Vernon accidentally bumped into Mackie and Chloe as they just finished finding the right jacket for Mackie.
Chloe was surprised when she saw Vernon looking like he was panicking internally, "What's wrong, Vernon?"
"The boys upstairs," Vernon said. "I think I accidentally made them cry."
"You make them cry?!"
"Accidentally," Vernon tried to defend himself. "You know, this is why I don't really like kids. They would throw tantrums over the smallest thing ever."
Chloe was speechless. But she tried to think positively about this. There must be some misunderstanding here, or maybe Vernon accidentally glared at them. Diamond told her once that Vernon was so infamous for his scary look that they stopped any event in the orphanage because Vernon created mass hysteria by looking down at the orphans with his scary eyes.
"Let me check then. I'm sure there must be some misunderstanding," Chloe said. She went up with Mackie, followed by Vernon, who tailed from behind, because he didn't want to make the situation even worse than before.
Chloe walked into the living room and saw the boys hiding behind Aaron. They were all so scared that they began to sob, and Aaron was trying to calm them down to no avail.
"Oh no, what happened?" Chloe asked as she approached them.
Aaron sighed helplessly, "I'm sorry Aunty, but my brothers are so scared of Uncle Vernon. But, he did nothing, really."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"B—But, Uncle told us that we can't leave."
"Um, Uncle is going to eat us!"
"Uncle scary!"
Chloe looked over her shoulder at Vernon, and the latter could only scratch his head, "I just want them to stay with us since they're going to get a gift as well."
Chloe could only sigh after Vernon explained it.
Of course, the boys were scared when he didn't show any kind of gentleness to them.
So she patted their heads one by one and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Vernon won't eat you. He just wants you to stay with us because you boys will get a gift too."
"Yes, just like me!" Mackie said cheerfully. "We will get our Christmas gifts from Uncle!"
"Eh, is that true?"
"Gift?"
"We don't need to pay?"
"Why would you need to pay for a gift?" Chloe said. "Of course all you need to do is to come with us! Now let's go to the basement lot, I'm sure your Uncle doesn't want us to be late!"
Vernon could only nod and led the way to the basement parking lot, where he decided to use the six-seater car instead of the regular four because he brought a lot of kids today.
He stared at Chloe, who was busy taking care of the kids. She was truly a talented child caretaker. She could tell those kids what to do, and they all followed her instructions without question.
'As expected, she is just so good at taking care of kids. It's her talent,' Vernon thought. He was amazed by this talent because not everyone was good with kids, including him. 'I guess there should be no problem if we get another child together after we get married later.'
Chloe was the one who assigned where the boys and Mackie should sit in the car.
Vernon and Chloe were at the front, Aaron and Mackie were in the middle with Tony, the smallest boy sitting between them because he needed a guardian, and Nathan and Mike were at the back.
"Okay, everyone's ready?" Chloe asked.
"READY!"
Chloe smiled at the kids and gently touched Vernon's hand, "Please drive slower than usual. We have kids at the back."
Vernon paused for a moment and nodded, "Okay."
As soon as Vernon drove the car, he heard the chatter from behind. The kids were chatting, giggling, and laughing, which infuriated Vernon.
He didn't like loud voices while he was driving. He wanted to snap at them and tell them to shut the hell up.
But before he did something he'd regret, Chloe quickly placed her hand on his shoulder, "Relax, Love. They are kids, all they do right now is just chatting to one another, they are not doing any harm."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Ugh…" Vernon could only grunt to show his annoyance, but Chloe was right. It was Vernon who simply couldn't tolerate kids. He wasn't good with them, but Mackie was an exception because she was basically mini-Vernon.
Thus, he could only endure his annoyance until the car stopped in front of a store, "We're here," Vernon announced.
Mackie and the boys darted their eyes to the left and saw a big sign on top of the entrance.
TOYS KINGDOM.
"Toys Kingdom? Do you have a toy for me Uncle?" Mackie asked excitedly. "I want Barbie! I want the one with the horse!"
Vernon smiled. He glanced at Chloe, who was stunned by the gift he had prepared for Mackie and the boys.
"Let's go grab the gifts," Vernon said.
Vernon led the way as they entered the building. A staff that had been waiting greeted him. The staff then opened the door for Vernon and his kids to come in.
Vernon finally stopped as they entered the shop. He turned around and smiled at Mackie, "This is what I've prepared for you, and your cousins, Mackie."
Mackie was excited. She thought that her Uncle already bought something here, "Which one is my gift, Uncle?"
"Which one? You mean everything?" Vernon chuckled. "All of you are free to choose whatever toys you want, but each of you can only bring five kinds of toys home, and the rest will be sent to the orphanage so the other kids could also get toys for themselves, got it?"
"WHOAAA!" Mackie and the boys were amazed by their Uncle. Mackie was the first to hug Vernon's thigh, "Uncle is the best! I love you so much, Uncle!"
Vernon chuckled. He picked Mackie up and carried her on his arm, "Anything for my little Princess. You deserve it for being a good girl."
The boys were staring at Uncle Vernon and Mackie. They also wanted to hug Uncle Vernon but dared not, afraid Uncle might get angry at them.
Chloe sighed when she saw this. She walked behind the boys and gently pushed their backs to approach Uncle Vernon more, "Go hug your Uncle, boys. He's also waiting for your hug as well."