Chapter 780 Their Pride
Zachary shared Jesse’s pride as he declared, “We won first place today! All the other kids were so envious!” His eyes positively sparkled as he spoke. Arissa shared Benjamin’s surprise as she asked, “All of you won first place?”
“Yeah!” The children nodded fervently. “We won prizes too, Mommy!” Jesse hurriedly grabbed her bag and took out the certificate she got from the teacher, along with a red flower and some sweets.
“Oh, Sweethearts, you were all amazing!” Thrilled, Arissa even planted a kiss on Jesse’s cheek. Gavin immediately credited Arissa for their win. “Mommy’s the amazing one. Everyone in the class was blown away when they saw our artwork, not just the teacher.”
He really enjoyed the feeling of being praised by their teacher in public. That was also the first time Tim had been praised by a teacher, and he was naturally excited.
Zachary, Oliver, and Jasper could not help but become infected by their two elder brothers’ joy. Of course, Jesse was the happiest of all since all her brothers had given her their sweets. She announced, “Mommy, I have so many sweets in my bag. Gavin and the others gave them to me.”
Arissa stroked her daughter’s head tenderly and asked, “If your brothers gave all their sweets to you, then won’t they have none left for themselves? You shouldn’t eat too many sweets too. Your teeth are developing!”
Then, she looked at her three youngest sons and chided them, “Didn’t I tell you before? Why did you still give Jesse so many sweets?”
Jasper smiled cheekily and said, “Mommy, we just gave Jesse the sweets to make Jesse happy. We didn’t let Jesse eat them!”
“Don’t worry, Mommy! We’ve been keeping a close eye on Jesse!” added Oliver with a smile. “Jesse promised us that Jesse wouldn’t eat them.”
Jesse nodded earnestly and said, “I didn’t eat any sweets, Mommy!”
Finally, Arissa smiled and reminded her, “If you have any more sweets, your new teeth won’t grow out!”
“We’ll take care of Jesse, Mommy!” Gavin reassured his mother.
Nodding, Arissa declared, “All right. Jesse can’t have too many, but one or two sweets once in a while is fine!”
Jesse cheered excitedly. “Yay! I love you the most, Mommy!”
She even flung her arms around Arissa’s neck and planted a bunch of kisses on her mother’s face.
Tim found his sister adorable and watched them with a smile.
Their cringeworthy display even caused Benjamin’s features to soften.
“Well, where is your homework now?” He was curious to see the artwork that made his children so happy.
Zachary informed him, “They’re in our school bags. The teacher wanted to display them on the classroom wall, but Gavin said no, so we brought them home!”
Confused, Benjamin asked Gavin gently, “Why didn’t you let the teacher paste your artwork on the wall?”
His eldest son pursed his lips for a moment before explaining, “Mommy helped us with that homework. Why should we paste it on the walls where it’ll be taken down sooner or later? I want to paste them at home!”
Arissa was moved by how much Gavin cherished the artwork.
She patted his head tenderly and asked, “Should we laminate it?”
After some thought, Gavin nodded and replied, “Yes! It won’t become dirty if we laminate it!”
Arissa smiled and nodded. “Okay. Once we’re home, I’ll help you laminate the artwork. That way, you can still look at it even when you’re older!”
Despite his silence, Tim’s happiness was palpable in his eye smile.
The four youngest children clapped in agreement.
To further encourage the children, Arissa added, “Let’s laminate your certificates too! We’ll see who has the most certificates next time!”
“Okay!”
The children’s excitement had reached a feverish pitch.
Benjamin stared at them before asking Arissa, “Where should we paste the artwork? I can arrange for Edwin to clear out the necessary space.”
She returned his stare and suggested, “It’s our children’s pride, so let’s display it in the most eye-catching place in the house.”
“Sounds good!” Benjamin mulled over her suggestion and offered, “What about the living room?”
Arissa’s lips twitched in amusement. There are plenty of eye-catching spots in that massive house. We don’t have to paste it right smack in the living room.
Diplomatically, she suggested, “Why don’t we paste it along the stairwell? On the walls leading to your study.”
She thought it was better to keep the atmosphere in the living room formal. After all, they used that space to entertain all manners of guests. The children’s artwork was better left to their family’s eyes only.
