Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 621

The moment Tarquin left, the kids immediately rushed to Elysia's room.

Elliot knocked on the door, "Mom, he didn't really mean to take Elijah away. Don't be upset, okay?"

Elijah's expression was serious, "Mom, he can't take me without my say-so. Don't worry."

Emmett started to sob, "Mom, he's gone now. Can you open the door, please?"

Elysia was in her room, tears streaming down her face, feeling utterly wronged. Hearing Emmett cry, she quickly dried her tears, opened the door, and scooped Emmett into her arms to comfort him, "It's okay, Emmett. Don’t be scared. No more crying, okay?"

Emmett clung tightly to Elysia's neck, "I don't want Mom to be sad, waa."

"Yeah, Mom's not sad anymore. I was just worried he'd take Elijah away, but now that he said he won't, I'm fine, see?"

Elysia, holding Emmett, sat on the living room couch and gently wiped away his tears. Evan and Elijah quickly joined them. Elliot ran to the kitchen first to get Elysia a glass of warm water, then sat down and came clean, "Mom, it wasn't Dad's fault he and Keith had a fight. It's on us. We were just curious if Dad really liked you, so we..."

Elliot explained the whole ordeal of testing Tarquin's feelings, leaving Elysia astonished, "Why would you... How could you..."

All four kids were in on it, apologizing together, "Sorry, Mom."

They had merely wanted to test if Tarquin truly cared for their mom, never anticipating it would upset her. Had they known, they would have never agreed to it.

Elysia frowned, her head buzzing with confusion, "And here I was wondering what all this had to do with me! Turns out it's all about me!” Those kids really...

But they were clueless about what exactly transpired in those seconds. However, they were certain the fight wasn't Tarquin's fault; he wasn't to blame.

Elysia couldn't make sense of it, "What could Keith have possibly said to drive him to violence?"

The kids shook their heads; they were just as in the dark.

Elijah said with a tight voice, clearly angry, "It definitely wasn't anything nice, or Dad wouldn't have gotten so mad! Dad might have a short fuse, but he's not the type to lash out without reason."

Elijah was fuming, not at Keith directly, but at the situation. Elliot, Evan, and Emmett, despite their past good times with Keith, weren't holding any grudges against him for making their mom upset; they were blaming themselves.

But Elijah saw things differently; from his perspective, an outsider, everything was crystal clear. The whole mess was sparked by Keith's suggestion to test Tarquin. Perhaps Keith knew Tarquin would be at a disadvantage, unable to defend himself verbally, which is why he might have intentionally provoked the fight. He got hurt, knowing full well that their mom would intervene and inevitably question Tarquin about the fight.