Chapter 914
Noah remarked, "Boss, Miss has posted nearly a thousand messages. It was only after I keyed in the right words that I found the one about the concert. Otherwise, it would have been a real needle in a haystack." Andre reminisced about his junior year in high school, wondering why he had ended up disciplining his nephew yet again.
Oh, it came back to him-his gaming obsession. His older brother, Naomi, had dragged him back home. Upon his return, he gave his nephew a stern talking-to, which somehow broke the kid's internet addiction. Little did he know, his feisty young wife was already gearing up to confront him back then.
He wondered if meeting the fiery little Mia earlier would have led to him falling for her sooner.
If only Leo hadn't been in the way!
Andre, holding his phone, scrolled through hundreds of his sister's posts before finally landing on the one of his wife at the fan meeting.
In the photo, a young girl with twinkling eyes posed with a man sporting light purple hair. The man wore a ring and a studded leather jacket. Mia was beaming, forming a heart with her hands over her chest, while the man's hand rested on her shoulder, his other hand making a half-hearted gesture. With a sharp thud, Andre set the tablet down.
The noise startled Noah and made Henry jump, though he quickly resumed his focus on his "gourmet" tasks without a word.
Andre stood up. "Henry, let's head home."
With the trash can hidden away, Henry sat on the floor, clutching his dad's office chair, nibbling on the leg.
"Henry?" Where had the little rascal crawled off to now? Andre stood up, unable to spot his son, who was always vanishing.
Noah, standing at the table, had a view behind Andre and pointed it out. "Boss, Henry's behind you, been there for a while."
Andre took a step back, turned, and there was his son in a little red outfit, bare-limbed like a cherubic figure from a New Year's painting, gnawing on the chair leg.
Without fuss, he scooped up his son, who immediately began to cry. Following dad meant no snacks.
They cried all the way to the parking lot.
Andre, equally frustrated, said, "We're going home. You're staying with Grandpa tonight. Mom and I have things to discuss."
On the drive home, Andre called his brother-in-law.
Chad, having cracked another major case, was the talk of the department, emerging as a new authority figure.
Kendrick, worried his son might become arrogant, called him into his office to instill some calm and poise.
Chad, ever independent, hardly needed parental oversight. Always knowing what he wanted, he had patiently stayed by Molly's side for over a decade, gradually turning her into his wife. He was naturally patient and knew how to navigate his future. As father and son left, Chad was still chatting with his dad. "Molly was craving pork knuckles yesterday. I'll grab some from the north alley on my way home."
Kendrick said, "Get some for your mom too. She craved them when she was pregnant with you. I'm off to pick her up from work."
While they were walking, Chad's phone buzzed with a call from Andre. "Hey, Andre?"
Andre asked, "You know about Molly's secret account?"
Chad was puzzled, "What secret account?"
Andre instructed, "Search 'sly and jmm's daily life,' and you'll see."
Originally, Molly's account was "sly and sxm's daily life," but after changing her name to Molly, it became "jmm."
Sitting in his car, Chad, a bit confused, still pulled up his phone and entered the name into the search.
Instantly, countless posts from "sly" appeared.
Officer Chad, intending to buy pork knuckles, found himself scrolling through posts outside the government building until night fell.
Molly, already home, eagerly awaited her pork knuckles. When Chad got home, she greeted him with excitement, "ChadChad, where's my pork knuckles?"
Chad ruffled Molly's hair, his eyes filled with playful affection. "You'll be savoring the northwest wind tonight."
"What?"
...
That evening, Mia, with her backpack, returned home. Naomi was worried sick about her future daughter-in-law. "Strange, why hasn't Anya come back yet? I'm worried sick."
As Mia entered, she tossed her
backpack on the sofa and dashed to
her son's play area, crouching with open arms. "My darling boy, did you miss mommy? Come here for a hug."
Henry, obliging, crawled over, letting his mom scoop him up. His little hands clung to her clothes as he snuggled close, cooing, "Mmm, mommy. love mommy." After a mentally exhausting day, holding her soft, cuddly son and kissing his cheeks, Mia felt as if she had found her cloud-soft, warm, and utterly comforting. Having not seen his mom all day, Henry wrapped his little arms tightly around her, excitedly tattling on his dad, "Dada mean. ahh, dada."
"Did dad give you a hard time today?"
Henry, by chance, shook his head, "Dada dada dada, mommy."
Mia translated, "Oh, you're saying daddy's going to spank mommy?"
"Mhm. dada dada, wuwu mommy." Henry's complaint was a success! Andre: "..."
Mia hugged her son tighter, interpreting his "complaint" as nothing but loving chatter. "Then tonight, you'll protect mommy and sleep with mommy, okay?" "Okay, okay."
Andre was perplexed. He left the play area, put on his slippers, and went to pick up Henry.
Henry clung to his mom's clothes, refusing to be taken away by anyone else.
After a brief spat with her husband in the morning, which she forgot about in minutes, Mia returned home, cuddled her little son, and then looked up, tiptoeing to kiss her husband.
Andre leaned down slightly, letting her kiss him without reciprocating.
"Huh, honey, are you upset? When I came back today, you didn't hug or kiss me." Mia sensed something was off.
Andre lowered his gaze, glancing at his adorable wife, his lips curving into a slight smile. "You think I'm mad?" Henry chimed in with a thoughtful "hmm."
At the Cedillo family home, Naomi anxiously called Anya from the window. "Anya, where've you been, sweetie?"
"Your aunt's back, and your uncle's home too. Henry hasn't gone to bed yet; come back and play with him. Don't spend all your time with Leo." "Nobody's mad, what's wrong? What are you afraid of?"
Mia, holding their child, glanced towards Naomi with curiosity sparkling in her eyes and asked her husband, "Honey, what is Anya afraid of?" Andre looked down, his gaze tenderly resting on his wife, and replied, "Afraid of you."
"Me?"
...
In the Byrne family home,
In the couple's bedroom, Molly stood by her vanity, watching Chad, seated there scrolling through his phone. She recounted, "...my brother
swere
just graduated college, and when went to take pictures, I saw this hunky guy. Wow, his muscles incredible! I didn't dare mention it, my brother would lecture.me for sure. But seriously, those muscles were something else. I pretended to need the bathroom just to sneak another peek at that handsome guy."