It Should Have Been Like This (The Revised Version)

Chapter 57: Reunion (2)

The tiny girl in question was undeniably cute. "Wow, so many pups," I said, eliciting a chorus of delighted laughter from the children. I walked over to her and bent down slightly, smiling as she blushed shyly.

"Hello, I'm Lavender. What's your name?" I asked, keeping my voice gentle.

"Laverne," she replied, hiding her face behind her small palms. I looked over my shoulder at Elias, who simply shrugged, while Ginger winked knowingly. Ah, so they had named her after me — or at least a close variation.

"It's so nice to meet you, Aunty Lavender," Laverne said, peeking out from behind her hands. I couldn't resist scooping her up into my arms, cooing over how adorable she was. She had inherited Elias' dark blond hair and skin tone, but Ginger's captivating reddish-brown eyes.

"What about me?" another voice cried, and I felt a small tug on the skirt of my dress. Glancing down, I squealed in delight at the sight of the puffy little muffin of a child. "Hello, I'm Wren, and Mommy said you always wanted to give Daddy's second son the name, so here I am!" the feminine-looking boy exclaimed.

I carefully set Laverne down and scooped up Wren, marveling at his Paris green eyes — a clear indication that he was Ferris' son.

"My turn! I'm Stephan, but my mom is annoying and calls me Stephanie," a boy glared, earning an immediate laugh from the woman beside him, who—as expected—was Anna. Stephan also had Ferris' distinctive eye color.

"I'm eight, can I be his friend?" Stephan asked, pointing at Zachary. And just like that, chaos erupted as the adults began fussing over the children, pinching their cheeks, kissing and hugging them — much to the clear dismay of Zachary and Savia. It was clear that Zayne and Serenity were the favorites, though, and I couldn't blame them; those two were undoubtedly the most adorable of the bunch.

I took that opportunity to get better acquainted with their children. Ferris had four children—Stephan, Wren, and a set of twin girls whose piercing eyes were quite unsettling to me. It saddened me to learn that Link, on the other hand, had no child of his own. The child he had believed to be his had been taken away by her true father, a situation that Morgana had apparently been responsible for. Link, now in his late thirties, had clearly tried to have a child before, but the doctors had confirmed that due to an illness from years past, his chances of fathering a child were extremely slim. I made a mental note to speak with him later, to ensure he was coping with this difficult reality.

Elias' children were a sight to behold. His son possessed his mother's vibrant ginger hair, his father's captivating bottle-green eyes, and skin smoother than any of the other kids. The child's eyes were filled with a curious intensity, as if he had never seen anything quite like me before. At only four years old, I could sense a vast well of knowledge behind those inquisitive orbs.

As I searched for Gael's daughter, I spotted a small figure standing before Rominic at the base of the stairs, gazing up at him with a mesmerized expression. Rominic's wet, untamed curls cascaded down his face, framing his breathtaking features. The rich, creamy blonde locks appeared almost to glow with a milk-like wetness as they curled across his cheeks and over his lips.

When I drew closer, I bent down to examine the girl's face. There was no doubt — she was Gael's child, with his charming eyes and beautiful lips. Her small, parted lips conveyed a sense of awe and amazement, her steel-blue eyes shimmering with a bright, curious adoration. Her skin had a delicate, floral-white hue, with a faint pink tint that lent her a youthful, ethereal beauty. Her lashes were impressively long for one so young.

The girl tilted her head in wonder, and Rominic mirrored the action, eliciting a delighted giggle from her. She clapped her hands joyfully and stretched her arms out to him, and Rominic obliged, wrapping his hands around her waist as she cupped his cheeks, both of them laughing. As I turned to observe the scene, I noticed the others watching with expressions of pure shock and disbelief.