Free Web NovelChapter 480: Michael Was At A Loss
Jake looked up and glanced at Michael, obviously still resistant. He had approved of Michael as his father previously, but Michael had created trouble again. Jake examined Wendy from head to toe but did not find anything unusual about her.
Before he arrived, Jake had mentally prepared himself because he assumed that something big must have happened in Rheinsville City, or Michael would not have asked them to come.
But nothing seemed to be wrong. Jake was confused. But it was good that Wendy was fine. Jake only cared about his mother and sister. As long as his mother and sister were fine, nothing else mattered.
"Wendy, don’t force Jake. Let him take his time," Michael spoke up for Jake. "We have many more years to come. One day, I will eventually hear him call me Daddy willingly."
Wendy let a small sigh of resignation. Jake saw some disappointment on Wendy’s face and he wanted to make her happy. So he opened his mouth and said, "Daddy."
Though there was no emotion in the way he addressed Michael, it made both Michael and Wendy smile happily. As long as he was willing to say "Daddy," they saw it as a good start.
"Heehee..." Leah felt happy as well when she saw her parents smile.
"That smells so good. Daddy, Mummy, have you eaten?" Leah jumped off the couch and followed the smell of the food. She saw the spread on the table and said in delight, "You haven’t eaten yet? We haven’t too."
The others followed Leah to the dining table. Zess saw that there was not a lot of food. She guessed that they had only prepared enough for two.
Zess put the bags down and said, "I’ll cook a couple more dishes. You guys should go ahead. I won’t be long."
"Let me do it," Michael quickly stopped Zess. "All of you will eat first. I’ll prepare more food."
"You’ll prepare more?" Zess looked at him in disbelief. She looked at the food on the table and asked in surprise, "Did you cook all that?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Michael nodded. Zess laughed and said, "I didn’t know you could cook that well."
Zess had never seen Michael cook. Zess was always with Wendy and had only been in Lake City with the children for a while. During that time, Michael had been very busy. So with Zess around to prepare all their meals every day, Michael didn’t have to cook.
"You had a long trip here with the two children. You should rest and let me do it," Michael said and went to the kitchen.
Seeing Michael busying himself in the kitchen, Zess wanted to give him a hand but Wendy stopped her. "Let him do it. If you find that it tastes really awful and can’t swallow it, then you may cook something for yourself."
"Why would it not taste good? They don’t look too bad." Zess said.
Wendy waved her hand and gestured for Zess to sit at the table. Zess nodded.
"Let’s eat first. You guys had a long flight and must be hungry," Wendy said as she served the two children some food.
Zess was supposed to be the helper around the house. When she saw how her boss was still busy in the kitchen, she felt uneasy about being seated at the table before he did.
She thought about it for a while and then stood up. "You should start first. I think I should go and help Michael."
Wendy reached over to hold Zess’s hand. "Zess, sit and eat," Wendy said with a smile.
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"I..." Zess started to protest.
"I’m ordering you to sit down and eat. Now, will that do?" Wendy interrupted Zess before she could say anything. However, this order was extremely gentle.
Zess had been working for Wendy for many years and had been taking care of the children since they were born. Though Wendy would not claim that Zess was like a mother to her, she had always treated Zess as a part of the family.
"Zess, eat with us," Leah said to Zess with a smile.
"That’s right, Zess. Let him..." Jake had used the third-person pronoun when he paused and changed his mind, "Let Daddy do it."
"Zess, you don’t have to be so formal with us. Have I ever held myself back with you?" said Wendy. She set up a place for Zess at the table and served some food on her plate, making Zess feel compelled to take a seat.
"Eat with us," Wendy repeated.
"I..." Zess felt a little flustered.
"You don’t expect me to feed you, do you?" Wendy made a mock angry face. "That request would be a little overboard."
"No no no," Zess immediately waved her hands. She quickly sat down and started eating.
Wendy looked on in satisfaction as Zess ate. Then, she watched over the two children eating while glancing at the kitchen. "Why are you all here?" she whispered to Zess.
Although Wendy had already guessed the reason, she could not resist asking.
"Mr. Lucas called yesterday and wanted me to bring Leah and Jake here to you. But he did not explain why, he just wanted me to bring them here," Zess whispered back.
"Daddy must know that we miss you and so he wants us to come here to bring you home with us," Leah said with a knowing look.
Wendy pinched Leah’s little cheeks lightly at her answer.
"Mummy, you don’t know why?" Jake threw the question back at her.
Wendy felt a little embarrassed by Jake’s question. She knew the reason, but how should she explain it to her children? She finally said with a smile, "It’s probably like what Leah said."
"I told you so! I’m right!" Leah smiled even wider when she heard Wendy’s reply.
Jake studied Wendy’s expression very closely. He could not sense anything unusual.
Gradually, he started to feel more at ease. He helped to serve more food onto Wendy’s, Leah’s and Zess’s plates.
Leah continued eating happily. Then, as if a thought had crossed her mind, Leah looked around the hotel room and asked out of curiosity, "Why are you and Daddy staying at a hotel? Why aren’t you at home?"
Wendy stopped eating. Suddenly, the room fell silent.
"Mummy..." Leah called out when Wendy did not reply, the smile on Leah’s face slowly faded. Jake noticed a change in Wendy’s expression as well. He had thought that everything was good and that there was no trouble. But it seemed like not all was well.
"Because Mummy and I have decided to return to Lake City..." Michael answered while bringing out the food he had just prepared. "And so we have returned the house."
"But Daddy, that house was bought by Mummy. That house belongs to us," said Leah. She was usually clueless about things around her but suddenly she seemed very clear-headed.
"I meant sold. We sold the house," Michael quickly added. "Anyway, we’re not planning to come back here anymore. The four of us will all live in Lake City together, okay?"
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"Five, including Zess," said Leah. She had not forgotten about Zess.
"Right, with Zess too," Michael went along with Leah. Anything to stop Leah from asking about the house.
"But we have lived in that house for such a long time. I can’t bear to say goodbye to it," said Leah, returning to the topic of the house. "I was looking forward to going back to that house while we’re here. Now that you’ve sold it, does that mean I can’t go and look at it?"
Michael was at a loss. He did not know how to respond to Leah. He did not understand why Leah was so hung up over the house today.
Jake continued observing Wendy’s expression. Something was obviously not quite right with her when the topic of the house was brought up. It seemed like the reason Michael had brought the children to Rheinsville City had something to do with the house.
Jake gave Leah some food and changed the topic, "Leah, you haven’t tried Daddy’s cooking. How does it taste?"
"It’s yummy," Leah nodded immediately in response to Jake’s question. "Daddy’s cooking is the most yummy in the world!" she praised Michael.
"So Mummy’s cooking is not as good?" Jake pitted Daddy and Mummy against each other on purpose to make Leah forget about the house. Indeed, Jake knew his sister very well.
His question stumped Leah for quite a while. Her frown was frozen on her face as she seriously pondered his question.
And then she answered very seriously, "Both Mummy and Daddy’s cooking are very good. Both of them are the best in the world to me."
"What about me?" Zess decided to join in the fun.
"Yours is very good too," Leah answered with a smile. She didn’t want to offend anyone.
Michael reached under the table for Wendy’s hand and squeezed it like he was giving her encouragement and comfort. Wendy lowered her gaze a little and took a deep breath. Then, as if she was mustering up all her courage, Wendy smiled and joined in the conversation, "So Mummy’s cooking is not the best. I’m so sad."
"That’s right, Mummy’s cooking is the best," Leah changed her mind the moment she heard that Wendy was sad. "Daddy is second best and Zess is the third best."
Michael found Leah’s change in her order of preference both amusing and sad at the same time. "Leah, are you sure you have ranked us according to how delicious you find our cooking?"
It was obvious that Leah had ranked them in order of who was most important to her. Leah smiled a little awkwardly, as if she were caught red-handed.
"Oh all right, stop teasing her," Wendy said. She gave Leah more food. Leah’s question about the house had made Wendy feel very bad. She had tried very hard to forget what had happened in that house. But when Michael squeezed her hand, she felt that she was able to relax a little.
No matter what happened, as long as they were together as a family, that’s all that mattered, wasn’t it? She should not punish herself and Michael anymore. She took a deep breath and a smile returned to her face.
"Are you all tired after such a long flight? Do you want to go out and play later in the afternoon or take a good, long nap?" asked Wendy.
"I’m not tired! I want to play! Let’s all play together!" Leah replied excitedly.
"Okay, let’s go out if you’re not tired," Wendy smiled warmly.
It had been a while since she was able to spend quality time with her children. She felt that she had let them down in that aspect.
