You More Than Anything In The World novel Chapter 1366

Upon seeing that, Ethen and Jack refused to be outdone. They also followed suit, letting the little ones sit on their shoulders, one on each side.

“Hold on tight, kids! We're going to run back!” they said to the children. Then, with one arm around each kid's legs, they sprinted forward.

“Go, go, go!”

“Faster! Mr. Frank is about to overtake us!”

“We're about to lose. You can do it!”

Perched on the men's shoulders, the kids were brimming with excitement. They swung their legs back and forth, shouting with joy.

The next second, they were all racing each other to see who would be the first to reach the house. The atmosphere was lively and playful.

Darius, Edwin, and Mary followed behind, smiling from ear to ear. Even Arissa, who was up in the bedroom, could clearly hear the children's laughter and the sound of them having fun.

“Are the children back?” She craned her neck to look toward the balcony curiously, even though she could not see anything.

The sight of how impatient she was made him chuckle. “I'll go take a look.”

She turned back to him, then followed him with her gaze as he moved toward the balcony. She could not help pouting and grumbling inwardly that he did not carry her over there.

Glancing down and seeing that Shaun and the others were heading back with the children, Benjamin gave a small cough.

The boisterous group downstairs looked up in his direction. Jasper waved at him excitedly and shouted, “Mr. Graham!”

Benjamin lifted his chin slightly in acknowledgment, then called out to them, “Your mommy misses you. Come on up.”

Hearing that, Arissa was both amused and exasperated. She murmured, “When did I miss them?”

Meanwhile, the kids beamed at Benjamin's words and asked to be let down from the men's shoulders.

“Let's go upstairs and see Mommy!”

“Mommy isn't mad at us anymore!”

“Slow down,” Shaun cautioned them as he bent over to put down Jasper. Ethen, Jack, and Bradley also hurriedly set the others down, fearing they might struggle and fall.

No sooner had they let go than the children slid down and ran toward the house.

Meanwhile, Benjamin was met with a glare from Arissa when he walked back into the room. He went over with a smile and asked, “What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” she responded with a snort.

He pinched her cheek and said with a little smugly, “I've called the kids to come up. You'll be able to see them soon.”

Seeing the look on his face that showed he was waiting for her to praise him, she was at a loss for words, and the corners of her mouth twitched. “They were having fun. Why did you have to call them to come in? You could've just carried me to the balcony just now.”

He lifted his wrist and pointed at his watch for her to see. “It's getting late. They should be coming up to rest now.”

At that moment, the kids ran upstairs and started shouting even before they reached the doorway.

“Mommy, we're here!”

“Mommy!”

Hearing the children's shouts, Arissa was overjoyed. It was a relief that they were not mad at her.

“Mommy!”

The six little ones came bounding in, one after another, ready to run to her. Benjamin quickly stepped in front of them, cautioning, “Be careful not to bump into your mommy.”

The kids stuck out their tongues at him, then gently embraced Arissa. “Mommy, did you miss us?”

She laughed and hugged them. “Of course! Where have you been?”

“We went to watch Mr. Bailey and the others go running. Mr. Hinton was the weakest. He couldn't even outrun Mr. Bailey—”

“Mr. Bailey couldn't take it either. He was lying on the ground for ages, catching his breath!”

The children started chattering away to Arissa. As she listened, she could see how excited they all were. Despite being drenched in sweat, they continued talking enthusiastically.

“If I asked you to run like that, do you think you could do it?” she asked teasingly as she wiped them down.

The kids' faces fell instantly.

“Mommy, you're not still thinking of punishing us, are you?” asked Zachary.