Chapter 260
“What is your mom’s name?” asked Casper eagerly.
The boy lowered his head, “…I don’t remember.”
He clearly didn’t want to tell them.
Balvina gave him a look asking him to be patient and turned to the boy with a gentle. smile, “Your eyes are gorgeous, Aspen. Does your mom have grey eyes as well?”
The boy bit the bait and raised his head back up, “No! Mom has brown eyes like amber. They are also very pretty.”
Casper’s heart almost jumped out of his throat–Janet had brown eyes!
“I bet your mom is a very attractive lady,” Balvina smiled. “I bet she has curvy long hair?”
“Yes! Very long hair. All the way to her waist! But not very curvy, more like straight!” Aspen looked very excited showing off his beautiful mommy to the others, “And she has a heart–shaped face and the body of a female warrior. She is the most beautiful woman I know!”
The glass slipped from Casper’s grip and fell to the floor, making a breaking sound.
He was shaking as his mind screamed-
…That was Janet!
The boy’s mother was Janet!
Aspen was startled by that breaking glass and cried, “What happened?”
“…Nothing.”
Casper tried everything he could to keep up with a calm expression and said to the boy, “Your aunt Balvina and I need to have a word alone. You and Jasmine just go ahead and dig in. Balvina?”
He gestured for Balvina to follow him and marched towards the next room.
As soon as the door closed behind their back, Balvina let out a small gasp, “Holy fuck…that boy’s mom-”
“That is Janet’s child!” Casper snapped, clenching his fists.
Tuck that boy’s mom-”
“That is Janet’s child!” Casper snapped, clenching his fists.
“No. Wait Let us calm down for a second.”
Balvina covered her forehead with one hand and paced back and forth in the room, “A lot of women have brown eyes and heart–shaped faces that doesn’t mean anything-”
“But that sniffing thing?” Casper said in a trembling voice, “Janet always sniffed her. food before eating! To make sure that her food is safe and clean. That is a quirk she got when she was staying with the Diaz. I have never seen anybody else do that!”
The couple exchanged a shocking look.
Crap.
This boy was really Janet’s child.
But what was he doing here?
And if he was here, where was Janet?
“Hold on.” Balvina raised a hand, “If this is Janet’s child, then his father is…”
“…That Lycan King,” Casper gritted.
Janet had been with Westin for years.
It only made sense that Westin was the father.
Balvina took a sharp inhale of breath and shook her head, “God. Imagine if Daran finds out about this…”
“Oh he will lose it and becomes a total nutcase,” Casper gritted. “The child of his ex and his life rival He might strangle the child in a heartbeat. No. We can’t let him find out about this.”
“Yeah. You are right,” Balvina sighed. “OK. Let’s get back in there. And keep it together, Casper. Don’t frighten the child.”
They went back to the dining table.
The two kids were sharing a plate of pumpkin pie.
“What did you talk about, Mom and Dad?” Jasmine asked with her mouth stuffed. with pie.
“Nothing. Eat your pie,” Balvina rubbed her daughter’s hair.
Casper fixed his gaze upon Aspen. The more he looked, the more traces of Janet he found on this kid’s face.
“Anything wrong, sir?” Aspen noticed his gaze and asked.
“No…Nothing,” Casper’s lips trembled. “And don’t call me sir. Call me…Uncle Casper.”
This was his niece.
His beloved sister’s child.
Janet, where are you? Have you come back home already?
Why haven’t you come and see me?
<hr/>Aspen slept in Casper and Balvina’s suite that night.
The next day, when all the adults went to meetings, Jasmine generously invited Aspen to play hide–and–seek with her friends.
“But…I have never played hide–and–seek before,” said Aspen blankly.
“You haven’t?” Jasmine gasped, “Then what do you do back home?”
Aspen thought about this for a while, “Studying. Reading books with my mom. And training.
He trained very hard.
He didn’t want the others to look down on him because he didn’t have a wolf.
“That is all you do all day? That is crazy!” Jasmine cried, “No, you have to play hide–and–seek with us today. I will teach you the rules.”
The group of kids went to the garden.
Jasmine was the seeker for the first round.
She covered her eyes and started counting as the other kids–including Aspen–scattered, looking for places to hide.
This was the first time that Aspen played this time.
He was very excited and really wanted to win.
He ran all the way down to the lake and spotted a tree by the water–this tree had a dense canopy, which was a great place to hide himself.
So he climbed up and crouched down on a thick breach behind the leaves.
There were children screaming and giggling’s in the distance.
It sounded like Jasmine had caught a couple of hiders.
Aspen held his breath and waited nervously.
After what felt like a couple of minutes, he carefully leaned forward and gazed into the distance.
He wanted to see if Jasmine was getting close to him.
It was when the branch beneath him gave a dangerous wobble.
CRACK!
The branch snapped in half and Aspen fell directly into the lake!
Water engulfed him immediately.
Aspen opened his mouth to scream and ended up choking a mouthful of water.
He moved his little arms and legs struggling to the surface. Yet the surface grew further and further away from him.
He didn’t know how to swim!
The boy started to panic. He opened his mouth and bubbles came out of it-
He was going to drown!
Just then, he felt a pair of strong hands grab him by his shoulder and pull him up
dragging him to the shore.
Aspen crushed down to the solid ground and coughed nonstop.
He looked up, breathing hard, and found that the person who rescued him was no one else but Daran.
“Maids!” Daran snapped.
Maids rushed over and saw both the King and the young mater drenched in water and al! panicked.
One maid hastily ran to get them a towel.
Daran wrapped the towel around the boy’s trembling shoulder, his face looking very cold.
“Who is supposed to keep an eye on the kids?!” he snarled, glaring at the frightened servants. “What if I didn’t walk past by and pull him up just in time? If anything happens to him, you are all going to hell!”
All the servants winced in fear.
Not one had the guts to meet the King’s furious eyes.
Aspen tugged at Daran’s sleeves, “Don’t blame them…daddy. I was playing hide–and–seek with the girls. I lik
that game.”
Even though he accidentally fell into the lake, he still found that the best game he ever played.
Daran frowned with frustration.
This got him thinking…Maybe Aspen needed a nanny.
He had meetings and business to attend to and couldn’t stay by Aspen’s side all the time. Casper and Balvina were all too busy to do the job.
He needed a certain person whom he could trust Aspen to.
“I will find you a nanny tomorrow,” he told the boy. “Until then, stay where I can see you.”
A nanny.
Aspen’s eyes lit up.
“Then can I have the lady that we met yesterday?” he grabbed Daran’s hand and asked eagerly. “Not the old and ugly woman…the young and pretty one.”
He missed his mom very much.
It would be great if his mom could be his nanny.
“Lady Kurt?” Daran raised an eyebrow in surprise, thinking about that woman wearing a mask. “You want her?”
“Yes. Can I?”
Daran would give this boy anything that he wanted in this world.
Yet first, he needed to vet this woman, personally, to make sure that she was qualified.
“OK. But first I need to give Lady Kurt a quick interview,” he smiled.
