"Ah--" Dorothea didn't expect her granddaughter to ask her to stay. So she was stunned for a second before she replied slowly, "Mackie, I still have things to do in my room. That's why I can't join you for dinner."
"Awww..." Mackie pouted sadly. "Then, can you join us for dinner tomorrow?"
"T--That I can't do as well. You know that Granny is very busy, right?"
"Umm..." Mackie naturally knew that her Grandmother was very busy. It was the main reason Mackie was never allowed to stay for too long with Granny in the Gray mansion, because she would have to meet with her socialite friends by three, and then to another party by five, et cetera.
But it was still sad because Mackie expected Granny to eat with them daily since she lived in the same apartment as them, just on a different floor.
"Can you at least eat with us for Thanksgiving, Granny?" Mackie asked. "Or Christmas, I want to open Christmas presents with you!"
Dorothea looked helpless as Mackie kept asking her to attend events she obviously couldn't do since Vernon would be there. She wasn't allowed to be in the same room as Vernon.
Thus, Chloe came to the rescue. She gently patted Mackie's head and said, "Dear, you should let your Granny go. She still has things to do."
"But she hasn't promised me to eat together for Thanksgiving!" Mackie insisted. She tightened her hug on her Granny.
Chloe and Dorothea looked at each other pitifully. Of course, if possible, they'd love to be together for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
But they had to adhere to Vernon's rule since Vernon tolerated Dorothea enough.
"Dear, how about we eat lunch in Granny's apartment tomorrow. That way we can still eat with her, right?" Chloe suggested.
"Umm... okay then..." Mackie was still sad that Granny wouldn't be with them for Christmas or Thanksgiving, but at least they could still eat together in her apartment. 'I will ask Uncle about this later! I'm sure he can join us too during the weekend!'
Mackie slowly released her hug and allowed Dorothea to leave. She gave Mackie and Chloe a sad look, "Thanks for allowing me to help you here. It's been fun."
"I should be the one who thank you, Dorothea. I won't be able to finish all of them on time without your help."
Dorothea had a little smile on her face before she left.
Despite agreeing with the terms, Mackie was still sad. She returned to the living room and then silently played with her iPad.
Chloe sighed. It was such a difficult situation to handle. Mackie didn't know what was wrong with her Uncle and Grandma, and there was no way to tell her that Grandma had been awfully abusive to her Uncle when he was young.
'I just hope that Vernon's heart will somehow be softened so he will allow Dorothea to be with us during Christmas and Thanksgiving,' Chloe secretly wished. She didn't dare to hope for it because she knew Vernon wasn't the forgiving type. Vernon's tolerance towards Dorothea was already a big thing that only came once in a blue moon.
Besides, it was too early for him to forgive Dorothea. It would probably take years to be together as one big family.
**
Vernon returned home around five-thirty. He unlocked the penthouse door with his fingerprint and opened the door abruptly. His worry might've been exaggerated, but he just couldn't be relaxed when he had this bad thought that Vincent might've tracked Chloe's location because of that video.
"Uncle!" Mackie's face brightened when she saw her Uncle at the door. She rushed and hugged her Uncle's thigh.
Vernon calmed down after he saw Mackie. If his little girl was here, Chloe must be with her somewhere. Vernon patted Mackie's head and asked, "Where's your Mommy?"
"Um, she is taking a bath. She's been sweating because she cooked a lot for dinner!" Mackie chirped happily, much to Vernon's relief.
'Okay, that means Vincent is still busy with that Gray foundation problem. Maybe he still hasn't noticed the news about Chelsea on social media. Things will get crazy once he knows about it though,' Vernon thought.
Mackie noticed that her Uncle wasn't in a good mood. He looked very concerned for an unknown reason.
"Uncle, are you okay?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"You look worried, Uncle. Are you okay?"
Vernon sighed. He smiled at his daughter and lifted her up. Vernon carried Mackie with one hand and then patted her head, "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired from work."
"Then you should have dinner with us! Mommy cooked a lot, we're having a feast today!" Mackie said.
"Haha, I'd love to eat with you two," Vernon ruffled Mackie's hair. He walked to the dining table carrying Mackie. He clicked his tongue in awe when he saw a variety of foods that he liked served on the table. It was still fairly warm too.
Vernon put Mackie on the chair before he sat right next to her, "I can't wait to eat, but we should wait for your Mommy first."
"Let me call her!" Mackie jumped from the chair and went down. She returned while holding her mother's hand. "We're here, Uncle!"
"C--Careful, Mackie. You might trip...." Chloe said while she followed her daughter to climb the staircases.
Vernon's lips finally perked when he saw Chloe in her pajamas, still trying to dry her hair with a towel. This kind of sight was what Vernon craved the most.
Mackie pushed her Mommy to right next to her Uncle, filling Mackie's usual spot while the little girl sat facing them instead.
Chloe's cheeks reddened when she was seated beside Vernon, she didn't know why she became so shy, but she greeted him meekly, "W--Welcome home, Vernon. I've cooked a lot for our dinner today to celebrate my recovery."
Vernon smiled. He grabbed the chair and slid it closer to his side until their knees rubbed on each other. He gave her a light peck on the cheek and asked, "Congratulations for your recovery, I'm not too late for dinner, right?"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢