No Strings Attached

Hearing his daughter's voice, Roger, who had been energetically sparring with lan, instantly dropped his guard and turned towards Della in astonishment. "Hey, lan, did you hear that? My little girl just called me 'Papa.' Which kid can talk at six months, huh? You must be green with envy."

He released lan's shirt collar and sprinted over to Della. With a broad grin, he cooed, "Sweetheart, what did you just say? Can you say it again for Daddy?"

Della immediately leaped into Roger's arms, smearing tears and snot all over his designer shirt and leaving streaks behind. Her shining eyes blinked up at Roger as she repeated, "Papa, Papa."

Hearing his daughter call him "Papa" again, Roger lifted her high above his head in excitement. He boasted, "Come on, look at this. Whose little princess is this pretty and smart, talking so young? Naturally, she's Roger's girl. You all must be so jealous."

Christy rolled her eyes at his exuberance. "Stop making a scene, Roger. You're acting like you've never seen a kid before."

scene? No, the joke's on these guys. We grew up together, and I was the first to get hitched and the first to have a kid. lan has always been one step ahead of us in everything, but not this time. Hahaha, I finally beat him at something. My daughter's calling me 'Papa,'

around the lawn with his daughter in his arms, Della's giggles

out of his mind? As if having a wife is some kind of trophy. If I

gave him a knowing look. "Regretting the canceled engagement, are

would just nag all day

you called it off. What if she turned out to be a beauty? You'd have missed out." Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴᴇt website on

was as round as a ball, all chubby cheeks. Can you imagine she'd grow up to be anything other than a chubby girl? She can't find someone to marry, so they're

more animated Chase got in his storytelling, the tighter Sasha gritted her teeth. Out of nowhere, she kicked him in

yelled after her, "Sasha, why the heck did you kick me for no reason?

kicked him several more times in the thigh before Clara and Christy pulled her away. Completely baffled, Chase cursed, "Sasha, can't you change that temper of yours? Always so