Chapter 123
Yannis looked at Zinnia and said, “Zinnia, none of us would feel at ease if you were on your own. Your registration family should be with either the Lynns or the Jenkinses. We just wouldn’t trust anyone else with this.”
Yannis thought, ‘Registering her with any other family wouldn’t make it any easier to protect her. After all, the Shaws are related to the Lynns by marriage, and in Jinston’s social circles, few would dare risk the trouble the Shaws might bring. But if her registration ended up with the Lynns, Maelis would never let it go without a fight.”
Yannis had thought about taking Zinnia in, but couldn’t come up with a proper justification.
Just as they were talking, the doorbell rang. Yannis went to open the door and found the entire Jenkins family, Aaron, Yvette, and Maisie, standing neatly in a row outside, each loaded with armfuls of gifts.
Yvette craned her neck, peering past Yannis. She exclaimed, “Where’s my girl? Have you been taking good care of her? Zinnia, my sweetheart, I am here! I’ve come to take you home!”
As she spoke, she shouldered Yannis aside as she made a beeline for Zinnia.
After school, Yvette and Maisie went to pick up Aaron, who had just returned from a business trip. The three of them were having dinner at a restaurant when Yannis called. Without hesitation, they dropped everything and came right over.
The armfuls of welcome gifts they carried had been hastily picked up at the mall.
“Zinnia! Zinnia!” Maisie called out cheerfully, unable to contain her excitement. She thought, ‘Zinnia is already my friend, and now she is going to be part of my family. This is just amazing. I can hang out with her every day!’
Yvette and Maisie shouldered Yannis aside and rushed straight to Zinnia.
“Uncle Aaron, come in,” Yannis said, nodding to Aaron.
Aaron was in his early forties. With refined, scholarly features accentuated by silver-rimmed glasses and a tailored gray suit, he still looked remarkably youthful.
He shed the sharp authority he carried in the business world and replaced it with the doting affection he reserved for Yvette and Maisie. His arms were still full of packages, including gifts specially brought from abroad for Zinnia.
Aaron said, “How is Zinnia? I have already asked a lawyer to draft the statement, and he will arrive soon.”
Aaron had learned from Yvette a few days earlier that she had taken on a goddaughter. Since Yvette was the one who made decisions in the family, as long as she was happy, Aaron had no objections.
Raymond was also deeply moved when he saw those gifts Zinnia prepared. He said, "Zinnia is such a sincere girl. The ingredients that she prepared are rare and precious." Even though Aaron had never met Zinnia, she had already made a place for her in the family.
Youngs looked at Aaron and said, “I’m sure you’ll like Zinnia when you meet her. You won’t regret your decision.”
After greeting Henry and the others, Yvette hurried over to Zinnia, her face radiating maternal tenderness. She bent down, cupped Zinnia’s face in both hands, and planted two warm kisses on her cheeks.
She exclaimed, “Zinnia, my precious baby girl! I missed you so terribly! Just a few days apart, and you’ve grown even more beautiful!”
The Lynns all rose to their feet involuntarily in response to Yvette’s actions. Sofia even reached out to stop Yvette, but found herself at a loss for words.
However, seeing Yvette’s genuine warmth toward Zinnia, the Lynns visibly relaxed. They were relieved to see Yvette genuinely adoring Zinnia.
“Yvette,” Zinnia called out helplessly as her cheeks were showered with kisses.
Yvette cupped Zinnia’s cheeks with both hands and gently corrected her, “Call me Mom from now on. You’re my daughter now.”
Yannis couldn’t help but wince at Yvette’s actions. He thought to himself, ‘Did I do the right thing by calling Yvette over?’
Aaron nodded in greeting to the Lynns.
“Aaron, when did you get back? Come sit,” Henry called out to Aaron.
“Just got back. I found out about picking up my new daughter at the last minute and didn’t have time to prepare anything properly. I just grabbed a few things from the mall. I hope you don’t mind,” Aaron said with an apologetic smile as he set down his armful of gifts.
“Zinnia, this is Aaron, your new father,” Yvette said warmly.
Zinnia looked up and met Aaron’s smile.
“Zinnia,” Aaron called softly.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Aaron smiled at Zinnia, radiating warmth but with a slight awkwardness of meeting Zinnia for the first time. It was a stark contrast to how Donald had first looked at Zinnia, his brows furrowed and his eyes barely concealing his disdain.
Though Donald tried hard to conceal it, Zinnia could still sense his dislike for her. After all, his attitude toward her was nothing like the way he doted on Betty.
Although there wasn’t much evident joy on Aaron’s face, Zinnia could tell that he was trying his best to maintain a gentle demeanor, lest he intimidate her, whom he had just met.
Aaron didn’t know much about Zinnia yet, but he could already tell she was the kind of girl who easily won people’s hearts. Not long ago, when Marie came home, she even brought gifts from Zinnia for the whole family.
Zinnia made Moon Scar Cream for Yvette and Maisie, and it looked just like the one the Bloore family used to make.
Having heard that Aaron had been in poor health as a child, Zinnia prepared some rare ingredients for him to create a nutritious diet.
Excitement surged in Aaron’s heart, but years in the business world had trained him to keep his face carefully neutral.