Maya rubbed her chubby hands and confessed, “Ms. Patty’s name starts with a P, so I thought about the platypus.”
Evan was speechless.
“There’s another teacher with dark circles under his eyes, so I called him Panda.”
Evan didn’t even know what to say about that. I guess Maya likes animals.
“Oh, and there’s another teacher whose name is Chet, but Juan said that it’d sound cooler as Cheater.”
Evan’s eyes twitched, but he still didn’t say anything. Just as I thought——Juan is in it!
Juan sighed while he eavesdropped behind the door. Darn it, I can’t believe that Maya betrayed me!
“Oh, and there’s a teacher named Ms. Fett. That made me think of Ms. Fat.”
Evan was speechless.
He stroked Maya’s tiny head and talked to her. “Are you happy when Nina called you Piggy back then?” asked Evan.
Maya shook her head and said, “She doesn’t call me that anymore, though. I know the Maya Punch, and you gave me Maya’s Hammer, so I can stop her on my own now.”
Nina’s face darkened the second she heard that. What? Maya’s Hammer? The one she uses to kick my butt? Daddy is the one who gave Maya that? Oh, he is SOOO playing favorites! I can’t let this one go. I must demand an explanation from Daddy later!
“You’re not happy when Nina gave you a nickname, so do you think your teacher will be happy with the nickname you gave them?”
Maya thought about it and shook her head.
“Daddy, I gave the teachers those nicknames a long time ago. It was before we went to K Nation. I don’t do that anymore.”
Evan didn’t know what to say.
Wow, the teachers have amazing memories. It’s been so long but they still remembered to get Maya to call us in.
Juan suddenly barged in and explained, “Daddy, you have no idea how dumb Maya is. The teachers might’ve already forgotten all about the nicknames but she walked up to them and asked them if they still remembered the whole platypus and panda incident.”
Kyle added, “Maya was just trying to ask the teacher if it is still necessary to get you and Mommy to drop by the kindergarten. Ms. Patty misunderstood her intention and thought she was being rude again.”
Evan turned to Maya. I knew it. My Maya is a surprisingly honest kid. She just doesn’t know how to express herself.
“Maya, let’s never address your teachers by those nicknames anymore, okay?”
Maya nodded.
Meanwhile, Nina had her tiny arms crossed and was glaring at Evan.
Evan didn’t know what was up with her, but he didn’t want to deal with the matter just yet, either.
He was about to carry Maya down the stairs when Nina suddenly stepped forward and blocked his path.
“You’re playing favorites, Daddy!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Evan coolly.
Nina harrumphed and complained, “How could you give Maya her hammer? Are you trying to get her to crush me? She’s your daughter, but so am I! How could you be so mean to me? I’m telling Mommy.”
Evan recalled his conversation with Maya and guessed that Nina heard everything.
With tears cascading down her cheeks, Nina ran down the stairs and straight to the kitchen to complain to Nicole.
“Daddy gave Maya a huge hammer! It was the kind of hammer that could kill others, and Daddy is letting Maya hit me with it. Daddy doesn’t love me and is playing favorites!”
A hammer?
Nicole frowned and wondered what Evan was thinking.
It’s normal for siblings to fight. How could he let them use weapons? And a hammer at that!
“Don’t cry, Nina. Mommy will go ask Daddy what’s going on right now and have him apologize to you!”
After cooing Nina, Nicole angrily stomped towards the study room.
Juan and Kyle wanted to stop her, but couldn’t.
When Nicole reached the stairs, she saw Evan holding Maya’s chubby hand and walking down.
Nicole roared at Evan.
“Evan Seet, what are you thinking? They’re both your daughters!”
I know they’re both mine. Nina has always been verbally merciless and likes to tease others, so I gave Maya’s Hammer to Maya for Nina’s sake as well. I want to teach her restraint and get her into the habit of thinking before she speaks.
Evan knew that Nicole only acted that way because she misunderstood Nina’s words.
Hence, he looked into Nicole’s eyes and asked, “So? Has Maya abused her hammer? Has she ever really injured Nina?”
Nicole could not think of a comeback and frowned. What is he talking about?
“Evan Seet, how could you say that? It’d be too late to teach any lessons if Nina were injured!”
Juan and Kyle turned to one another. They were dumbfounded because they had actually seen Maya gobbling up Maya’s Hammer.
