“Yes.” I glanced at Shaun, barely able to hide my surprise. He had been standing silently behind Gregory all this while, and if I had not turned around earlier, I might have questioned my hearing. Shaun had, without a doubt, drawn the analogy of the dolls calmly.
Despite the glaring lack of scientific evidence backing his claims, it was more than enough to convince Audrey.
Children of the same age had an inexplicable way of understanding one another. Both Gregory and Shaun had the same uncanny way of getting through to Audrey where adults could not.
There was virtue in keeping things simple, especially when it came to reasoning with children.
Children viewed the world through a simple lens, and they tended to categorize things into neat blacks and whites. They were acceptable of boundaries their parents drew; yet, raising them in an overly-sheltered environment could inadvertently backfire and impede their development.
I relaxed slightly as these thoughts crossed my mind. The sight of Nora’s eerily-similar face no longer frightened me as much as it did.
Shaun’s words completely helped us out of the situation. Thus, Nathaniel and Nora had no excuse to keep us from leaving anymore.
I had no desire to stay in this wretched place any longer.
Ashton silently made a move to lead the kids away. Nora, however, was not about to let Shaun getaway after ruining her plans, and she grabbed him before he could approach us.
She planted her hands on Shaun’s shoulder menacingly and scrutinized him. She cooed like an excessively-friendly elder, “Which family are you from?”
Shaun glanced at her calmly before looking at Ashton and me. He said, “Mr. and Mrs. Fuller adopted me. I’m their adopted son.”
“Is it?” With her gaze locked on Shaun, Nora continued, “Your family has finally reunited after a long time. I thought you’d be dying to shower your biological kids with love before taking in an unwanted orphan.”
She paused slightly, but not long enough for any of us to rebuke her. “Fate has brought this kid into our acquaintance. It’s fortuitous that Nat and I don’t have children. Why don’t we adopt him instead? We can share your burdens of childcare.”
I was about to reject her offer when Ashton’s voice rang out. “I can afford to care for as many kids as I please. There’s no need to trouble outsiders at all.”
He lowered his gaze and glanced at Shaun. “Why are you standing there? Do you really want to stay here?”
Shaun caught his meaning immediately and plucked off Nora’s hands from his shoulders. He walked toward us determinedly, making his stance toward her offer crystal clear.
He did not even need to say a thing to convey his decision.
I mussed his hair fondly in approval.
“We’ll get going, then. You don’t have to send us out,” I declared.
I nodded at the couple in farewell and ushered the kids out the door, Ashton following closely behind.
Once we were safely in the car, the children began fooling around in the backseat.
Audrey was so excited that even Gregory struggled to keep her in her seat.
“I’m starving! I can’t wait to eat the cake when I get home! Greg, Shaun, you can’t eat my share!”
Gregory replied in resignation, “Whatever you want.”
Shaun remained silent.
“Mommy, did Daddy really make the cake? Daddy’s the best! Isn’t Daddy Superman?”
I answered her patiently, “Of course, Daddy made it himself! Daddy isn’t Superman, though. Superman is too busy saving the world than to spend time with us.”
“Mommy, does Daddy know how to make lollipops too? Those super huge ones!”
“I- erm, why don’t you ask Daddy?”
Audrey’s questions came flooding out like a dam that had burst.
“Daddy, do you know how to do it?” In her excitement, she had leaned forward between the two front seats in the car.
I thought Ashton would appease her like he usually did. To my surprise, he pulled up to the curb.
Despite his safe stop, the car still shook slightly from the sudden motion. Audrey wobbled on her feet and would have fallen over if I had not caught her.
