Each of the babies reacted differently to the visitors.
Little Mochi liked good-looking people. He was drawn to RenĂ© Alejandro right from the start. Even so, he was still cautious at the stranger and didnât smile too much. He just stared at RenĂ© Alejandro and ignored Randy for the most part.
Little Matcha only gave them a cursory glance before returning to his toys. He was still a baby but he already inherited his fatherâs usual indifference to a tee.
Like Little Mochi, Little Misha seemed to be interested at the visitors. But unlike Little Mochi, Little Misha was more drawn to the flamboyant Randy than at RenĂ© Alejandro. It was mostly because of the Zumba instructorâs bright, neon-coloured clothing. The babyâs interest in the visitors only lasted for a short while before he ignored them.
Last but not the least, Little Dima had a more extreme reaction than his eldest brother and cousins but actually quite normal for babies. He cried as soon as he saw the strangers. Long Jinjing was quick to pick him up and comfort her baby.
RenĂ© Alejandro already had an idea about each of the babiesâ personalities based on their reactions. Among them, he had the highest chance of becoming closer to the eldest, Little Mochi.
The baby also resembled Wei Lan. Maybe this was one of the reasons why RenĂ© Alejandro felt confident about this particular baby. He needed to observe more. If Little Mochi also resembled his maternal grandmotherâs personality and not just appearance, then RenĂ© Alejandro was sure that he could make the baby like him.
First attempt.
âHello, Haoyu,â he greeted in his gentlest and friendliest tone. âIâm Uncle RenĂ©.â
Little Mochi stared at him.
So far so good.
The babyâs full attention was on him.
RenĂ© Alejandro took a squeaky toy and squeezed it in front of the baby. âYou want this toy, yes?â
Little Mochi reached for it. René Alejandro planned on teasing the baby a little and try playing with him so he moved the toy out of reach.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated Little Mochiâs seeming openness to him. He didnât expect Little Mochiâs expression to crumple so suddenly. Then a loud wail filled the nursery.
RenĂ© Alejandro panicked inside. He wasnât used to dealing with babies this young. He tried salvaging the situation by directly handing the damn squeaky toy to the wailing baby but Little Mochi slapped it away in distress.
Iris swooped down and immediately started comforting her baby in her arms. Little Mochi cried on his motherâs chest and continued wailing in an aggrieved manner.
On the carpet, the indifferent Little Matcha was no longer indifferent. He finally made a scene. He threw the rattle that he had been playing at the strange man who made his brother cry. Then he also began wailing at the top of his lungs. Unlike his elder twin brotherâs aggrieved cries, his wails were furious.
At the moment, three of the babies were crying at the same time.
Little Misha wasnât crying at first but when Little Matcha started his angry wailing, he must have decided that it was fun to join the others so he wasnât the only one left out.
And so the three crying babies became four crying babies.
René Alejandro was speechless.
Although the mothers didnât seem to blame him, the nannies and even Randy did. They threw him accusing looks.
âIris, Jinjing, Iâm sorry,â he said while showing a guilty expression.
Long Jinjing didnât say anything. Iris, however, didnât mince her words.
âItâs stupid to tease babies these young especially when theyâre not yet familiar with you,â she told RenĂ© Alejandro to his face. âBe more careful next time.â
RenĂ© Alejandro could only say, âI understand.â
Iris nodded. She instructed a nanny to play a calming tune that she specially composed for the babies.
The Lu twins were the first ones to stop crying and calm down as soon as the instrumental music began playing.
Then Little Matcha finally stopped his furious wails. He snuggled with his mother and twin brother.
On the other hand, Little Mochi continued being dramatic. He only decreased his cries to pitiful whimpers after his mother kissed him several times.
âWhat in the wooooooooooorld is going on?â Wei Lan finally appeared and entered the nursery.
The Jin twins looked at the new stranger with even more caution.
RenĂ© Alejandro explained, âI have upset Iris and Jinjing by making their babies cry. It is my fault.â
Wei Lan waved a dismissive hand. âOh, is that soooooooo? Donât worry about it toooooooo much, dear RenĂ© Alejandro. Iâm suuuuuuure you didnât mean it. You donât mind it, right, Xiuuuuuuuulaaaaaaaan?â
She only addressed Iris and ignored Long Jinjing.
Iris didnât bother answering Wei Lan. Instead, she wiped her sonsâ remaining tears and continued comforting them.
Wei Lan didnât mind being ignored either. After all, she was the type of person who could hold a full conversation by herself without any problem.
âAre these my graaaaaaaaandsons?â
âYes,â Iris nodded. âBe careful, Mother. Donât be too aggressive or theyâll cry again.â
Wei Lan rolled her eyes. Then her attention was soon caught by Little Mochi. âOooooooooooh my! This baby looks just like meeeeeeeee!â
She was delighted. Not caring about her image, she also plopped down on the carpet in front of her daughter and grandsons.
âOoooooooooooh! The other one looooooooooks exactly like dear Liwei!â
Iris observed her sonsâ reactions. They didnât look like they were going to cry again but their wariness was in full force after what happened with RenĂ© Alejandro.
Although she wasnât close to Wei Lan (and neither was the original Long Xiulan), the woman was still her twin sonsâ biological grandmother. She didnât want to alienate her children from their biological relatives as much as possible but only if said relatives werenât complete trash like Long Hui and most of the members of the Long clan.
Wei Lan had a lot of faults but she was mostly harmless. Iris and Jin Liwei had already decided to keep this grandmother for their babies as long as she didnât make too much trouble.
Iris introduced Wei Lan to her sons. The Jin twins stuck closer to her while observing the strange woman with distrust.
To her credit, Wei Lan didnât mind the babiesâ less than ideal reaction to her. It was more likely that she didnât notice at all. She was too absorbed in admiring her grandsonsâ good looks.
One looked like her. She was already 100% certain that Little Mochi was going to be gorgeous just like her when he grew up. The other one looked like her handsome son-in-law. Little Matcha would surely become a heartthrob just like his father in the future.
She didnât attempt to hold or even touch the babies either. Even when Iris offered, she rejected.
âI already forgot how to hold a baaaaaabyyyyy! The laaaaaaaast time I held a baby this small was when you were one. And I oooooooonly held you a few times at that. Hahahaha!â
Iris rolled her eyes. At the same time, she couldnât help but pity the original Long Xiulan for having such an irresponsible mother.
Well, her own experience wasnât any better than the original Long Xiulan either. Back in her past life as Evelina, her mother was many leagues worse than Wei Lan.
Madam Vetrova wasnât an irresponsible mother per seâin Vetrov standards. As a matter of fact, she was too responsible. She presided over her childrenâs education and training with a robotâs precision and an anacondaâs viciousness.
But when placed in the rest of the wordâs standards, Madam Vetrova would surely fail and be labelled as a dangerous and unfit mother.
Comparing the two, Wei Lan was actually the better mother than Madam Vetrova. At least Wei Lan never did anything to leave a heavy and irreversible trauma on her child.
Back to the present, Wei Lan couldnât stop praising her grandsonsâ good looks.
âIâll wait for my handsome grandsons to groooooooow up a little before I hold them. What iiiiiiiiiif I drop them? I donât want dear Liwei to scold meeeeeeeeee for accidentally hurting his sons.â
Iris mentally rolled her eyes. Wei Lan was afraid of angering her son-in-law but not her daughter? Iris was already used to the woman placing more importance on Jin Liwei than on her. She didnât care about it that much anyway.
Randy excused himself to find Dom and gossip together.
RenĂ© Alejandro eventually managed to insert himself in the conversation. Even though Iris reprimanded him to his face earlier, he appeared not to mind it. He acted more carefully and attempted several times to change the babiesâ bad impression of him.
Wei Lan moved on from her own grandsons to the other babies in the crib.
âWow, they really looooooook alike!â She studied the Lu twins more carefully. âHow come they doooooooonât resemble any of their parents at all?â
She had been ignoring Long Jinjing all this time but now she cast a suspicious look on her daughterâs half-sister.
Long Jinjing understood the look. She flushed from indignation.
Wasnât this Wei Lan implying that her sons werenât sired by husband?
âMother, stop it,â Iris said. âLiwei told me that my twin nephews look like their father when Big Brother Zihao was a child. They grew up together so Liwei knows. Big Brother Zihaoâs appearance apparently changed a lot after he hit puberty.â
âOooooooh.â Wei Lan sniffed before admiring the Lu twins as if she didnât doubt the babiesâ paternity just now.
âSorry,â Iris mouthed to Long Jinjing.
âItâs fine,â Long Jinjing mouthed back despite still feeling angry.
Little Misha was curious about Wei Lan while Little Dima once again started crying upon seeing a new stranger hovering over their crib.