Chapter 196 Sense of Security
Quincy looked at his father, and after a moment, he shook his head. “No conflict here. I can protect Mommy and Buddy with you when I’m older.”
Sebastian let out a laugh when he saw the serious expression on Quincy’s face, and he praised, “Good. You are a good child. You really are Daddy’s little boy, aren’t you?”
Quincy only pursed his lips as he continued to read his book.
“Aldo, do you want to learn martial arts?” Sebastian asked again as he gently caressed the top of the boy’s head.
That immediately piqued Quincy’s interest, and his head shot up once again to look at his father. “Martial arts?”
“Yup.” Sebastian nodded. “It is important to be clever, but knowing how to fight comes in handy, too.”
He had initially planned to let the children learn self-defense when they were older, but he had changed his mind after what had happened today.
Someone who had ill intentions wouldn’t go easy on them just because they are children. It was exactly because they are defenseless kids that they make an easier target for bad people.
He hoped that Quincy and Joel could pick up self-defense because no matter how well the bodyguards might protect them from harm, it was still better for the children to know how to keep themselves safe.
“Sure! I’d like that!” Quincy energetically agreed. He then thought about something, and he asked, “Daddy, who was the one who drugged Buddy and me?”
“You knew that you were drugged?”
Quincy then began to tell his father the details of the incident. “Yup. I knew. They used ether. Buddy and I went to the washroom, and when we came out, someone covered our noses and mouths with ether rags. We lost consciousness after that.”
“Were you scared?” Sebastian continued to caress the boy’s head.
“I was not.” Quincy shook his head. “I saw Desmond right after I woke up, and he told us that he would bring us to Daddy and Mommy. We weren’t scared at all.”
Sebastian was curious about something else, and he asked, “Why didn’t Buddy laze around in bed? Didn’t he always want Mommy’s kisses and hugs before he was willing to get out of bed? Was Buddy scared?”
“That silly boy wouldn’t be scared!” Quincy answered. “Desmond told him that Daddy had someone bring us out of school, and silly Buddy believed him!”
“… What happened after that?”
“Buddy completely forgot about this later! Buddy is too simple-minded!” Quincy sighed with a frown on his face.
He then thought, This is so frustrating! I need to study harder, or else I wouldn’t even know if someone has taken Buddy away. Oh, he paused. And I need to learn martial arts. I need to be clever and strong to protect Buddy!
“Daddy, did the bad guy knock us out to kidnap us?” Quincy looked at Sebastian. “Were they trying to use us to threaten Daddy for money?”
“They were indeed trying to kidnap you and Buddy, but it wasn’t for money. The bad guy wanted to see Mommy.”
Quincy’s eyebrows knitted together at that. “Mommy? Why did they want to see Mommy? Were they trying to hurt Mommy? Have you caught the kidnapper? Who was it, Daddy?”
Not seeing the need to hide the truth for Luke, Sebastian confessed, “It was Luke.”
“Luke?” The little boy was caught by surprise. “Isn’t he my uncle? Why did he have to kidnap us to see Mommy?”
“It was because he did something wrong and made Mommy angry. Mommy couldn’t forgive him, and she didn’t want to see him. He had to kidnap you and Buddy to threaten Mommy into seeing him.” Sebastian’s hand moved to touch Quincy’s cheeks. “Thank god nothing bad happened this time, but I hope that you and Buddy can pick up self-defense in case something like this happens again in the future. Learn something that can help you protect yourself, okay?”
Quincy quickly answered, “Okay! I will watch over Buddy. I can take on any challenge. I am the most hardworking student!”
“Attaboy! Daddy believes in you. My Aldo and Buddy are the best!” Sebastian patted his head and pulled him into a hug.
Quincy had turned stiff from the show of affection that he wasn’t accustomed to, but… Sebastian’s chest felt so warm! It gave him a sense of security like none other.
He only froze for a moment before finally succumbing to the addictive feeling and leaning into the hug.
Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh when he lowered his gaze to look at his son. As he kissed Quincy on his head, he assured, “Son, Daddy promise to always take good care of you, Buddy and Mommy. What happened today won’t happen a second time!”
“Mm.” Quincy attempted a few times, and he finally lifted his arms to wrap around Sebastian’s waist.
“Daddy…” he softly mumbled, making Sebastian lower his head to look at him.
“Hmm? What is it?” Sebastian asked.
“Nothing…” The boy once again lowered his head.
It is just that…Daddy and Mommy’s hugs feel different, the boy mused. Mommy’s hugs are soft, and they smell nice. Daddy’s hugs feel real safe!
Quincy felt as though he was surrounded by the walls of a sturdy castle when he was in his father’s arms—he didn’t feel like he was scared of anything at that moment.
Smilingly, Sebastian was about to say something again when Madeline came down the stairs with Joel’s little hand in hers.
“Daddy! Aldo!” Joel had missed his brother and father a lot even though they had only seen each other a while ago. He immediately ran down the stairs and went in for a hug from his brother before he affectionately threw himself in his father’s arms.
Joel’s personality was as warm as the Sun. He would become especially sweet and clingy when he was with people he liked. He seemed to make it his duty to melt hearts.
The more Sebastian hugged him, the more he seemed to love his son.
Madeline went and sat down beside Quincy while rubbing his head. She wanted to tell the children about the kidnapping incident, but she didn’t know how to bring it up.
Just the thought of her children being scared after hearing the details made her extremely reluctant to talk about it with them.
However, she needed to tell them about it if she wanted to know how they felt after the incident.
Children and adults thought differently, after all.
One example was when Joel was two years old, and he loved dumping his toys into the toilet bowl. His soft toys, such as his puppy plushie, bear plushie or rabbit plushie especially, were victims of his strange habit.
She was never angry at him for it. All she did was tell him that toilet bowls were dirty and he shouldn’t put his toys in them.
Of course, Joel never listened.
She then thought of another way to find out why he did what he did.
“Why do you always dip your toys into the toilet bowl?” she asked one day.
Joel had adorably given an innocent reply then. “I shower every day, and I want my puppy, my bear, and my rabbit to shower as well!”
That was the instant that she understood his behavior.
Other than the toilet bowl, there was nowhere else in the house that held that much water.
He only put his toys into the toilet bowl to give his toys a bath.
Madeline then explained to him that the bathtub was where baths were taken, and that toilet bowls were where poopies were made. It would only make the puppy, bear and rabbit turn stinky if he let them take their baths in the dirty toilet bowl.
From then onward, Joel had never put his toys in the toilet bowl.
Thanks to that incident, Madeline realized that children have their own ways of thinking, and their thoughts are different from adults’.
She was worried that the drugging and kidnapping would scare the children and traumatize them, but it might not be that way for the kids. They might even brush it off like it was another everyday thing. She didn’t want them to recall it just because she intentionally brought it up.
She began to hesitate whether or not she should mention it as she looked at Quincy.
Unexpectedly, it was Quincy who spoke first as he looked back at her. “Mommy, Daddy said that Buddy and I should learn martial arts as self-defense so that we can protect ourselves!”
