Willow's sweet voice rang out.
"Thanks, Daddy."
"You're welcome." Zane's voice also
softened significantly.
Willow ate a spoonful of the chicken noodle
soup before looking up at Zane and speaking up. "When will Chef Frye be back, Daddy?"
Zane answered, "Next Monday"
"Tomorrow's Saturday.."
Willow murmured while counting down the
days in her mind. Then, she announced her
plan, "It's settled!
Let's cook dinner as a family on Sunday."
She eagerly wanted to experience the life of
a regular family of three. Zane met my eyes,
concerned that I would say no to Willow.
However, I didn't mind it one bit. "Sure!"
Zane relaxed upon hearing that. He caressed Willow's cheek and said, "We'll do as you say, then."
On the other hand, Zachary hadn't eaten
anything since he got home earlier. He was so hungry that his stomach kept
churning and making bubbling sounds.
Desperate, he opened the fridge to check
if there was anything to eat.
Alas, the fridge was empty. Zachary rubbed
his tummy while checking the freezer,
which had plenty of ice cream.
He hesitated, knowing Annalise,
whom he referred to as "Mean Mommy,"
didn't let him eat ice cream often because
it was bad for the stomach
"But Mean Mommy and Daddy were already divorced. She can't control me anymore!
I can eat whatever I want now!"
Zachary thought. He ate one ice cream but
still felt hungry, so he ate more. Eventually, all the ice cream left him feeling chilly,
and his stomach hurt a lot.
That was when the door clicked open.
Following that, Zachary could hear Jessica
and Steven merrily chatting
"Zachary will be happy once he sees all these things we bought him."
A smiling Jessica added,
"Don't you agree, Steven?"
One could tell from Steven's voice that
he went along with everything Jessica said.
"Yeah, he's always hoping you can spoil and shower him with affection!
I bet he'll be touched to know you went to
prepare a surprise for him even though you're pregnant"
Jessica only called out for Zachary after receiving the former's assurance. "Zachary!"
Zachary was in so much pain that he had
no energy left. He unconsciously broke out in cold sweat, which dribbled down from his
forebead. "I'm over here!"
He wondered what surprise his new mommy had prepared for him. When Steven heard
how weak Zachary sounded, he rushed to the latter at once.
His face darkened when he saw all the
opened ice cream packaging on the ground.
Yet, he knew that wasn't the time to lecture
his son. He picked Zachary up, rushed into
the car, and floured the accelerator to take
Zachary to the hospital.
Annalise was always busy caring for Zachary whenever the latter had health issues.
Now that Annalise and Steven had divorced, Steven had to do everything alone.
After all, he couldn't let the pregnant Jessica
look after his child. A nurse helped put
Zachary on an IV drip, but while doing so, she made her disapproval known.
"He's still a kid! He wouldn't know his limits
like an adult would. How could you let him
have that much ice cream?
Steven didn't know what to say, so he could
only patiently listen to the former's
complaints
"Daddy.." Zachary weakly snuggled closer to Steven's chest as he asked,"Why can't
Mommy Jessie keep me company?
Mommy used to stay with me whenever I felt sick in the past "
Now that Jessica had become Zachary's
mother, he felt she should be by his
side whenever he was sick.
Steven couldn't bear to see Zachary so weak since the latter was his flesh and blood.
"Moramy Jessie has a baby in her tummy.
She can't wear herself out too much."
Zachary couldn't understand that.
"But why could Mommy still look after me
when she was pregnant with a baby?"