“Liam, I’m Grandma. Come on, let Grandma hold you. How about you come home with us?” Though she said it in a playful tone, Elena’s words—come home with us—stung Janina.
“Can’t you see he doesn’t want you to hold him?” Janina said flatly, looking at Elena.
“This is your doing! Last time he was fine with me holding him. Why not today?” Elena snapped back.
Julius thought the same thing. The Holts must have been bad-mouthing them to the children, which was why they were now acting so distant.
Janina didn't even want to waste her breath on someone like Elena. She turned to Grace and Ethan. “Let’s go home.”
“At least give me a little time with my children!” Julius moved, his large frame blocking Joy’s way.
As he looked at Joy, his gaze softened. He reached out his hand, his voice gentle. “Joy, I’m Daddy. Come, let Daddy hold you.”
Joy blinked his large, dark eyes, looking at Julius’s outstretched hand and then at the grandfather holding him.
He waved his chubby little hand in the air, smacking Julius’s arm a few times before quickly pulling back into his grandfather’s embrace.
Julius had thought Joy wanted to be held, but instead, he’d been hit.
Instantly, his face darkened.
Ethan held Joy protectively, a cold smirk playing on his lips as he watched Julius’s expression sour.
“The children don’t like you. If you came to see them without trying to cause trouble, I’d have nothing to say. But today…”
Ethan paused, his gaze sweeping over Julius and Elena.
“Let’s just call it a day. The children are getting tired and need their nap. You should both go home before you make more of a scene.”
Ethan was, by all accounts, being as diplomatic as possible.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Abandoned by All I Took It All Back