Theodore usually didn't engage in such childish games, but seeing his younger son on the verge of tears, and feeling a pang of guilt, his heart softened. He lifted him up and raised him high.
Julian's cheeks puffed out in anger. His dad was holding another kid! This was a direct challenge!
"You have to lift me up too!"
Under Julian's expectant gaze, Penelope had no choice but to lift him as high as she could. It wasn't that she lacked strength, but she was significantly shorter than Theodore. No matter how hard she tried, Julian was still lower than Hubert.
"Haha, we win!" Hubert gloated.
Julian had been furious, but as he looked down at Penelope struggling to lift him higher, he was suddenly very moved.
He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Will you be my mom?"
The question stunned Penelope. Theodore's head snapped in their direction, his face dark.
"From now on, I'll be your kid!"
"You want to live with me?" Penelope asked, her voice trembling with excitement.
Julian nodded, then asked with a hint of uncertainty, "Do you want me?"
"Of course! I want you!"
"That's great! From now on, you're my mom!"
Seeing his mom being stolen away, Hubert huffed and puffed with rage. He turned to Theodore. "Sir, do you like me?"
Theodore pulled Hubert back into his arms. Under the little boy's earnest gaze, he could only say, "Yes, I like you."
"I like you too! From now on, you're my dad, and I'm your son!"
Theodore glanced at the heartwarming scene of Penelope and Julian, feeling utterly speechless.
"You don't want me?" Hubert looked like he was about to cry again.
That evening, watching Julian take a shower, brush his teeth, and make his own bed, and even come to wish her goodnight, Penelope suddenly thought that swapping the kids wasn't such a bad idea.
If Theodore could raise Julian so well, he could definitely handle Hubert.
When they eventually swapped back, she'd get a little boy as well-behaved as Julian.
What she didn't know was that at the Stapleton estate, Hubert was like a wild horse set free, completely letting loose.
Theodore and Mrs. Stapleton Sr. sat in the living room as Hubert zipped past them, ran upstairs, created a storm of thumping noises, then shrieked as he ran back down, continuing to tear around the house.
After a brief moment of quiet, a maid realized the boy had vanished.
All the staff at the Stapleton estate began to search. Mrs. Stapleton, terrified he might have hurt himself, joined in. After an hour of frantic searching, they finally found him on the top shelf of the wine cabinet, fast asleep and snoring sweetly.
Mrs. Stapleton was utterly exhausted. She sank onto the sofa, clutching her back.
"That child is a Stapleton through and through. He belongs right here with us."

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