Malibu, Cape Dume Estate.

Early in the morning.

It's already November, and Los Angeles still doesn't feel like it's winter.

Veronica Johnston, who wore a black tracksuit, jogged until the sun rose on the private beach on the west side of the Cape Dume Manor, and returned to the high ground where the shell villa was located along the wooden staircase on the cliffside.

So he walked over.

Sending away a short-haired waitress who was still standing nearby, Veronica sat down next to Melbourne, touched the child's head, and followed his gaze to the two mallards.

Melbourne felt Veronica's concern, but there was still obvious concern on her face, but she still greeted politely, "Good morning, Nana." ”

The child is accustomed to a certain name, and Veronica, whose face has hardly changed over the years, also said good morning and asked, "Mel, has something happened?"

Melbourne raised his hand to the two spot-billed mallards in the pool, which had grown into adults over three months, and said, "Last night Dad told me that when Jack and Emma were 100 days old, they were going to be sent away. ”

Because of Daenerys Entertainment's annual report review, Veronica has been in Los Angeles for more than a month, but she didn't live in a shell villa, but chose an apartment on the west side, and outside of work, she just came to eat with everyone every morning and evening. Hearing Melbourne's words at this time, Veronica asked, "Why did you do this?"

Melbourne looked at Veronica expectantly: "Dad said that Duck Duck has grown up now, and he should leave his home to live independently, and Dad also said that I will be like this when I grow up to 18 years old in the future." ”

Veronica gently touched the child's head again: "Do you think what Dad said is right?"

Melbourne hesitated, nodded, and quickly added, "However, I don't want Jack and Emma to leave." ”

Veronica thought for a moment and said, "Mel, Nana also thinks that your father's approach is right, the two ducks have grown up, and they should return to their original living environment to live freely." ”

Seeing that Veronica didn't support herself, Melbourne quickly shook her head: "No, it's not like this. ”

Veronica hurriedly hugged the child over, and An Fu said, "Well, don't worry, tell Nana slowly." ”

Melbourne was hugged by Veronica, leaned on her, raised her head and said, "I know Dad is right, but I saw on TV that in the wild, there will be hunters who will kill Jack and Emma, which is very dangerous." ”

"Well, Melbl can rest assured, Dad will definitely choose a place where hunters are not allowed to hurt ducks and ducks, that is, the animal sanctuary, we have been to this kind of place when we were in Australia, do you remember?"

"Remember," nodded the little one, "but there are crocodiles, leopards, and they can also hurt ducks." ”

Veronica said patiently: "Dad will definitely pick a place where there are no crocodiles and leopards, Mel, you should trust Dad." ”

The little guy was obviously still not convinced by Veronica: "Nana, even if Dad chooses a safe place, Jack and Emma will still fly around, just like the last time they almost ran out of the manor, and then met the bad guys." ”

Veronica was a little silent this time.

She certainly knows what kind of danger two mallards can encounter outdoors, and hunting is prohibited in most parts of California, which happens to be the most hunted species each year.

Melbourne saw that Veronica was no longer talking, and continued: "Nana, in fact, Melbourne knows, Dad wants to use two ducks to teach Melbourne to live alone when he grows up in the future, leaving his parents. But even if Mel grows up and is in danger, Mom and Dad, Aunt Jenny, Nana, and grandparents and grandmothers, you will protect Mel, right?"

Veronica nodded without hesitation, turned her face sideways and pasted it on the little guy's head: "Of course." ”

"So," the little guy paused slightly, as if to organize the language, and said, "Mom and Dad, and everyone, even if Mel grows up, he will protect Mel. Now that the ducks are grown, I can still protect them, right?"

"Hmm. ”

"So, I want Duck to stay, Nana, our family is big, Jack and Emma, too, are very well-behaved, they won't cause trouble to everyone, I want to protect them forever. ”

Speaking of this, the little guy's eyes flickered slightly, obviously remembering the scene last time when the two ducks almost ran out of the manor, and many people searched for it, and he was a little weak.

Veronica didn't know what she suddenly thought, her eyes were inexplicably a little ruddy, she lowered her head and kissed the little guy on the forehead, pulled the child up, and said, "Let's go, Nana will take you with Dad and tell Daddy, don't send the duck away." ”

Melbourne followed Veronica to his feet, took her hand, and said, "And, Mom." ”

"Huh?"

"Mom, the last time the duck ran around, she was very angry and said that she wanted to eat roast duck. ”

Veroni took the little one's hand and walked to the villa together, reassuring, "No, Mommy just said." ”

"Mommy didn't mean it," the little guy retorted, "but mom just doesn't eat Jack and Emma, I just need to protect Jack and Emma." Well, like, there are many, many people in this world, Melb will grow up in the future, and it will be impossible to protect everyone, Melb will only protect family and friends. ”

"That's good," Veronica's voice softened a lot softer, and she suddenly stopped: "Do you want Nana to hug, Mel liked Nana the most when he was a child." ”

The little guy was a little expectant, but still shook his head: "Mel has grown up, and besides, Dad will be angry when he sees it." ”

Inheriting the good genes of his parents, Melbourne will only turn four next month, and his height has reached 112 centimeters, which is obviously much stronger than children of the same age.

Veronica ignored the child's worries this time, and seeing Melbourne's expectant eyes, she reached out and hugged the little one, and said, "Let's be careful not to let your father see it." ”

Melbourne's head was buried in Veronica's shoulder, feeling some kind of familiar and warm atmosphere, and whispered, "Daddy should be in the restaurant, Nana, I can come down outside the restaurant." ”

"Hmm. ”

One whispered, but, as soon as she entered the villa, Veronica saw Simon who was walking to the restaurant with Janet's arm affectionately in her arms.

The child's intuition is always very keen, and when he noticed Veronica's slight pause, Melbourne immediately realized something, and with a little force he wanted to slip out of Veronica's arms, and from a little memory, the boy knew that the last thing his father liked to see was Nana hugging him.

However, Veronica didn't let the child go down this time, continued to hug it a little harder, and patted the little guy on the back comfortingly, saying: "Mel will really grow up in the future, and I will hug it for the last time today, and Dad won't be angry." ”

The boy's head was buried in Veronica's shoulder again, and he didn't dare to turn his head to look, and couldn't help but whisper a retort: "It will be." ”

"So, after breakfast, Nana takes Mel out to play, and comes back when Daddy is no longer angry. ”

The little guy thought it was a good solution and hummed softly, anyway, today is Saturday and there is no need to go to school.

With that, Veronica had already carried Melbourne through the hall and met with Simon and his wife at the door of the restaurant on the west side of the villa, ignoring Simon's cold gaze and Janet's playful smile, and walked directly into the restaurant.

Jennifer, who was taking a few waitresses to share meals for everyone and take care of Seattle and Little Nick at the table, saw Veronica coming in with Melbourne in her arms, and was about to laugh a few words, when she saw Simon and the two follow-up, she stopped her words again, just smiled and said good morning to Veronica, and casually put Little Nick, who was about to climb down the special toddler seat to the dining table, back into the seat.

Even if it can't reach the level of his sister Seattle, but he is also very smart, Melbourne, who understands a lot of things early, actually likes his father very much, or should I say worship, from the beginning of sensible, even if not deliberately, the people around him always reveal more or less how powerful his father is, and the little child instinctively gives birth to a sense of closeness.

However, many times there is some fear, like this time, when Nana was holding her father and letting her father grab the bag, she only dared to lie carefully next to Veronica at the dinner table.

As the family sat down at the table and had just begun to eat, Veronica rarely took the initiative to look at the head of the family across the table and said, "Melbl just told me that he wanted the two ducks to stay and not be sent away, and I think so." ”

Simon lowered his head and cut the breakfast in front of him, and said lightly: "Why?"

Veronica was about to speak, when another voice came from the other side: "Let him speak for himself." ”

Sensing the small body next to him leaning over slightly, Veronica simply hugged Melbourne to her lap, but ignored Simon's words and insisted: "Melbl said that he understands that you want to teach him to be independent when he grows up in the future by releasing Jack and Emma, however, he hopes that the two ducks can stay and protect them forever, just as he will protect his family when he grows up in the future." ”

Melbourne, who was sitting on Veronica's lap, found that Nana was not speaking his original words, but it seemed that it should be easier to convince his father to say so, so he carefully raised his eyes and looked over, but because of timidity, before he could see his father's expression, he subconsciously retracted it.

The atmosphere at the table was silent for a moment before another male voice spoke, "Okay." ”

The atmosphere was relaxed again.

Veronica looked down and whispered something in Melbourne's ear, and the little one looked up at his father, "Thank you, Dad." ”

Seeing that the father on the other side of the table nodded slightly, the boy took the initiative to jump off Veronica's lap again, and said, "Nana, I can sit by myself." ”

Veronica smiled as she watched the boy return to his place, reached over and rubbed his head, and said, "I'm going to take Mel out for the next two days." ”

"No, I can't. ”

“......”

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little cold again, Janet looked like she was smiling and watching the big show again, and Jennifer had no choice but to open her mouth and say, "Mel hasn't been out to play for a long time, you can relax." ”

Simon still didn't let go.

Veronica didn't back down this time, looked at Simon for a moment, and insisted: "I've already made an agreement with Mel, just to inform you." ”

Click.

With a sudden cracking sound, everyone looked together, and the expensive bone china dinner plate in front of Simon had been turned in half, and the man was still in the posture of cutting the omelette.

Seeing this, Janet no longer looked at the excitement, and hurriedly leaned over and hugged her man: "Okay, okay, okay, the little guy can go and play if he wants to, anyway, he has grown up, well, you can also go out to play today, Victoria's Secret show, find a lot of goblins around you." As he spoke, he didn't forget to turn his head to the Indian girl and said, "Alia, go and tell A to prepare for the flight, Simon will leave for New York after breakfast." ”

Seeing that the others, especially the hostess, the Indian girl had no objections, nodded and walked out with a light step.

Jennifer also stood up at this time, gave a blank look at Janet, quickly cleaned up the broken plate and spilled breakfast in front of Simon, replaced it with a new one, and then sat down next to the man, as if he was worried that some guy would burst out and hurt people.

Across the table, Veronica saw Simon chopping up the plate, and immediately regretted that she shouldn't have had a hard fight with him just now.

So he softened his tone and found a reason: "I will watch Moore finish his homework on time and will not pull it off." ”

Breakfast ended in a somewhat cold atmosphere.

After breakfast, Janet personally dragged Simon out of the villa, put the man in the car, and rushed directly to the airport to fly to the east coast.

Today is November 11th.

Saturday.

The fourth edition of the Victoria's Secret Show takes place tonight in New York.

Simon hadn't planned to attend this time, and had planned to stay at Cape Dume's estate for the weekend with his family, but after breakfast, Janet thought it would be best to drive someone away from the house.

When the man had left the manor, Janet returned to the villa and went to a living room on the east side of the hall, where she seemed to be busy on the sofa and watched Jennifer and the two maids take care of their four children, both large and small. During this period, Veronie came to Melbourne, who had changed her clothes and carried a small school bag, to say goodbye, and Janet just waved her hand on the sofa, looking very tired.

The female assistant breastfed Snow and the Greenwich twins, saw the two little ones fall asleep in the crib, and made sure that little Nick, who was buried in a pile of wooden toys under Zoe's care, did not swallow anything, and finally kissed the well-behaved daughter on the cheek, and then came to Janet's side, relaxed and sat down on the carpet in front of Janet's sofa, smiled and leaned over her cheek and pasted it with Janet, smiled and whispered: "I still don't understand it." ”

There were other waitress there, and Janet also lowered her voice and leaned into the ear of the female assistant before saying, "Jealous." ”

Jennifer still wanted to laugh, and Janet bit her ear: "It feels like a child has a temper." ”

"Who's to say it isn't. ”

"Hehe, it seems that I am the only adult in this family, which is really tiring. ”

Janet didn't refute, and put her arms around Jennifer's neck and deliberately learned the tone of a child and began to be coquettish: "Mom, Mom, I want to drink apple juice, freshly squeezed." ”

Jennifer pressed Janet's arm and said helplessly, "Let me take a break, okay, I'll let Zoe get it for you." ”

Saying that, he called Zoe Parks, explained, and waited for the maid to leave, and couldn't help but look at Janet and said, "It's only been a week at home, and you drove me away." ”

"If we don't drive away, if something happens, we'll both hug each other and cry. ”

Janet said it vaguely, but Jennifer understood, but shook her head and said, "I don't think so, how can it be." ”

Janet remembered something, it was many years ago, but it was not suitable to talk to Jennifer, but she just hugged the female assistant again and said with a smile: "Anyway, it's enough for the two of us, let's sleep together tonight." ”