Chapter 426 Everywhere
Chapter 426 Everywhere
Maria glanced at James and said, "Yes. I think it will happen more and more in the future."
Summer burst into laughter.
James squinted at Bob and said indifferently, "Well, whether he gets disciplined or not is up to him."
Maria rolled her eyes at him, not believing him at all.
Summer left. James took Bob to play in the hot spring, while Maria stayed behind in the suite to finish up some work.
In the quiet study, her phone began to vibrate. Seeing that it was a call from Norman, she answered it. "Hello, Norman."
"Where did you go?"
"How do you know I'm not in the city?"
"I dropped by your company to see you, but your secretary told me that you haven't been here for the past two days," Norman explained.
"Oh, I see. James brought me to a hot spring resort. I'll return to the city tomorrow."
"Wait for me!"
Maria couldn't understand what he was saying. "You want to come here, too?" Norman hadn't even fully recovered from his injuries. How could he soak in a hot spring?
But to her surprise, he just replied affirmatively, and then hung up the phone before she could respond.
Not long after, James returned to the suite with Bob, who was soaked from head to toe. Maria helped the baby take off his wet clothes, and then took out a bath towel to dry his short hair. NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.
This was the first time that Bob had been to a hot spring, so he was ecstatic. As soon as Maria let go of him, he began running around the suite energetically.
Maria didn't stop him, and just went to the kitchenette to cut some fruits for him.
When the doorbell rang, she was watching Bob happily play with toys, while James was answering a phone call in the open-air balcony.
She got up and opened the door. Norman wasn't alone; Mildred was standing next to him.
"Mildred, come in!" Maria said cheerfully, pulling Mildred into the suite.
Norman snorted slightly as he followed the two women inside. "Is this how you entertain your boss?"
Maria turned her head and smiled cheekily at him. "I think there are some things that are more important than entertaining you." 'For example, entertaining your woman,' she added in her head.
Before Norman could reply with a quip of his own, his eyes met James', who walked into the room with his phone in his hand.
James pulled a long face and frowned tightly. "Why are you everywhere?"
Norman ignored him and turned his attention to Bob. Picking up the boy, he said, "Son, I missed you so much! Come on, call me Daddy!"
Mildred stiffened, and her eyes filled with astonishment.
Noticing her expression, Maria explained in a hurry, "Mildred, this is my son, Bob."
Then, realizing that her sentence could be misconstrued, she added, "James is his father."
Holding the little boy in his arms, Norman shot her a reproachful look. How could she refute his words so quickly?
It was not until then that Mildred realized that Norman was only joking. Her shoulders relaxed, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief before flashing a smile at Bob. "Hello, Bob!"
Looking at her, Bob grinned from ear to ear and stretched out his little hands to her. "Auntie... Hug..."
Amused by him, Mildred looked at Maria and asked, "Can I hug him?"
"Of course!"
Instead of handing the little boy to Mildred, Norman held him out to Maria and said, "Go get him dressed first!"
Maria took Bob from his arms. "I'll put on his clothes first," she said, shooting Mildred a smile.
"Sure."
Once Maria disappeared into the bedroom, Norman sat down on the sofa, and James followed suit, but on the opposite end.
The two men were sitting far apart and pretending as if the other didn't exist.
In the bedroom, Maria first put on a diaper for Bob, and then dressed him in a light coffee-colored jumpsuit.
At that time, James received a call. "It's me," he said as soon as he answered it.
After looking the others in the room, he added, "We're at a hot spring resort. I'll send you the location."
Maria, who happened to walk in just then, asked, "Someone else is coming?"
"Yes. Lawrence is coming with his wife," James answered casually.
Maria lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "How come he's so free now? And he's even bringing Meagan along?"
"I don't know," James said with a shrug. Then, he dialed another number and said, "Come here. There's a lot of delicious food."
Ethan's eyes lit up. "Really? Where are you?"
"At a hot spring resort. I'll send you the location."
"Okay!" Ethan dropped everything that he was doing, changed into clothes befitting of a vacation, and left immediately.
By the time Ethan arrived, Lawrence and Meagan had already been sitting in the suite for about fifteen minutes.
Looking at just how many people were in the suite, Ethan was stunned. "James, didn't you say something about delicious food?" It made sense that James had invited Lawrence here, but what was Norman doing here?
"Let's have a feast tonight," James said.
Ethan couldn't believe his ears. A feast? Looking around the room, it didn't seem like they had invited him for a feast. They had obviously invited him to rub their love lives in his face!
There were three men and three women, making up three couples. He was the only one here who was single and alone.
Their blatant display of affection was like a knife to his heart.
"Wow, you guys are really cruel to treat me like this!" Ethan said hotly before picking Bob up in his arms. "Son, let's go! Daddy will take you for a swim." At least Bob didn't have a little girlfriend of his own, so Ethan could still have him company.
Maria, who could barely contain her laughter, suggested, "Ethan, you can also call your girlfriend or a girl that you like." Norman was a great example of the latter. He didn't have a girlfriend, but he always kept the girl that he had feelings for by his side and took her everywhere he went.
Ethan clucked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "I don't have anyone like that."
"You do," James said nonchalantly.
"I really don't!" Ethan shouted.
"You do!" This time, it was Lawrence who shouted back.
Ethan opened his mouth to retort only to catch himself and close it again. Squinting at his two friends, he asked, "Are you talking about Miss Ji?" Miss Ji was the girl who his family wanted him to get engaged to.
"Who else?" James drawled. That girl was the only girl in Ethan's life.
The Mu family had specially selected her to marry Ethan, and forced him to go on a date with her. However, they didn't seem to have much in common, so Ethan hadn't thought about her since then.
Touching the tip of his nose, Ethan said dryly, "Don't worry, I don't mind watching you guys show off your love in front of me. I won't feel jealous or sad. You can do whatever you like. Just pretend like Bob and I don't exist!" In the current situation, he had no other choice but to group himself together with Bob.
The three couples were all equally amused. "Well, take good care of my son, or you can't join the feast tonight," James warned.
"Why should I take care of your son? What if I won't?" Ethan asked angrily.
"That's up to you. But if you don't, you won't get any living expenses," James said calmly.
Ethan handed Bob to Meagan, who was the nearest to him. Then, he threw himself on James in a dramatic manner and clutched his shoulders. "James, don't cut off my living expenses!" Anyway, no matter how much James gave him, he would be reimbursed for it.
Fighting off the smile threatening to form on her lips, Maria calmly asked, "What is the meaning of this? Didn't you guys tell me that you broke up a long time ago?"
The two other women burst into laughter, while the two other men looked on with great interest, as if they were watching a sitcom.
Scrunching his face in disgust, James tried to push Ethan away. However, the latter continued to clutch onto him and shot Maria a warning look. "You witch, stay away from him! Don't try to steal my man!"
Maria played along. "Let's fight for him!" The two of them really acted as if they were competing for James' favor.