You More Than Anything In The World

Unable to reach Benjamin on the phone, the kids decided to send him a text message to remind him to come home for dinner.

“Mr. Bailey, Daddy's not answering the phone, so we sent him a text message,” Gavin informed Shaun.

Shaun nodded and then asked, “Where did you tell him to come for dinner?”

“Home!” Tim replied naturally. Then he realized they had always had dinner together at the hospital with Arissa and exclaimed, “Did we make a mistake? What if Daddy goes home?”

Shaun chuckled. “It's okay; your daddy is very clever. He probably won't actually go home.”

“Who knows?” Zachary scoffed. “Let's correct it just in case.”

The kids bowed their heads and changed the address, instructing Benjamin to return to the hospital.

Shaun smiled and didn't say much, driving them back to Yaleview.

When they arrived home, the six kids hadn't yet realized that Arissa had returned. They jumped out of the car and ran into the house with excitement.

Smelling the delicious aroma in the air, they abandoned their backpacks and dashed straight to the kitchen.

“Grandpa?”

Seeing that Darius was there too, the six kids surrounded him merrily.

“Sweethearts, you're back from school. Let me give you a hug!”

Darius smiled as he looked at the kids and bent down to give them a quick hug because his hands were covered in sauce from marinated spare ribs.

“Grandpa, your hands...” Gavin reminded him and quickly moved aside.

Darius laughed heartily. “Go wash your hands. Are you hungry?”

Tim, Zachary, Oliver, Jasper, and Jesse saw the abundant ingredients on the countertop, and their eyes sparkled.

“What a feast!”

“Grandpa, is it a special occasion today?”

“Grandpa, are we having all these for dinner?”

“Grandpa, are you just starting to cook these? Will there be enough time to take food to Mommy?”

“Wow, there are so many delicious food tonight!”

The five kids chattered excitedly, and Darius was delighted. He replied softly, “Consider it a special occasion. Your mommy will definitely get to enjoy it!”

“Then we'll go wash our hands and help you later,” Gavin said, getting his younger siblings to go wash their hands.

The six kids greeted the housekeeper and Mary before running off to wash their hands.

Shaun also arrived and took a look in the kitchen. He asked in a hushed tone, “Is Arissa upstairs?”

“She's outside in the garden,” Darius replied, with a mischievous grin. He then asked in a secretive tone, “You didn't notice when you came back?”

Shaun shook his head. “I didn't pay attention. I parked the car and came inside.”

Seeing the kids running back, Edwin handed them a plate of food and said, “Kids, help me take this plate of food to the garden. We have an important guest.”

“Who is it?” Jasper asked, curious.

Edwin smiled mysteriously and said, “You'll find out when you go over there!”

The six kids looked at each other at that. Zachary's group wanted to help in the kitchen, so they decided to assign the task to Gavin.