"Honey, are you going to scold her? Don't yell at her. I'm not complaining about her. She must be sick of seeing me every day." Elliot defended Layla.
"What are you thinking? She's already so big, how could I scold her for such a small matter?" Avery could not help but smile. "Hand the phone to her!"
Elliot was still worried. He asked, "What are you planning to say to her?"
"I'm just going to ask her to care more for her Daddy. Why can't I say that?" Avery asked.
"Sure, of course, you can. You still care for me the most." Elliot happily walked over to Layla.
After passing the phone to Layla, Elliot stood next to her, trying to catch snatches of their conversation.
"Layla, are you having fun today?" Avery gently asked.
Layla smiled widely. Her tone was excited. "I'm happy! Mommy! I'm so happy today! It's so pretty! They just shot Uncle Eric skiing after the drone. Woo, woo. He looks so cool! Uncle Eric looks so handsome skiing!"
Layla took the phone and jumped up and down in the same spot.
Avery looked at the shaky screen; she could feel Layla's excitement.
"Layla, did you know that your Daddy deliberately accompanied you today?" Avery said after Layla had calmed down a little. "He should have gone to work, but when he found out that you would be out in the cold, he was afraid that you might freeze and so, he came with you. You can't just chase after Uncle Eric and forget about your daddy."
Layla responded with, "Oh," before looking at Elliot.
"Treat Daddy better, okay? Your daddy's heart is actually quite fragile. He needs our love too. We can't just let him keep giving without any return, right?" said Avery, lecturing Layla.
When Layla heard what Avery said, she nodded fervently.
"Daddy, come here!" Layla yelled at Elliot.
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