Noah opened Aurora's door room and became stunned to see Jasmine sitting on the bed and already dressing her for school. An ample smile glimmered over his face while he strode in.
“Good morning, Queen and Princess” he greeted warmly. His voice was a bit croaking, so he cleared his throat first before stooping and kissing his daughter's hair, who had been beaming all the time.
“Daddy, you woke late. I would have been late for school if Jasmine were not here” Aurora accused her father while Jasmine helped her knot her burgundy school tie.
Noah blinked and then glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand and twitched his lips, “I came right in time, sweetheart. It was Jasmine who woke earlier,” he pouted his lips while sitting beside Jasmine on the bed and extending his arm across her shoulder.
Right after he said that, he put his middle finger under Jasmine's jaw and turned her head so that she would have to be looking at his face.
Her eyes were as bright as a crescent moon. She slightly raised the corner of her lips and revealed her white teeth, she looked beautiful and cute.
“I've prepared breakfast,” she let out in a voice barely a whisper, causing her breath to fan against Noah's face since there was hardly a space between their mouths.
“I've always known you're the right person for me since the very first beginning. Thanks for coming into my world,” Noah muttered back, a look of contentment swirling his brown orbs.
With that, he approached her some more and clung his lips onto hers, who reciprocated immediately.
Aurora watched them with happiness in her eyes, but she never thought they would be doing this in her presence. So, just to give them their privacy, she strode toward the end of the room to grab her backpack from her study table.
Right then, Jasmine quickly regained the presence of the mind and stopped kissing him first. Noah also pulled away and stared at her face with furrowed brows.
“We can't be doing this in Aurora's presence,” Jasmine whispered, still panting softly from the brief yet intense kiss.
“Why not? I love you and I can show it to the whole world,” Noah said in a raised voice. Jasmine covered his mouth directly, “Aurora is still a kid, remember?”
He seemed to recollect his senses after hearing Jasmine's sentences, “That's true,” he muttered while ribbing the back of his neck and taking his eyes to where his daughter was standing.
“Point of correction, Jasmine. I'm no longer a kid, I'm turning seven next month,” Aurora said sternly while amounting her pace back to them.
“And besides, I've seen lovers kissing each other many times. So, yours is not new,” she concluded and flung her backpack to her back.
Both Jasmine and Noah stared at her dumbfounded with their lips fallen apart.
“Please, Aurora. Where did you see lovers kissing?” Noah sounded perturbed, his loving and warm eyes becoming frantic.
“In my cartoons, Daddy. For example, Cinderella. The handsome prince fell in love with her and kissed her,” Aurora explained with full interest in her eyes.
Noah shut his eyes while listening to his daughter. He thought in his mind that he had failed as a father by not being able to raise only a child.
Jasmine closed up her mouth and grinned widely. She couldn't help but reckon that Aurora was far too smart for her age.
“You're too young to be watching those scenes, baby girl,” Jasmine advised with a tender smile while reaching out to hold her.
Aurora didn't argue again but nodded her head instead, “Can we go have breakfast now?” she asked with a beam.
“Of course, baby,”
Thereafter, she stood up and they both headed out of the room.
By the time they arrived in the dining room, Noah too was right behind them, feeling fulfilled in his chest after glimpsing at the table.
“Jasmine, can you start staying with us now?” Aurora questioned in a quivering voice as if she were on the verge of tears.
Jasmine didn't say anything immediately but lifted and lowered her on a seat and then proceeded to open the dishes one after the other.
“My Daddy has never prepared a homemade meal for me, he only ordered or bought them in restaurants”
Upon hearing this, Jasmine felt like her heart just plummeted in her chest just now as she lifted her eyes to look at Aurora and thought that, this explained why she couldn't find enough foodstuffs in the kitchen this morning.
So, they've only been eating restaurant foods?
“I don't blame him, Jasmine. He's really trying. He's a good father. At least, he's now trying to prepare something since yesterday,” Aurora continued with a little smile on her lips.
To lighten the suffocating mood, Jasmine asked while taking a glance at Noah's face, “Really? What did he prepare?”
“Burnt Chicken and soggy salad,” Aurora answered back with a slight scowl, trying not to remember yesterday's occurrence.
Meanwhile, Jasmine was now laughing so hard as she covered her mouth with her left palm while dishing out the meal for Aurora.
What Aurora had just said seems amusing to her that she could not control her laughter.
Noah didn't react to any of these as he continued to glare playfully at his daughter's side face since they were both sitting right next to each other.
“Do you know the funniest part, Jasmine? My daddy doesn't like salad, and I've never seen him eat it before, but just yesterday, he brought…”
Aurora was saying, but got interrupted mid-sentence with a chicken lap stuck in her mouth.
She glared right back at her father who lowered his eyes and said, “Eat up now, you don't want to be late for school,”
However, Jasmine had slowly dropped the spoon she was holding and continued to stare at Noah's face, who in turn pretended not to have seen her gaze and gulped every second.
“Hmm… This is delicious, Jasmine,” Aurora praised while munching on her chicken without raising her head.
Jasmine looked at her face and smiled, “Thanks, dear. Enjoy it,”
Aurora nodded and looked at her father, “Daddy, you better start learning from Jasmine now. I wouldn't tolerate your meal next time, remember?”
Noah didn't say anything. He grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down at once when he was feeling his throat burning up.
An hour later, Noah's car pulled up to a halt in front of Jasmine's apartment, and without looking at him, she pushed the door open and came down from the passenger seat.
Ever since Aurora had revealed the truth back during breakfast, Noah had not been talking much, especially with Jasmine. He felt so embarrassed.
Instantaneously, he also got off the car and called out her name while drifting to the other side, “Jasmine,”
Jasmine stopped walking and released a breath she didn't realize she was holding before tilting her head to look at him.
His strong frame was dressed in an immaculate business suit and his body exuded a strong manly presence.
“I'm sorry, Jasmine” he apologized, lowering his gaze as if he couldn't abide her gaze.
Jasmine summed up her pace to where he was standing beside the car door. She smiled and then framed his chin in her hands, lifting his head, but he wouldn't budge.
“Why are you sorry, Mr. Cooper?”
Terrified, Noah immediately looked up at her face and shook his head vigorously, “No, Jasmine. We already passed that stage in our relationship. I don't want to be addressed as Mr. Cooper by you. I do apologize for lying to you, but don't do this to me,”
He said all his words in a breath without giving himself a break, bringing a soft smile to Jasmine's lips.
“Why did you lie to me that you also love baked chicken and salad?” she asked plainly while toying with his earlobe.
A sense of bitterness arose in Noah's heart, but the feeling of her hand on his skin was causing him goosebumps, “I just want to love everything you like, I want to be the perfect man for you,” he responded in a low voice and had no confidence in it.
“No, Noah. It's not done like that. You can't love all my liking because you hope to be perfect for me,”
“You see, I'm sure there would be something you love as well, but I don't take a liking to it. That's how it is. We all have our likes and dislikes, it doesn't mean that our relationship won't be a good one,” Jasmine tutored calmly.
Noah puffed out a breath and reached out his hand to grasp her waist, who willing went into his chest.
“You're not mad at me, are you?” his eyes were quite deep while his hot fingers went through the side of her neck.
“No, sweetheart. In fact, I'm damn glad to realize that someone is willing to love everything I like,” Jasmine retorted with a beam while trailing a finger around his eyebrows.
“Then why didn't you talk to me throughout the short journey?” Noah asked with a frown.
“Because I love you too much,” with that, she wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed his lips.
A deep thrill ran through him as he kissed back in a low acceleration, yet his lips were moving hotly against hers. His tongue swept against her lower lip asking for entrance, and she opened up, drowning into the kiss and ravishing him completely.
However, Xavier had been standing in the entrance all the time with a horrifying coldness written all over his grave face.
“You don't know when to step back, do you?”
This cold voice compelled the entangled the latest pair to slowly disengaged from their fantasy world.
They both swiftly turned their heads to see Xavier standing in the small gate with his hand in his suit pant pocket and his face turning to a bright shade of red.
“Do you want me to go inside with you, or should I stay back in the car?” asked Noah, seizing his gaze back to his newfound treasure's face.
Jasmine just smiled at him while putting her hand in his and they both strode toward the gate where Xavier was standing rigidly and glaring at Noah as if he would murder him if he dares crossed his boundary.
“Get out of the way now, Xavier,” Jasmine commanded in a yelling voice.
However, Xavier was adamant and stubborn. He didn't budge, but continued to glare right at Noah's innocent face.
Sighing and taking note of the tiny space left, “You know what, Jasmine? You go in then I'll follow behind you,” Noah suggested, one could easily decipher the genuine expression on his face. He wouldn't like to make trouble.
Jasmine wasn't satisfied with Xavier's manner, but to make peace reign, she did as she was told.

She passed by Xavier and purposely made her shoulder hit his, but he still wouldn't budge.
“Just get out of the way!” she shouted.
Noah chuckled lightly and attempted to pass, but was suddenly pushed by Xavier.
He lost balance and stepped backward continuously until his back hit his car.
“Xavier!” Jasmine cried out hysterically and just when she planned to hold Xavier back, he had already charged toward Noah and made to punch his jaw.
However, Noah beat him to it by sending a flying kick to his rib and he fell to the floor like a parabola in an Instant, unable to get a hold of himself.