Cayenne's words were abruptly cut off by her son's voice. Her attention was successfully shifted as she watched her son raised his little hands, kicked his legs on the air and giggled happily towards Jade.
At first, not many people noticed the odd atmosphere around them, but one after another, the other guests became interested of what was going on.
Aziel blabbered again which was not by mistake.
Cayenne was already aware of Jade's worry since Jillyanna texted her about it just a little while ago.
However, she thought that it was probably just a mistake - something that her son mumbled carelessly with no meaning.
"How heartless can you be?" Cayenne told her son playfully and lightly bit his chubby arm in retaliation. "You just turned one year old and you already know how to pick beautiful girls. Hmm?!"
"Sis" came Aziel's response.
It didn't take long for everyone to guess what happened.
"Oh! So, Aziel called his "sis" first before mom and dad," Reuben commented on the side. "Jade is such a good sister. No wonder our little guy likes her."
"Jade, I know you are young but you must set as an example to your little brothers and sister," Riley added to ensure that no other meaning will be taken out of context from this situation.
"Sis" Aziel called out again.
"Stop calling her," Stefan expressed and glared at his son. "How can you skip the process? You have to call your mom first, then your dad. And by any chance, what kind of sis are you viewing her? Shall I talk to Travis and get you through back door?"
"Hey! What are you talking about?!" Cayenne exclaimed and knocked his head. "Stop teasing Jade."
"I'm not teasing her though. I'm serious. Can't you see it on my face?"
Indeed, he looked serious and the guests were divided into two factions. Half of the guests believed that he was serious about the arrange marriage he just mentioned, and the other half believed it was just a joke no matter his poker face.
"Don't you want me to become your father-in-law, Jade?" Stefan asked that raised an eyebrow from Travis.
Jade's face was almost dripping blood. She felt so embarrassed with the whole situation and now, Stefan made it worse by asking her such question.
Aziel is like a brother to her!
"If you make her cry, you can forget about the hot spring resort that you recently proposed in City D," Travis commented upon seeing how distressed his daughter was.
"I was just kidding," Stefan responded instantly and rubbed Jade's head. "I don't want to be in-laws with my best friend," he said and leaned over to whisper "..and we know you already like someone else."
At this point, Jade finally felt relieved but she still felt embarrassed for another reason.
"Since we're at this point," Travis stated and borrowed the microphone from the host nearby, "let me announce that I'm not planning to have an arrange marriage for my daughter. Don't show me such intention in the future."
"Okay. Alright. That's enough, you two." Cayenne pulled Stefan and Travis on another table.
It was her children's first birthday and she didn't want any strange stories to come out because of them.
"Jade, please pardon your uncle Stefan, okay? He can be very childish sometimes," Cayenne said and smiled faintly.
Jade nodded her head and smiled but when Cayenne turned her attention somewhere else, she mutter, "I understand. Birds of a feather, flocks together."
Her father can be childish at times, so it was not a surprise that Stefan was the same.
Thinking of this, she looked towards Monet and Thomas. She was wondering if Thomas was as childish as the two men as well.
Sensing her questioning gaze, Monet chuckled and said, "My husband isn't childish."
Jade didn't say anything else.
As the event went on, Cayenne and Stefan was dragged by Luiz to a corner where a beautiful woman was sitting. They almost didn't recognize her after she dressed up properly and put some make up on.
Almost all of the time, when she visits, she would either wear a pair of jeans and t-shirt or a pair of shorts and hoodie. She was always casual with them.
"Happy birthday to your children," Clarisse greeted and handed the gifts to Stefan and Cayenne. "Can I hold the children later?" She knew that they consider her family already but she still needed to ask permission because her presence in their life is equal to trouble.
Cayenne: "Sure, why not? How about we book a room for you and we can visit you later after the party."
"Thank you and sorry for always causing you trouble."
Stefan: "Not at all. We're glad that you haven't given up on Luiz despite your complicated relationship."
"I...I have liked him for so many years. I would never give up because of a stranger's opinion."
Hearing her words, Luiz blushed on the side while keeping a certain distance from his girlfriend.
Because of what happened in the past, he can't appear in public with her anymore, and even though she looked different today, he can't stay by her side because people would start wondering about her identity.
He can't bring her trouble.
"Thank you so much for coming, Clarisse. I'll give you the room information later. I hope you'll enjoy the party," Cayenne added and gave her a brief hug as she whispered. "My brother loves you so much as well. Please note that he is not hiding you from the world, but protecting you instead."
"I know and I understand. Working in an entertainment industry isn't easy."
And since Clarisse was sharing a table with Cayenne's friends from Clover Hotel, many people thought that she was her colleague from her previous work.
Thankfully, Cayenne's friends always included her in their conversation so she didn't feel that she was left out.
Hesitating on his steps, Luiz finally turned around to entertain the other guests especially those that had connections to his work.
From time to time, he would look back to see how his girlfriend was doing.
Aziel called happily while raising his hands and kicking his legs. He was giggling, too - which wasn't really new since he was always cheerful.
Seeing how everyone's attention was shifted to them, Zeki kicked his brother.
Unfortunately, he was ignored.
"She's not your sister! Zara is!" Zeki expressed which came out as gibberish words to the adults.
"Sis" Aziel called again happily.
Watching him smiling at Jade while calling for her, Zeki could now confirm that he has a stupid brother.