"Ding-dong, ding-dong!"
The doorbell rang at Richelle Dunn's house. She had just finished teaching a natural science class to the three children. She thought it was Parker coming to pick up little master Timmy.
"Timmy, you should tidy up a bit..."
Little master Timmy was sitting obediently attending the lesson. When he heard Richelle say this, he took it as a sign to leave, and immediately stood up, his face full of unwillingness.
"I don't want to!"
"Timmy…", Richelle Dunn was in a difficult situation. She certainly hoped her eldest son could stay longer, every extra minute was cherished.
But reason told her not to be too greedy, if she wanted the chance to see him often in the future.
She squatted in front of him, attempting to persuade him, "Didn't you promise your father that you would go home tonight?"
Little master Timmy pulled out his phone with an indignant face, "Then I will tell him now that I will go home after dinner."
Richelle Dunn, always had no way with her eldest son, so she went to answer the door first.
When she reached the hallway, she heard a telephone ring outside. Shortly after, Roy Lewis's voice faintly came through.
"Timmy, let Dr. Dunn open the door, I'm outside!"
Richelle Dunn was taken aback. She peeked through the door viewer, and sure enough, there was Roy Lewis, his face still sporting a slight red mark.
She quickly ran back to the living room to signal Timothy and Tifanny to retreat to their room.
However, the siblings were well-prepared. They put on their newly bought puppy and kitten masks.
Seeing his siblings put on masks, Timmy also put on his new lion mask.
The doorbell rang again, Richelle Dunn jogged to open the door. Behind her, the three kids were whispering, surely planning their next prank.
"Mr. Lewis, are you here to pick up Timmy yourself?"
Roy Lewis seemed to be taken aback. His gaze curiously glided over her face for several moments before he nodded, "Hmm."
Acknowledging, his gaze inadvertently shot past her head.
Only after being scrutinised a few times by his gaze did Richelle remember that she was still wearing Tifanny's rabbit ears to better fit the role of a kindergarten teacher. Essentially, she was wearing tall rabbit ears!
"Ahem!"
She let out an awkward chuckle as she touched the rabbit ears and removed them.
"Haha, it's bizarre, right? Can't help it. The brats just love a touch of whimsy in class!"
This, Roy Lewis could understand.
Wasn't his precious son refusing to go to school because he found the teacher's teaching methods too conventional?
"Oh…", Roy Lewis responded lightly, looking at her, "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Richelle Dunn quickly moved aside to let him enter.
Roy Lewis's gaze unintentionally fell on the rabbit ears in her hand. He forcibly suppressed the strange stirrings in his heart.
He had always thought that fun accessories like rabbit ears only suited adorable little girls like Tifanny.
However, the moment she opened the door, he was utterly charmed by Richelle Dunn's adorable look with the rabbit ears!
For the first time in his life, he realised that a woman in her twenties could be so cute!
Could anybody tell him that a woman in her twenties could also evoke such endearing feelings to the point of seeing pink bubbles?
Roy Lewis was an emotional whirlwind, his face, however, showed no hint of it. With practiced ease, he set his bag on the shoe rack, bent down to open it, took out the slippers he had worn last time, and prepared to put them on.
Richelle Dunn standing behind him, was rendered speechless by his presumptive behaviour.
"Actually, it's not necessary to change shoes..."
It won't matter whether he changes his shoes or not, given that he'll only be inside for a minute or two at most.
However, Roy Lewis as if he hadn't heard her, changed his shoes and calmly walked into the living room.
At this point, three youngsters wearing masks suddenly jumped out and blocked the hallway, lining up in front of Roy Lewis.
"Guess who we are!"
The three kids chirped in unison, looking at each other and chuckling with self-satisfaction.
Richelle Dunn exhaled in disbelief, weren't these three little stinkers usually smarter than this? Why had their collective IQ suddenly plummeted?
Even though they were of roughly similar height and weight, and were only wearing half masks, their hairstyles were different. As long as you're not blind, you could tell who was who just by looking at their heads.
As a mom, Richelle Dunn could understand the childish tendencies the children were displaying, after all, who wouldn't want to be pampered by their parents.
But Roy Lewis was clearly not the kind of father who would play along with children's games. She guessed he might inadvertently spoil the children's fun.
Just as Richelle was thinking about how to remind him, Roy Lewis had already extended his hand and patted the head of Tifanny, who was wearing a cat mask and a bun hairstyle, "This one is Tifanny!"
Having been singled out first, Tifanny turned up her small face and glared at him, her mouth protruded with indignation. Humming in a huff, she turned and ran back to the bedroom.
Before Roy Lewis could realize his mistake, he stretched out his hand in all seriousness and patted Timothy, who was wearing a dog mask, "You are Timothy!"
The light in Timothy's eyes dimmed visibly. Although he was more mature than Tifanny, he was still only a little over four years old and longed for more interaction and communication with his dad, just like Tifanny did.
Being identified right away meant the game was over, which made him a little displeased. With his spirits dampened, he responded with a lukewarm "Oh," then turned to find his sister.
Roy Lewis was puzzled by the kids' reactions. He then patted the head of his darling son, "And you are Timmy!"
Although Roy Lewis was not very tactful, he was not stupid. He could tell that Tiffany and Timothy were noticeably different from last time.
Thus, he asked his son, "Are Timothy and Tifanny not happy? Did you bully them?"
Timmy glared at him fiercely, "Dad, you are such a dumb-dumb!"
Young master, worried about his younger siblings who were hurt by their dad, stomped his foot impatiently and turned to chase after them.
Roy Lewis was utterly confused by his children's behavior. Turning his head to look at Richelle Dunn, he found her shrugging at him, signalling that she couldn't help.
As Roy Lewis walked into the living room, he saw three little stools neatly arranged in front of the coffee table where lied three identical English books. He glanced at the content; they were about exploring the mysteries of the universe and the stars.
"You teach them this?"
Richelle Dunn nodded, "Yes, Timothy and Tifanny have been studying this for a while. I asked Timmy, and he said he also liked it, so they learned together. Also, he has been keeping up quite well and is very active in asking questions."
Roy flipped through the book, surprise quietly stirring in his heart.
No wonder his son didn't want to go to kindergarten anymore. This content was something that other kids would only touch upon in junior high or even at a more advanced stage. But his son was actually able to understand it.
Roy Lewis, who originally was in a hurry to find the kids, now seemed less anxious.
"Timmy told me Timothy and Tifanny haven't been to kindergarten. Have you been teaching them this all along?"
Richelle Dunn wasn't quite sure how Roy Lewis felt, but she wanted to fight for something for her eldest son.
"I read in a book that the best education for children is to teach according to their aptitude. Timothy and Tifanny have higher IQs than average kids. Their interests also differ from their peers. Thus, I tailored their learning to their interests and curiosity. And, the most important thing for children is to play. They spend most of the day playing with only about two hours allocated for learning."
Roy finally understood why Timmy was less lively and cheerful than Timothy and Tifanny, given their roughly the same age.
"Are there such kindergartens in Kindur?"
In the afternoon, he had consulted with the Director of the Education Bureau who said that there were very few children like Timmy in Kindur. So, they could either send Timmy to a higher-grade class that matched his IQ but with much older classmates, or let him continue attending kindergarten with children of his own age as before.
Given that Richelle Dunn had been in Kindur for only a short while, how could she possibly know about this?
However, she recognized this as a rare opportunity for her and her children to spend more time together!
"I'm not sure. However, if Mr. Lewis won't mind, before Timmy finds a suitable kindergarten, could we let him play and study with Timothy and Tifanny?"