Debbie's cheeks blushed red at his words. "Go away. The kids are all here. What are you talking about?"
Love was in the air and everyone was amused by the adorable couple.
Erica bent down in front of Colman and sternly explained, "Son, I want you to become a good man when you grow up. If you have a hundred wives, you will be nothing more than a jerk! You should be like Grandpa and marry only one person. You only need to be good to one girl all your life!"
Erica was always envious of the love between Carlos and Debbie, as well as the love between her own parents.
Matthew, however, seemed a bit agitated by her words. 'Why would she ask our son to learn from his grandpa? Is she implying that I am not good enough to be a role model?'
Colman scratched his head and he seemed quite confused. "But Uncle Sheffield said that I could have as many wives as I wanted and I could drive them around in sport cars. They could also help me manage the wineries and the companies."
After the entire room burst into laughter, Erica playfully squeezed the boy's cheeks and followed it with a kiss. As it turned out the little boy's idea of an ideal wife was his mother who could take care of everything for him.
As soon as Evelyn pinched Sheffield, he immediately corrected the boy without wasting another second. "Colman, you're such a good listener! But, I was just kidding! Sure, we can buy as many cars as we want, but when it comes to having a wife, you should remember what your mother said—one wife is enough! Look at me! The only woman I need in my life is your aunt Evelyn!" Sheffield pulled Evelyn into his arms.
Evelyn's face blushed red and she hid her embarrassment behind a fake smile. "The kids are watching us! Let go of me!" She whispered between clenched teeth.
However, Sheffield, didn't comply and the two of them remained stuck to each other endearingly.
Colman nodded, even though he was still a bit confused. "All right. I'll marry a beautiful and lovely girl like my mother!"
Erica's heart melted almost instantly and she winked at him, giving him the thumps of approval. "Wow, that's my good boy!"
Matthew raised his eyebrows. 'Beautiful and lovely? This woman is truly narcissistic.'
Then it was Damian's turn. He was the youngest of the four children, but the most sensible one. Somehow having expected what Erica was going to ask him, he didn't answer, but instead asked, "Mom, what do you want me to do when I grow up?"
"Well… honey, that will depend on you, but I will support you no matter what." Whatever Damian wanted to do, as long as it made him happy, Erica wouldn't obstruct.
Then the boy turned to look at Matthew and asked, "Dad, what can I do to protect Mom forever when I grow up?"
It was only then that Matthew finally realized that these four little boys all had a mother complex. Their entire lives revolved around his wife. With this thought in mind, he softly said, "First of all, my wife has me, so don't you worry about having to protect her. If you really want to find someone to protect, you can just find your own wife when you're old enough. You can do whatever you want, and your plans don't have to include your mother."
This hilarious exchange between father and son caused a loud roar of laughter in the room again.
Damian was vexed as he was able to protect his mother in the past even without his father's company to support him. But, now that things had changed and his mother no longer needed his protection. What was he going to do?
The boy remained silent, as if lost in deep thought and thus, no one tried to hurry him. However, everyone waited with anticipation to see what his answer would be.
After a while, Damian smiled and said, "I know now. I want to be a big star like Grandma and Aunt Chantel!"
However, Matthew was quick to disagree. "You're not in good health, my boy. Why don't you train with your uncle Gifford more often?" Matthew's disagreement wasn't attributed to the fact that he didn't think Damian could be a star, he just thought that it would be better for the boy to train as a soldier for a few years to strengthen his body.
"But then I won't be able to see Mom very often." 'Isn't Uncle Gifford unable to stay home very often?' Damian wondered.
The boys' unconditional love for their mother was starting to give Matthew a headache. He patiently explained, "You won't be able to see your mother often if you become a star either. Besides, you can also choose to become a policeman in Y City. I'm sure there's a lot of things you can do."
'A policeman?' Damian thought this was a good idea, so he nodded, "Okay, Dad. I'll be a policeman when I grow up."
Matthew nodded with satisfaction. 'I'm just glad that he's not thinking about my wife anymore.'
What he didn't know was that his youngest son was actually thinking, 'Being a policeman is great because then I can protect my mother from the bad guys.'
Gwyneth was a bit more matured than the boys. So, when the adults asked her about her dream, she only said, "It's a secret!"
Needless to say, all thanks to the influence of his father, Godwin's wish was to become a doctor. How predictable!
Godfrey's wish was to be a lawyer.
The youngest boy, Jeffrey Fan had no idea what everyone was talking about. He answered with a lisp, "I'm going to be Nezha when I grow up!"
Everyone found Jeffrey so irresistibly adorable that he didn't even need to pronounce his words properly.
Finally when dinner was served, everyone gradually moved to the dining table.
This was the first time in many years that the entirety of the Huo family shared this table once again.
At the same time, they also witnessed the benefits of having a lot of sons. The four sons picked up food for Erica one after another, which made Matthew frown.
He couldn't understand why the boys treated their father and mother so differently.
In the middle of the dinner, Erica stood up with a cup of tea in her hand, cleared her throat and apologized to the two elders. "Dad, Mom, I want to apologize for everything that's happened in the past few years. I shouldn't have run away from home without a word. I am sorry for making you worry. I take full responsibility for my actions and I wanted to apologize to you in person. I want to propose a toast, but if you don't mind, I will replace my wine with tea. Please allow me, as a token of my apology."
Carlos and Debbie looked at each other and said nothing.
Sheffield chuckled. "Why do you want to replace wine with tea? Why don't you toast with real wine?"
When Erica realized that it was okay, she put down the cup of tea and said, "Okay!"
Evelyn gently pinched the mischievous man and said, "Don't you think you're being too annoying today? Just drink by yourself if you want to drink wine. Why did you have to involve Rika?"
Sheffield raised an eyebrow and snickered at Matthew. "This is a family reunion and everyone is happy. A little bit of wine won't hurt anybody." 'I was speaking out of kindness, okay? Perhaps a bit of wine would do wonders for Matthew and Rika later in bed, ' Sheffield thought.
Erica smiled at Evelyn. "It doesn't matter, Evelyn. My brother-in-law is right. A little wine could help to show my sincerity!"
Then she picked up the glass of wine in front of Matthew.
There was still half of Matthew's liquor left in the glass. When Carlos tried to dissuade her, she refilled the glass with more liquor and looked at her parents-in-law again. "Dad, Mom, I'm sorry. It will never happen again!" Then she gulped down the remainder of the wine.
Sheffield clapped his hands in amazement and said, "Wow! You're something else, Rika!"
Meanwhile, as the confused little boy watched Sheffield clapping his hands, Jeffrey, who didn't know what else to do, started clapping his hands. "Wow! Aunt Erica is awesome!"
"Ha-ha…" The others were completely smitten by this little boy.
Carlos gave Erica a simple nod. "Well, it's okay. Please sit down and finish your dinner. We both understand what you mean.
Since it was you who chose to leave, I'll blame Matthew's failure to look after you. From now on, I hope that he will pay more attention to the needs of his wife!"
As she took a sip of tea, Erica rushed to explain. "No, Dad! This time it was really my fault. Matthew has been nothing but a kind husband to me!"
