The Two Troublemakers
“Zayden, merely what?” Nicole pressed on.
Zayden stared at her with widened eyes, clearly still in a dilemma.
Nicole stood up and walked to him. To lure him into speaking the truth, she uttered, “Zayden, I know
you’re a good kid. Tell me what it is, and I’ll bring you guys out to play after this. What do you think?”
That suggestion was irresistible.
“Where are we going?”
“Anywhere you like.”
“I want to go to the zoo and look at the pandas, gorillas, monkeys, elephants, tigers…”
“Sure, I’ll bring you to the zoo. There are various animals there. You can look at them to your heart’s
content.”
Hearing her promise, Zayden nodded vigorously in exhilaration.
“We merely took some of Maya’s ingredients to feed the stray dogs. We accidentally mixed the
ingredients and spilled some on the floor when we were doing so. Also, we used Nina’s makeup tool kit
to dress up our doll and accidentally broke her lipstick. Now, the doll is completely stained. Aside from
these, we filled a vase in the living room with water, picked some flowers from the flowerpots outside,
a-and drew a big egg on Uncle Evan’s shirt because we heard Nina also did that when she was young.
We wanted to do the same. And we…”
Nicole suddenly had a terrible headache while listening to Zayden recount his and Joy’s glorious
deeds.
It had merely been one hour since she left them alone, yet the two were able to cause so many
troubles. Nicole could not imagine how chaotic the room would be if they were left alone the whole day.
Undeniably, these two are troublemakers.
After Zayden was done reporting their deeds, he looked at Nicole and asked, “I’ve told you everything.
When are you bringing us out to play?”
Nicole took a deep breath before answering, “After I’ve appointed someone to clean up your mess.
Now, go to the toy room to play. You’re not allowed to touch Nina’s makeup tool kit and Maya’s
ingredients, nor can you go anywhere else. Understand?”
Zayden nodded docilely. As long as she would bring him out to play, he would even stand still
obediently and wait for her.
When Joy brought him to the toy room, she questioned, “Didn’t we promise not to tell Mommy? Why
did you tell her everything?”
“I want to go outside and play, and we can go once we tell her everything.”
“Well, you could’ve hidden some of them.”
Zayden stopped in his tracks and looked at her. “Didn’t you tell me to be an honest kid and not be a liar
like my daddy?”
Joy was stumped by his reply. “You shouldn’t have told her about things we did to Nina’s and Maya’s
stuff. They will punish us when they come back at night.”
Zayden paused in his tracks again and stared at her with a serious expression on his face. “How will
they punish us?” At that point, he grew afraid, reminded of how his father disciplined him.
Joy pondered for a moment before assuring, “Don’t worry. Nina and Maya won’t be as strict as your
dad.”
“Then how will they punish us?” he asked, still feeling worried.
“They will call us troublemakers and lecture us.”
Hearing that, Zayden felt relieved. A rebuke did not bother him much.
Having ordered the maids to clean up the children’s mess, Nicole headed to the toy room.
“I’ll help you two change your clothes now. Once that’s done, I’ll bring you two out.”
Elated, Zayden nodded vehemently. “I can go see pandas!”
Nicole then dressed them in stylish clothes before leaving the house with them happily.
After parking the car, the trio walked to the zoo’s entrance. However, they had just taken a few steps
when they turned their heads and saw an infuriating incident occurring before their eyes.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda