That evening, the triplets sat behind the kitchen counter eating cereal when Jett walked in and put on an apron.
Both Keira and Zade’s eyes immediately lit up.
Jesse, however, pursed his lips in disapproval. "So, aren’t you going back to your house?"
Zade nudged him right away, bending his lips in a stern whisper, "What do you think you’re doing? If Daddy goes back, who’ll cook for us?"
"We have Nanny. She’s always cooked for us. And so has Mommy." Jesse frowned and retorted, not bothering to lower his voice.
Keira heard him and hurriedly shushed, "Shut it! Daddy makes these foreign dishes I’ve never seen before, and they all taste delicious. Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean we don’t, so keep this question to yourself."
Jesse was silent for a moment before he gave up.
"Fine. You like his food, I get it. But he lives right above us, if you want to eat his food that badly, go knock on his door."
This time, Zade, who sat in their midst, turned to hold him, "Brother, why do you keep doing this? Don’t you know mommy has to make these decisions herself?"
"It has to be her idea. If we start going up to daddy’a apartment, she won’t see the need to take us there."
"In fact I’ve been thinking, once mommy starts going up to daddy’s apartment frequently, maybe we’ll convince her to let us all live together." Keira chipped in dreamily from the side.
"People only move in when they’re married?" Jesse glanced at her.
"What do you think I meant?"
Jett pretended not to hear the conversation and turned his back to them, beaming brightly almost immediately.
Hah! In your face, you snobby little thing who looks just like me!
Though Jesse’s coldness toward him had eased, it still reminded Jett how badly he had once misunderstood Kelsie.
The realization of how much she must’ve detested him made him uncomfortable. He wished he could go back and erase it.
"That reminds me, has anyone seen Ms. Hastings recently? She used to be everywhere. Now I rarely see her." Keira brought up, trying to make up for their sudden silence.
Jesse spooned a scoop of cereal into his mouth before retorting through mouthfuls, "Uh, I heard some teachers saying she left. They said she sent a letter to their group chat saying she already submitted her resignation and went abroad. Something about getting a better offer from a school there."
Despite how hard he was to understand, his siblings still caught the message.
Zade blinked in confusion, "That’s strange. Just the other day, I heard her telling some parents she wouldn’t be leaving the school for a few more years."
Keira gentle massaged the back of her neck, "Didn’t you hear Jesse? She got a better offer. It must’ve been so good she didn’t even hesitate and left quickly before they could change their minds."
"But it does seem strange. The last teacher I had always told us whenever she’d be traveling."
"Even when she left the school, she announced it to us at class. The school even organized a party to send her off in the cafeteria that day."
"See? I wasn’t wrong. It does sound suspicious." Zade huffed.
The next second, he noticed Jett frying something and sniffed the air.
"Mmm, Daddy, this already smells delicious. Is it possible to get a scoop of of your spoon to determine if it really tastes as good as it smellls?"
Keira nudged him, "Hey, you eat so much but barely gain any weight. Are you sick?"
Zade was too busy watching Jett hand him a plate with the tasting portion he asked for.
He didn’t respond to her until he emptied the plate of its content and handed it back to Jett.
"Don’t you see? I’m getting taller."
"That’s what you said last year. We’re still the same height."
"Tsk! The only one who grew an inch taller is Jesse. And that’s because he eats a lot of protein."
"You eat as much junks as I do, what do you mean? Where’s this stupid protein anyway?" Zade was so moved by the thought of Jesse being taller that he hopped off his seat and dragged a chair over to go through the pantry.
Kelsie appeared at the doorway just then and lifted him off the stool.
"You don’t have to bother. You’re all the same height. Don’t you see how tall your dad and uncle are?"
"If you actually end up being short, I’ll have to return you to the hospital and tell them they gave me the wrong kid."
Meeting each other’s eyes, all four of them burst out laughing.
Keira laughed the longest.
Zade, being the subject of the laughter, didn’t find it funny at all and scoffed sarcastically, "Yeah, keep laughing until the kid who has to be returned to the hospital is you."
Keira, clearly in the mood to tease him, huffed, "Oh, come on, Zade. I look like Mommy, there’s no denying I’m her kid. And Jesse looks like Daddy. In fact, if we’re being honest, the only person who doesn’t look like either of them is you."
Zade had never thought it through before, but now that he looked at them... she was right.
Keira really did look like their mother, and Jesse looked like their father. Then was he really...
"Family! The housekeeper wouldn’t stay with me, so I’m going to sleep on the couch today. I don’t care what anyone says!"
Daniel’s voice erupted from the living room, getting louder as he approached the kitchen.
He reached the doorway, hugging a pillow to his chest.
"What? I’m really not going back to that big house. Even Eric refused to stay with me." He raised a questioning brow, realizing all eyes were on him.
Thinking they were about to refuse him entry, he gritted his teeth and repeated stubbornly, "I don’t care what anyone says! I really won’t leave!"
Suddenly, Zade broke into a grin and skipped over to him happily.
Though confused, Daniel let himself be dragged into the kitchen.
Zade took out a mirror from the cupboard and studied his own face, then looked up to peer at Daniel.
A moment later, he clapped happily and declared to Keira, "You can’t scare me! I know I’m Mommy’s kid because I look like Uncle Daniel. Since he’s Daddy’s brother and we’re triplets, I’m obviously Mommy’s baby too!"
Keira hadn’t expected him to connect the dots so quickly and lowered her eyes disappointedly.
Jett stared at her in surprise.
Whenever she teased her brother like an adult, he was reminded that she didn’t have a lower IQ than her brother.
She was just... too lazy to use her brain.
Kelsie hummed, reaching over to open the pantry, "That’s right, baby. I even have videos of that day. It’s gross, but it shows you three coming out of me."
Zade beamed brightly upon hearing her and hurried over to sit beside Keira again.
Jett turned to dish four plates of food.
He dropped three in front of the triplets and pushed one into Daniel’s hand.
Realizing someone still recalled he was there, Daniel dropped the food on the counter and went after him, "You see, I am useful to the triplets! Don’t you think mean I should move in like...?"
"No!" Five voices rang out in perfect unison.
He didn’t know whether to be offended they took after Jett or that they ganged up on him all of a sudden.
At the end of the day, he huffed and stomped back toward the living room. "Fine! Then I’ll just come here to sleep every night. Good thing I live right above you!"
"Ma’am, your phone keeps ringing. I wouldn’t have brought it, but this is the nineteenth time in ten minutes." The nanny strolled into the kitchen almost immediately, handing over the ringing phone to Kelsie.
Kelsie thanked her and took it.
Seeing all the missed calls were from Callum Shaw, she was slightly taken aback and squinted her eyes thoughtfully.
The next batch of medicine wasn’t due for months, and she already paid in full.
She wasn’t working at Haven Medical Center anymore either, so it couldn’t be because he wanted her to take over a patient of his.
He had no reason to be calling this persistently.
She was still deep in thought when the phone went off again.
She answered and pressed it to her right ear.
"Congratulation, Kelsie!" His excited voice sounded almost immediately.
She snorted, "Isn’t the congratulation coming too late? It’s been a while since I opened my practice."
"Maybe if you weren’t too busy berating me, you would’ve recalled to congratulate me earlier."
The man chuckled, "Look at you being humble. I saw your father’s interview. That’s why I called to congratulate you for becoming in-laws with the top family in Silicon Valley!"