Edith tilted her head up upon hearing the whistle and she immediately met Neil's gaze. The two of them were standing very close and their faces were only a few inches from each other. Neil had his arms around her shoulder, and Edith's arms were slightly lower due to their slight height differences.
At this time, they were unable to take a step back as they were still carrying Hazel. Moreover, because Hazel had her arms around their neck, they could not pull away, or else, the little girl will fall.
For a few seconds, Edith was staring back at the iceblock's while admiring his good look. Now that she got a closer look at him, Edith began to notice that he had a pair of pretty eyes and long eyelashes.
Edith was suddenly aware that his arms around her body were starting to grow warm.
A strange feeling crept into her and her heart skipped a beat after staring into his eyes for so long.
This iceblock's gaze was so soft and unexpectedly warm...
Their surroundings were lively with the sounds of cheering and shouting, but Edith found as if every sound around her was blocked. The only thing that she can hear was her breathing as well as the thumping of her heart.
It wasn't until Hazel called up their name that Edith was able to snap out of her trance.
"Uncle, Teacher Qian, you can put me down now."
It was as if she had suddenly regained her hearing. Suddenly, the cheering sounds around her sounded so loud.
Edith blinked once and shifted her eyes away from Neil. "Oh."
The two adults lowered their bodies to the ground and Hazel finally released her arms around their neck and slid off from their embrace. With this, Edith quickly retracted her hands and followed after Hazel who was receiving the number card from the referee.
"Did we win?" Edith asked.
"We got second place," Hazel said as she raised the number card.
Edith patted at the girl's head. "Well, second place is good too. At least we did our best, Princess Hazel."
The little girl giggled upon being called a princess. Her hand moved to touch the crown on her hair and her smile widened.
"Alright. You should stay with your uncle," Edith said. "I'm going over there and help the other teachers. Later, the teacher will call everyone over to hand over the prizes you win from the game."
"Un. I know," Hazel nodded obediently.
Edith turned to Neil again. She flashed him a smile and spoke, "President Mo, I should get going first."
His eyes narrowed and Neil watched as Edith scurried away towards the school building. The frown on his face deepened as various thoughts appeared on his mind. When he could no longer see her figure, Neil looked away to his niece and the little girl was still holding the number card in her hand with excitement on her face.
"Hazel," Neil called her name and the little girl walked over to him.
"Uncle, look at this. We got second place."
A rare smile curled on his lips. "Are you not upset that we didn't get the first place?"
"I'm not." Hazel bit on her lips as the memories of her mother came to her mind. "Mama said that there days when you will win and there are days you will lose. As long as I tried my hardest, that is enough. Besides," Hazel paused and forced a smile. "We won first place for the first game. This time, we should let others win too."
Neil bent to kiss the little girl on her hair.
A proud feeling surged into his heart. He could feel that both Adam and Claire had raised the little girl well. Although he knew nothing about being a parent or how to educate a child, Neil hoped that he will not disappoint his brother and sister-in-law in raising Hazel.
As his mind drifted back to the couple, Neil heard a familiar voice calling out his name. Neil turned around and his expression softened upon finding Headmistress Fu standing behind him.
"Headmistress Fu," he greeted politely. A thought came to his mind and Neil continued, "Thank you for your agreement with Hazel's new living arrangement."
"You don't have to thank me. As long as this arrangement did not disturb Teacher Qian with her work, or cause any inconvenience to the kindergarten I will not disagree with it." The elderly lady glanced at Hazel who had run off to her friends and smiled. "I trust that the new living arrangement is well?"
"Yes."
"Then, I am relieved." Headmistress Fu let out a sigh.
A few months ago, Madame Mp had come over to the kindergarten and asked her to look over the two. It was then that she decided to introduce Hazel's classroom teacher, Edith.
"Teacher Qian had almost the same experience as Hazel," Headmistress Fu continued. "This is why I had introduced her to your mother when she came over to this kindergarten a few months ago. I hope that she will be able to help Hazel to get better. Looking at Hazel, I am glad that she was better than the first day she returned."
Hearing Headmistress Fu's words, Neil was reminded that Edith had lost her parents when she was younger and it was her grandfather who had raised her. Suddenly, Neil found himself curious about Edith's childhood and how she had grown up without her parents by her side.
…
The parents and child activity day ended after the prize-giving ceremony. As Edith was a part of Hazel and Neil's team, the three of them stood together at the stage to receive their prize.
Hazel stood at the center while holding a unicorn plush toy in her hand with excitement.
After a photographing session, the three of them head down the stage and Edith quickly walked away to get back to her assigned task.
"Teacher Qian."
Her steps halted upon hearing his voice and Edith turned around to meet Neil's gaze. A thought crossed her mind and Edith glanced at the little girl beside Neil.
"President Mo, it will take me a while before my job here ended," Edith said. "I still have to stay and clean up everything first. Will you bring along Hazel with you or will you let her stay with me here?"
"We will wait for you," Neil said. "Hazel had done her best to join today's activity. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea for us to celebrate. You don't have to prepare dinner tonight. Let's go out and have a meal together after you're done."
Edith stared back at the man's face. After being too close to him earlier, she was starting to get uneasy and thought that it would be better if she did not get too close to him.
However, a part of her was worried that he might notice that little change in her and therefore, she was hesitating.
After weighing her decision, Edith finally answered. "Alright."