The Reunion After Seven Years novel Chapter 210

When Nicole reached out her hand, Jay managed to pull the phone away just in time.

Eyeing Nicole warily, he clutched the phone in his small hands. The corners of his mouth rose in a slight, but unmistakable, smile.

"Mommy, you really should pay more attention in future. If you're not careful, you could damage me. As a parent and an adult, you're responsible for everything you say and do. I'm only six years old. There's no way a child should be seeing stuff like this!

I'm saving the photo as evidence for now. And if it ever happens again, I think you need to kick the old man out, you know?"

It had taken Jay a lot of effort to get hold of this photo and he wasn't about to hand it over to his mom without a fight. Besides, the old man had taken her away from him last night. This time, Jay really wanted to teach him a lesson!

Jay couldn't help feeling happy when he imagined the scene of Kerr being rejected by Nicole. The old man would surely be angry. Jay definitely wasn't about to let the old man win every battle.

Nicole looked at her son's earnest little face. He really meant business. In response, she could only nod in agreement. Jay was such a naughty kid sometimes that it gave her a headache.

She could never have predicted that she'd have a paparazzo living in her own house.

"If I remember rightly, the room I slept in last night was mine. You should sleep in your own room too," Kerr said. He had heard what Jay had said.

Sitting next to Nicole, he regarded Jay with a cool, calm gaze. After all, he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with what he'd done last night.

"You didn't get home on time after work, and even when you did come back it was obvious you'd been out drinking wine. Mommy was worried!" Jay took a deep breath. "Is that the way you take care of my mommy? And she's pregnant with my little sister, too. You must know that worrying is bad for my mommy and my little sister?"

Jay didn't want his mom to worry, but the old man behaved like he didn't care. How could the boy put up with this?

Kerr took in Jay's accusation as calmly as possible. He had a point. Last night had been Kerr's fault, even though there had been another reason he hadn't come home early. But Jay was probably justified in parts of what he'd said.

Whatever Kerr's reasons had been, the truth was that it was down to him if he'd worried Nicole so much that she couldn't sleep well. He stretched out his hand until it found Nicole's on the table. He covered her fingers softly with his.

"I accept the blame, and I promise I won't ever do anything like that again. But Nicole, you know, if you take a look at today's news, then maybe you'll see why I was so late back last night. And maybe you'll wish you'd come with me yesterday after all."

Kerr knew that Zachary and Avery's engagement party yesterday had been covertly planned in advance by Zachary. He'd kept it a secret from absolutely everyone, including Avery herself.

Nicole was Avery's best friend and Kerr was sure she'd been looking forward to seeing her settle down with a good man. It was a shame that she'd missed the engagement party.

Nicole took in the determined smile on Kerr's face and curiosity flooded through her. What on earth could have made Kerr get home so late, and why would she regret not having been there?

Just then, Vedder walked up to Kerr, a folded newspaper under his arm.

"Here's today's paper, sir."

Wordlessly, Kerr took it out of the man's hands, handing it to Nicole without a second glance.

Nicole was itching to find out what was going on. Clutching the edges of the paper, she scanned the headlines quickly until she found the news she was looking for. It was a full-page spread, all about Avery and Zachary. It turned out that they were engaged to be married! Nicole's jaw dropped open in undisguised astonishment.

She gasped. "Avery and Zachary..." Nicole racked her brains, thinking back. Everything she remembered seemed to point to the couple acting more like brother and sister. Although, come to think of it, Zachary had always treated Avery very well, and of course they weren't actually related by blood.

It all seemed so sudden, though. Nicole really hadn't been expecting news like this.

She was shocked, and Kerr could tell.

Jay couldn't help feeling grumpy, though. They'd been talking about all of Kerr's mistakes when the man had just swept in and changed the subject, distracting his mom so easily. How was he going to keep bad-mouthing Kerr now?

"Oh, by the way, I called Harley. After breakfast, I'm taking you to the hospital for a checkup."

Kerr wanted to do the right thing this time. He wouldn't miss a single moment of Nicole's prenatal appointments. He wanted to witness in person the safe birth of her baby. Nobody in this world would hurt her or the baby in her belly.

Nicole was still staring at the newspaper, totally transfixed. She didn't hear a word of what Kerr was saying. As if in a trance, she stood up, walked to the living room and picked up her phone. Her fingers danced over the keys as she tapped in Avery's number.

The ringtone cut through Avery's dream and she stirred in her sleep, instinctively grabbing her phone and putting it to her ear.

"Wow, Avery, is it true what it says in the paper? Are you really getting engaged to Zachary?"

Avery suddenly felt very awake. Her friend sounded so surprised. She sat up straight in her bed, clinging to her phone. She couldn't wait to complain to Nicole.

"Oh, Nicole, you'll never believe what I'm about to tell you. My parents gave me to that total asshole, Zachary! I didn't agree to it! They forced me to marry him.

But I'm not giving in so easily. I'm going to fight this to the bitter end. You're on my side, right, Nicole? You'll support me?" Avery knew that she could rely on her friend. Only Nicole would look out for her now.

The desperation in Avery's voice made Nicole feel helpless. She tried her best to say some comforting words before she hung up, putting her phone down with a sigh.

Sinking into the sofa, a mix of emotions swirled through Nicole's heart. One by one, her good friends had begun to settle down. She was happy for them, but their fates seemed to have been met through the expectations of others.

As for her... Nicole turned and saw Kerr walking towards her. It seemed natural to stretch out her arm toward him, as if inviting him to hold her.

Kerr didn't hesitate. He strode over to Nicole and wrapped his arms around her, walking her to the dining room. Finding the nearest chair, he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. He scraped up a spoonful of porridge and held it to her lips.

"What are you doing, Mommy? You're a grown-up! Why do you need someone to feed you?"

Jay didn't like what he was seeing. Kerr could easily scoop Nicole up into his arms, but he couldn't. He was too little. It wasn't fair!

It seemed like there was a world of difference between him and Kerr when it came to strength.

Nicole took in her son's words. He was probably right, she realized. It was inappropriate to behave like this in front of a child. She struggled to leave Kerr's embrace until he stopped her.

"This is where you belong."