Chapter 144 As If!
Joel was Sebastian’s son, after all, and it was precisely because of this that he ought to be loved and spoiled by everyone who laid eyes on him. However, the twins had not gotten the love and respect they deserved for the past five years.
After all, they were illegitimate children at the end of the day. As far as the world was concerned, they had no father, and Madeline was the only one who ever truly loved and cared for them.
At the thought of this, Sebastian’s heart twisted, and he had never wanted to give his sons all the stars in the sky as he did at that moment.
“There will be more people who would come to love the both of you!” he promised solemnly as he wrapped Joel up in his arms. “My brothers will be coming home tonight, and you and Quincy will have three more uncles who will love you unconditionally.”
Philip had three adopted sons, all of whom were younger than Sebastian. The eldest among them was Caleb, the second was Kieran, and the youngest of them all was Lucas.
Philip had been injured on the battlefield when he was young, and the doctor had subsequently told him that he would never be able to have children of his own.
It was only after going through countless treatments for over twenty years that he managed to sire Sebastian, whose mother had already been in her forties by then.
After Sebastian was born, Philip dropped by over half the orphanages in the country and selected about a dozen children out of thousands. At last, he narrowed it down to three children, all of whom he adopted so that Sebastian would have siblings growing up.
The three children were none other than Lucas, Kieran, and Caleb.
The four of them grew up together, and in their adulthood, each had made a career for themselves. Right now, Lucas was the vice president of Hart Corporation, and he co-managed all company affairs alongside him. Caleb, on the other hand, displayed prowess in the medical field and became a doctor. He had set up his own pharmaceutical company under the financial backing of Hart Corporation, and he had launched several medical products as well as ran his own private hospital.
As for Kieran, he had taken an interest in performing arts, namely singing. He managed to get himself into the most elite music school in the world at the age of fifteen, and upon graduation, he returned to the country three years later to start a career in the entertainment industry. He was now a singer and huge celebrity.
All three of Sebastian’s brothers had been abroad when Madeline and her sons came to Wendel City, so they never got a chance to properly meet each other.
Sebastian had given his brothers a heads-up, and after learning that Madeline had returned to Dusktown, all three brothers decided that they would rush back and make time for family dinner. It was going to be a family reunion.
“Uncles?” Joel stared up at Sebastian expectantly and blinked his large eyes. “All my uncles are handsome! Big time!”
Joel had never seen his uncles in person, but he had seen pictures of them on Sebastian’s phone.
He remembered how Philip had told him stories about Lucas and the others’ childhood days, so even though he had never met them, he still felt as if he was familiar with them. The impression he had of his uncles was that they were all supremely handsome men, and they were even more handsome than the celebrities he saw on television, though not quite as handsome as Sebastian.
Presently, Sebastian smiled when he heard the child’s description. “Indeed, they are.”
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t think it was fair for his dad to have accused him of being someone who ‘appealed to visuals’. In fact, that was borderline hypocritical of the old man. In the entire Hart Family, Philip probably was the most obsessed with visuals. He had only fallen in love at first sight with Sebastian’s mother because she was a stunning beauty.
The Hart Family had military roots, and the generations that came before Sebastian were mostly involved in the army. His mother, on the other hand, belonged to a prolific family who dabbled in politics, academics, and the like. At first, Sebastian’s grandfather didn’t think Philip was good enough to marry his daughter, but for a proud man like Philip to discard all his sense of pride just to appease the girl he loved, he did not back down and relentlessly badgered her and her family.
Upon seeing how dedicated Philip was, Sebastian’s grandfather finally and reluctantly agreed to let the two lovebirds marry.
Philip had been over the moon when Sebastian was born, and he started searching high and low for children he could adopt as Sebastian’s siblings before the boy attended school. After that, he handpicked Lucas and the other two from among thousands of orphans.
It went without saying that the children he had painstakingly picked out from the lot were good-looking.
This was further proof that Philip was a man who appealed to visuals. As such, Sebastian probably inherited such a trait.
He smiled now as he caressed Joel’s chubby face and said, “Your uncles are handsome, and they will love the both of you like their own. They will love you more than the uncles on your mom’s side!”
There was no denying that Lucas and the other two were loyal to Sebastian. As such, they would only love Quincy and Joel as their own, Sebastian was sure of it.
“Wow, that’d be great!” Joel cheered. “Dad, I’m the luckiest boy in the whole wide world! The luckiest! I must be!”
He felt as if he had gone from rags to riches. He couldn’t ask for anything better; it was his favorite thing in the whole world to be liked by those around him since being a lovable child was what made Madeline happy.
“I’m glad,” Sebastian said as he rubbed the boy’s back. “Now, go to sleep. We’ll go hiking when you wake up, and your uncles will be home after that, so you’ll get to meet them soon!”
“Okay!” Joel pecked Sebastian’s cheek happily and slid under the covers next to Quincy. He tipped his head and kissed his brother on the cheek as well before saying, “Sleep tight, Aldo.”
Quincy picked up a corner of the covers and tucked Joel in. “Sleep tight.”
Sebastian chuckled as he rubbed Quincy’s head. “Aren’t you a good brother/”
The little boy stiffened as he said, “Sleep tight, Dad.”
“Sleep tight!” Sebastian flipped on his side and kissed Quincy between the brows.
Quincy wiggled as though he was uncomfortable with the show of affection, but he didn’t object to it, and instead closed his eyes as he waited for sleep to come.
Another low chuckle escaped Sebastian as he caressed the little boy’s hair. Then, he got into bed and lay down next to him.
While Joel had been clamoring for Sebastian’s attention earlier, Madeline had gone to take a shower. Having done so, she blow-dried her hair and changed into comfortable loungewear, only to return to the room and find that Sebastian was already lying in bed while the kids napped next to him.
She was at a loss for words. Come on, is this how it’s always going to be from now on? She shuffled reluctantly over to the other side of the bed and saw Sebastian, who had had his eyes closed just moments ago, looking at her. She whispered, “Can’t you go back to your own room to nap?”
He eyed her steadily and said, “This is my room.”
She pursed her lips. “In that case, could you spare us another room so that I can move in there with my kids?”
He reached up and stroked Joel’s hair. “I want to take naps with my sons, though.”
Madeline gaped at him in disbelief. She wanted to nap with her sons too. There’s no way I’m going to give up that privilege! If he thinks that he can throw me out and make me leave my sons, he’s dead wrong!
She was starting to think that he was conspiring to achieve this all along. He wanted to usher her out of her sons’ bedroom, then take over the school run so that she would have less time with her kids. Eventually, her boys would be so used to her absence in their lives that Sebastian could easily take over her role and become the main parental figure.
As if I would let that happen! I will not let him get away with his evil schemes!
Not wanting to lose out, she ignored her previous hesitation and climbed into the other side of the bed and lay down next to Joel. We’ll just sleep together. That doesn’t scare me at all! Hmph!
