The house instantly fell quiet following her question.
The triplets didn’t dare to breathe too loudly while confusion seeped into the nanny’s face as she glanced at them perplexed.
The brief moment of silence was enough to tell Kelsie she was missing something and she already had a hunch of who it was.
Nevertheless, she turned and leaned on the wall behind her, patiently tapping her foot against the floor.
Drawing in a slow, measured breath, she repeated calmly, "My handsome and beautiful children, how is it I didn’t know we had a family friend?"
Keira’s shoulders stiffened and she shrank her neck while Zade completely forgot how to move.
Jesse was the only one still in control of his body and he was sure of one thing; they were done for.
Not only did their mother have their time today, she also didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
To make it worse, she was smiling. An angry smile they were all two familiar with.
She hardly used it since she was used to their antics. But whenever she was grossly offended by their actions, it was the first thing they always saw.
He slowly lowered his eyes to the floor, tightening his lips as he thought long and hard on how to get out of this situation.
In an instantly, a plan occurred to him.
"Ah, so he wasn’t a family friend? I told you I didn’t recognize him at all!" Out of nowhere, he snapped his fingers and nudged Zade on the shoulder with a knowing look.
Zade glanced at him in confusion, unable to understand what the plan was.
Thankfully, Keira caught on pretty fast and backed him up immediately.
"He said he was a friend of mommy’s back when she still lived in Silicone Valley and we blindly believed him."
Jesse nodded vigorously.
"I told you both there was something odd about him. He was a friend of mommy’s, but didn’t have any single picture with her? That is simply absurd!"
Zade finally caught on and the three laughed nervously, their eyes anxiously darting towards Kelsie to see if she bought their lie.
However, she just stood there with an unreadable expressions, her dark eyes pinned intently on them.
The trio felt a chill run down their spine, the feeling that Kelsie could see right through them tugging their heartstrings.
Zade quickly held his siblings’ hand, saying, "After today, we shouldn’t let him into our apartment again."
"Yes, I agree with you. We should also ask for verification whenever anyone comes claiming to be a friend of mommy’s." Jesse hurried chipped in.
Keira was a natural actor.
Unlike her brothers who made the vow with a straight face, she looked like she was about to cry as she sniffled, "Bad children. We’re bad children. Look how worried we made our mommy by being so naive."
Depsite this, Kelsie was silent for a few more seconds, her eyes still pinned on them.
She had just parted her lips to say something when the baffled nanny spoke up in disbelief.
"He really fooled us four? Strange. I only believed him because he was a spitting image of Zade. My eyes must be getting old."
Then she lowered her eyes to the floor in apology.
"They’re still children, ma’am. It’s only right that they were fooled by a grown-up like him. If anyone is to be blamed, that person is me. I’ll be more careful about who I let into the house."
Hearing her, the triplets pulled on an aggrieved puppy face, holding each other tighter.
Was it someone else, this look of theirs would surely earn them forgiveness. But that was different for Kelsie.
She had seen this look way too many times to fall for it again.
"Thank you for taking good care of them all this while, Nanny. My children are naturally mischievous."
"If they said he was a familiar friend, there’s really not much you can do. You can go continue with what you were doing."
After dismissing their nanny, Kelsie leaned away from the wall and strutted to them.
"Is it who I think it is?" She asked, her eyes flickering from one face to the other.
However, she got no response from them.
A response she expected and a response they always used whenever they were hiding something.
She stared at their faces for a few more seconds before she took a seat on the sofa across them.
"Why? Did anyone tell you he looks like Zade and as such might be your daddy?"
Still, the triplets said nothing.
"Hey, listen to me. 1 out of 100 people has a look-alike. That you look a bit like him doesn’t mean you’re related to him in any way."
Jesse’s eyes suddenly lit up hearing her and he gently jumped from one foot to the other, saying in a small voice, "All the friends we made in the past were always intimidated by things we know."
"And no adult wants to be friends with children. This uncle wants to be friends with us. An-and, he’s a good fit to be our father!"
Hearing his last sentence, Keira and Zade’s eyes naturally darted to him, the corners of their lips spasming repeatedly as they suppressed the urge to correct him.
Ignoring their heated gaze, Jesse continued, this time, in a docile tone, "Mommy, he might have his flaws, but he’s funny, rich and from a good family. We don’t even need his money."
"Furthermore, didn’t Keira say the other day that she wanted a daddy with a broad back and sturdy arms?"
"Merely looking at this uncle, I can tell he has such a broad back and sturdy arms. And his face, he looks like he walked out of a carefully painted artwork. You saw him the other day, didn’t you?"
Jesse described him so much Kelsie couldn’t help envisioning him.
She had seen him twice. The first time she hadn’t taken a proper look at him, but the second time, she had seen him in a suit.
That suit looked big, yet it lapped onto him quite perfectly. Though she could swear the one Jett Adler had on that day seemed bigger, but was an even better fit.
Without realizing it, she began envisioning how big the man’s back could possibly be.