someone, she didn't like seeing patients abuse their own bodies like this.
However, now was obviously not the time to discuss this matter.
Emily lowered her eyes slightly, concealing the emotions beneath them.
William didn't notice anything unusual about her and just continued scouting the path ahead.
When a small flag appeared not far away, William turned to look at the three children. "Which one of you wants to go get that flag?"
He gave the children the right to choose.
Of course, this was also because he believed there couldn't be just one flag along the way.
Although he had only lived with Aiden before, he understood that there needed to be fairness among the three children.
"I'll go!"
Aiden volunteered, his eyes shining with eagerness.
Nina and Oscar exchanged glances and cheered him on together.
"Aiden is the best!"
When Emily had decided to bring the three children on the show, she had already explained to them in advance that Aiden would temporarily take on the role of big brother and participate in the show with them.
So now he was the older brother.
As for whether he was actually her biological child, Emily thought there should be an answer soon.
Watching the children being considerate of each other, William felt satisfied and then handed his hiking pole to Aiden.
"Go ahead, I'm right behind you."
With William's words, Aiden didn't hesitate. He took quick steps, swiftly grabbed the flag, and brought it back.
"Here you go."
He handed the first flag he retrieved directly to Nina.
Nina took the flag, a sweet smile on her face as she thanked him. "Thank you, Aiden."
"You're welcome!"
Aiden rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I'll give you the next flag too."
Oscar said to Nina, not wanting to be outdone.
"Okay!"
Watching this interaction among the three children, Emily couldn't help but smile, her eyes full of tender affection. William's gaze occasionally fell on her, and he looked different from his usual cold demeanor.
"Mommy, let's keep going!"
Seeing Nina's energetic appearance, Emily smiled and nodded.
The group set off again. William led the way at the front and soon found the second flag.
"There's a flag behind the bushes ahead. You can follow the stone path, but don't touch the thorny branches on the side."
This time, Aiden stayed back with Nina, and Oscar stepped forward.
Following Emily and William's instructions, he got the flag and ran back to stuff it into Nina's hands.
"Here!"
His little face looked cool, but his eyes were bright and shining.
"Oscar is amazing too! This is my second flag now, isn't that great!"
Nina didn't hold back her praise. Oscar's face turned slightly red at her words.
He nodded slightly and said nothing more.
Nina then went up to Emily. "Mommy, are you tired? Should we rest for a bit?"
Facing her concern, Emily crouched down to be at eye level with her.
"Mommy's not tired. We can keep looking for flags."
"Okay!"
Nina's eyes sparkled brightly. She then ran to William, her voice sweet as she spoke.
"Sir, you're so amazing! Are you tired? If you're tired, Nina can cheer you on!"
William looked into her eyes, the corners of his lips unconsciously curving up.
"Okay."
Nina made a cheering gesture at him, shouted "Go for it!" and then went back to Emily's side.
Watching her like this, William couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.
Why did he always feel something wasn't quite right?
The question William couldn't figure out was clear to the viewers.
"Mr. Brown didn't realize at all that Nina was just being polite to him, but genuinely cares about Emily."
"Yes, he didn't catch on at all. He thought Nina was really concerned about him."
"He's never raised kids, how can you blame him?"
The main characters were unaware of the comments on the screen.
They continued walking up, pulling out all the flags they spotted along the way.
They cooperated well throughout and managed to collect all the flags before reaching the summit.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would be in first place as long as they returned now.
"Let's go down the mountain now!"
Nina said excitedly to everyone.
"Okay."
Since all the flags had been collected, no one delayed on the way down this time.
Emily picked up Nina directly, while William carried one child in each arm—Aiden on the left and Oscar on the right.
They moved quickly, and having already familiarized themselves with the terrain, they soon reached the foot of the mountain.
The moment they appeared at the base, another family also emerged.
The two groups locked eyes, and sparks seemed to fly in the air.
Emily and William looked at each other and instantly understood what the other was thinking.
Run!
They took off running, which the other family hadn't expected.
By the time the other family reacted and chased after them, Emily and William were already standing at the finish line with the children.
"Mommy, we're in first place!"
"Yes, we're in first place."
Nina cheered, Aiden chimed in from the side, and though Oscar didn't speak, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
William's gaze fell on Emily, and he specially opened a bottle of water and handed it to her.
Seeing this scene, viewers in the livestream flooded the screen with comments.
"This family atmosphere is absolutely perfect!"
"This family of four is such a perfect match!"