"Chloe, I… I have been in lo—" the word love was so hard to get out of his throat. He swallowed his saliva that had suddenly thickened and repeated, "I have been in lo—"
"MOMMY, I'M DONE WITH BATH!"
Chloe's attention was instantly diverted towards the kitchen, where she saw her daughter appear with slightly wet hair after a bath and a bunch of colorful markers in her hand.
She waved the markers excitedly, "Mommy! Let me draw on your cast!"
Chloe giggled and quickly ignored Vernon, who stood like stone. He clenched his fist, not that he was angry at Mackie for ruining the moment, but he was disappointed and frustrated at himself for being too nervous.
He could be flirting with countless women before he reunited with Chloe because he felt nothing for them. They were all flings, past loves to fill his boredom and destress while venturing into this harsh world.
But he couldn't flirt like he used to in front of Chloe. He was bound to feel nervous when facing the only woman who had occupied his heart for over a decade.
'Should've said it sooner before Mackie comes,' Vernon thought.
But he quickly loosened his fist and joined Chloe and Mackie, who chatted in the kitchen. Chloe crouched in front of her daughter and lifted the cast covering her right arm, "What do you want to draw on Mommy's cast?"
"Uhhh… I haven't thought about it yet," Mackie said innocently. "But I want to write my name, and then draw many things!"
Chloe chuckled and sat on the floor. She offered her cast for Mackie to draw, "Go on, you can draw whatever on the cast."
Vernon watched how his niece seemed to think so hard about what to write and draw. His heart was itching to draw something, too, maybe it was part of his childhood that wanted to have fun, or he just wanted to be involved in this small family time.
But he eventually joined and sat right beside Chloe. He opened his palm and asked, "Give me the black marker."
"Um? What for, Uncle?"
"I want to write something on her cast too," Vernon replied. However, Mackie didn't give in easily. She clenched the black marker and took a step back.
"Uncle, promise me that you will write something nice! I don't want my Mommy's cast to have bad words!"
"Tch, I'm not going to write bad words. Just give me the black marker."
Mackie finally handed the black marker to her Uncle.
Vernon pulled the marker tip and quickly glanced at Chloe, asking for her consent.
Chloe smiled and nodded, "Go write anything you want."
Vernon nodded and then started writing something on the white cast.
Mackie kept a strict watch on what her Uncle was writing because she remembered how her Uncle kept cursing and shouting in his office. It gave her a bit of a shock.
Vernon paused for a moment before writing his name on the cast and glanced at Mackie, who glared at him. He grinned and wrote something else instead of his name.
He gave Mackie a second glance, and his grin grew into a mischievous smirk.
After he was done, he gave the black marker back to Mackie.
"What did you write, Uncle?" Mackie asked as she tried to read her Uncle's writing.
-
Under the Protection of
Big bad Wolf Uncle
And
Little Wolf Mackie.
-
Mackie was pleasantly surprised with the writing. Because with Uncle's and her name on the cast, nobody would dare to hurt Mommy again!
Though she disliked the fact that Uncle named her little wolf.
She pouted and protested, "Uncle, why am I a little devil? I am a Big bad wolf too!"
Vernon laughed heartily and bickered with his niece, "Hah! You have to grow up first. You're so tiny right now, I could flick your head, and you will fall!"
"Ugh!" Mackie wanted to protest. But then realized that she was indeed pretty small compared to Uncle. "Hmph! Wait until I grow up, I will be taller and bigger than you, Uncle!"
"Sure, sure, you have to work out and eat a lot if you want to grow as big as me," Vernon teased.
Chloe giggled as she watched how these two bickered.
Mackie and Vernon turned their heads at the same time and asked, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Chloe smiled. "I just found the two of you to be so adorable."
"Adorable?" Vernon frowned. "Me?"
"Mhm."
"Hmph, nonsense," Vernon slowly released Chloe's cast and got up. "You two, go sit at the dining table. What do you want for dinner, by the way?"
"Ah, I forgot to cook dinner…." Chloe muttered. She was so busy in the laundry room, trying to fold Vernon's clothes with one hand. It took so much time and wasn't practical, "L—Let me cook something."
"You? Cook something with that hand?" Vernon pointed at Chloe's cast. "You can't even chop vegetables with those. Just sit with Mackie at the dining table and let me cook. Tell me if you two have anything you want to make. I'll look up the recipe on Google or Youtube."
"Okay, Uncle!" Mackie quickly interrupted. She grabbed Mommy's left wrist and pulled her to the dining table. She didn't allow her Mommy to continue arguing with her Uncle because she knew Mommy shouldn't tire herself. "Mommy, let's sit there! I still want to draw! I want to draw a mama wolf and her baby. I also want to draw a sword, shield, lightning, cloud, or bird!"
"B—But—" Chloe was overwhelmed by Mackie, who continued pulling her to the dining table.
Thus, in the end, she could only follow her daughter and sat anxiously. At the same time, her cast was put on the table for Mackie to doodle on. Her eyes were set on watching over Vernon, who was trying to wear her apron that covered nothing since his body was too big.
"Ugh, what is this tiny apron?" he complained.
He sensed Chloe, who was staring at him worriedly. He grinned and claimed with confidence, "Don't worry, Chloe. I'm a good cook."
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