I would never wish my past suffering upon others. Luckily, the man I loved followed my wishes and drew the line at revenge.
A sense of uneasiness still permeated my relief. “Marcus may not appreciate our actions.”
In Marcus’ eyes, Camelia and Toby were just burdens. I doubt he would see them as fit bargaining chips for my safe return.
“Well, that’s on him. We’re basically even now, so you shouldn’t feel bad for him in the future.”
“Quick, come over here. Let’s get rid of any bad luck that’s still on you.”
I didn’t know where Cameron had heard about this old wives’ tale. She had arrived bright and early at the Stovall residence, insisting on burning sage to get rid of any ill omen.
Amused, I gave in to her wishes.
A group followed my children and me into the living room. It seemed as lively as Christmas.
After I sat down, I spied an unusually lonely figure out of the corner of my eye.
Emma was standing at the foot of the staircase, smiling awkwardly but not daring to approach the crowd. She played with her hair from time to time to cover up her hesitation.
“Emma,” I called out to her. “Are you not happy that I’m home?”
Emma seemed shocked at the mention of her name. She replied happily, “Of course not! I’ve been waiting for all of you every day!”
I laughed. “Well, don’t you want to come here and see how the babies look like?”
A radiant smile appeared on Emma’s face. She came over excitedly and took the baby from my arms. She cooed to him, “Hello sweetie, your Aunt Emma is always going to remember how you look like. What a cutie pie!”
John must have given Emma a hard time over the kidnapping incident. She must have been suffering almost as much as we have. Now that it’s all over, we should just try to get on with our lives and make some happy memories.
“Hey, your kids are almost a month old, and you haven’t even named them. Some parents you are!” Emery teased, her usual tactlessness on full display.
Ashton and I exchanged a glance. He hinted for me to take the lead.
Actually, I had already thought of their names when we were in M Country.
I announced confidently, “Since they were born in winter, their nicknames will be Greg and Dee!”
“Greg? That’s a great name. Sweetie, oh, I should be calling you Greg now. I hope you’ll grow to become a strong man!” Emma cooed at my son happily. The baby boy wasn’t scared of strangers, and he had taken to Emma immediately as if they were truly related.
“Dee…” Emery said as she carried my daughter. “What about her full name?”
I pursed my lips before smiling at Ashton. Then, I turned to Emery. “She’ll share a surname with Summer, so her full name will be Audrey Stovall. As for our son, we’ll name him Gregory, as in Gregory Fuller. Since they were born during winter, we chose the name Gregory, hoping he’ll become a person capable of beating all odds in harsh situations, while Audrey represents the noble strength that will support both of them through the ups and downs of their lives.”
“Those are great names! Here, I bought matching anklets for them. Shall we put it on for them?” Cameron produced a jewelry box containing the two anklets before Emma and Emery placed them on the twins.
Once the anklets were secured, the man who had followed Zachary here suddenly stepped toward the center of the living room. He opened his briefcase on the table and took out two folders.
“Hello everyone, please allow me to announce some news.” The man cleared his throat as he commanded our attention. “As the legal counsel for the Moores, it is my pleasure to announce on behalf of Mr. Moore that Ms. Audrey Stovall and Mr. Gregory Fuller shall henceforth be assigned ten percent each of shares from the Moore Corporation. The net worth of said shares is approximately three point five billion.”
We all exchanged looks of delight after the lawyer’s announcement, ecstatic for the twins.
The lawyer then laid out the documents before me. He addressed me courteously, “Mrs. Fuller, the contract will go into effect once we get the thumbprints of the children on the documents.”
