Cristelle couldn’t imagine what it would look like if Linford took Candace to ride that thing. He was gonna look so silly.
“Could you take Candace to take the ride?” Linford suddenly asked her.
Cristelle was only pulled out of her thoughts at the time, “Oh… Okay.”
Cody didn’t like carousels, but he still followed because he wanted to ensure Candace was not scared. So he hopped on a horse and looked around, confusedly thinking what was so fun to ride a fake horse.
Candace was happy. A huge smile broke her face after the ride. When Linford lifted the girl and made her sit on his shoulders, the crowd couldn’t stop murmuring about how beautiful the father and the daughter were.
Linford didn’t like the attention as a couple of people asked if they could take photos of them. Cristelle only wanted to laugh seeing him pulling a face.
There was a bakery near the square, and a contest was ongoing at the corner. It was a family race. The family who made it to the finish line first would be rewarded with a box full of cupcakes.
Linford’s steps faltered as he noticed the contest. It seemed fun.
“Do you wanna do that, Candace?” He asked his daughter. Linford always wanted to nurture his kids more competitively if he got the chance.
Candace nodded slowly. She was curious about everything now.
The rule was simple. Each family needed to be divided into two teams. The parents would be on the same team, and the babies needed to form another team. Then, the competitors had to race with their feet tied together with their teammates.
The award would be given to the fastest family. Linford noticed that, except for themselves, there were four other families who were in this round.
Linford’s foot was tied up to Cristelle’s. Both of them were ready.
“Can you do this?” Linford asked.
Cristelle was a bit speechless, “Of course.”
The gun sounded, and all the families started to race toward the finish line.
Cody grabbed Candace’s hand before she could start to cry, “Come on, Candace. That kid is a coward. You can do better than him.”
Candace nodded, plucking up her courage as she kept going.
She somehow saw her Mom and Dad on the other side of the lane. The way they walked together was hilarious. The girl suddenly started to laugh.
A big smile also showed up on Linford’s face as he noticed Candace was laughing. He thus carried Cristelle toward the finish line at full speed. For some reason, he was determined to be the winner.
He somehow thought Candace needed this.
The family got to the finish line first and became the winners. The host presented them with a box of cupcakes. Candace was clapping with a big smile on her face. She loved cakes the most.
She stretched her arms at Linford when they were gonna leave the square. Linford picked her up and carried her in his arms again.
Cristelle heard suppressed conversations behind their backs.
“He’s so freaking hot.”
“I thought he was a star or something.”
“But he’s got married. He even has children now.”
“His wife is so lucky.”
Cristelle was a bit speechless. Who told those people that she was his wife? And… What was so good about this man? Then, finally, she admitted that he was good-looking, but she didn’t want him to be her husband at all.
Candace was pretty proud to hear the conversation. But, of course, her daddy was the most good-looking man in the world. She liked him the moment she saw him.
They finally went to Cody’s favorite wargame center a couple of minutes later. “Are you sure you want to play this, Cody?” Cristelle couldn’t understand why her boy would enjoy such a violent game.
Cody seemed determined, “I really want to play! Please, Mommy!”
Linford put Candace down before he patted Cristelle on her shoulder reassuringly, “I’ll be going with him. Just one round. You don’t need to worry.”
Cristelle sighed, crouching down as she put a hand on Cody’s shoulder, “Mommy will be here waiting for you. Just one round, okay? Because it’s getting late.”
Cody nodded instantly.
Linford took the boy into the center to get changed. Cristelle and Candace were sitting on a bench before the huge screen. There were surveillance cameras everywhere in the “war zone.” So the passers-by outside could watch the games when they began.
Cristelle’s eyes lit up when Linford left the changing room with the boy. That combat uniform looked sharp on him. He looked wilder when he dressed up as a soldier.
Cristelle’s heart skipped a beat. Candace looked excited as she saw her dad on the screen, pointing one chubby finger at them. Some girls who sat near Cristelle started to giggle.
Cristelle shrugged.
Linford looked pretty serious as he took his son around, ready to win the game. Cody also had a stern look on his chubby face. He was a little boy, after all. Cristelle smiled at the sight of her boy. Cody was about the same height as his gun. Cristelle could tell he was a bit exhausted, dragging the gun around with him. But his eyes were vivid with excitement.
The game began soon.
Linford took the boy to a tunnel, pulling the trigger as he spotted any threats. The father and the son eliminated a lot of people in the first five minutes.
When the round was gonna end, there were only three people left: Linford, Cody, and another man.
The audience fell silent. No one knew who would be the winner.
Cody started to look a bit tired in the end.
Linford frowned, “Are you sure you can stick to the end? We can always go back if you can’t do this anymore.”
“Of course, I can do this! I’m not going back!” Cody argued, “I will never run away from challenges!”
“Good. Then you need to follow my instruction,” Linford pulled the boy in and whispered something against his ear.
Cody nodded heavily.
And then, Linford put the boy down and walked forth, exposing himself to the enemy.