Jie had to take a shower in the guest room but he couldn’t do anything about it. Even standing under the showerhead, his mind was wandering off to his wife. "Argh! She’s a hot mess. Emphasis on the hot part since she loves to make a mess out of me!" He ran his fingers through his hair exasperatedly.
Coming out of the room with a towel around his neck, Jie checked the door of his bedroom again. But finding it still locked, he sighed out, "I have the cruelest wife in the world."
"And you still love her..."
Jie was startled as he heard that voice and turned around with a hand over his chest. Looking at that little boy that reached his waist, he said, "For goodness sake, Bao! You scared the living daylight out of me."
The little boy, Zhu Bao shrugged his shoulders indifferently and turned around to walk towards the kitchen. Jie followed behind him and seeing his usual straight face, he asked, "Son, why are you awake at midnight?"
Zhu Bao poured himself a glass of orange juice and turned to face his father. "You can remember that my mother hates sesame powder even at the most unexpected of moments but you can’t even remember that your son has a habit of waking up in the middle of the night?"
That was a blatant taunt at Jie’s ego which made him purse his lips. Aiyo! It was difficult to argue with his own son. Using his arms, Zhu Bao sat down at the breakfast counter and looked at his father curiously. "Did mom kick you out again?"
Jie who was gonna drink some water, paused in his action and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I just came out for some fresh air."
"I feel bad saying this but... I pity you, dad." Jie was left speechless at his son’s words but Zhu Bao was his own son, how could he be done so easily? "Be strong, dad. As they say, men should be like coffee, hot sweet and strong!"
Jie’s mouth opened wide as he stared at his son who was languidly drinking the juice. "Where did you learn that?"
Zhu Bao wiped his face with the back of his hand and said, "It’s a famous Dutch proverb, haven’t you heard it?"
"No, I have not! And you should not too!" replied Jie with a complicated look before saying, "Your mom loves you a lot, why don’t you ask her to open the door for me?"
Zhu Bao jumped down and stood close to Jie. He beckoned Jie to lower down and Jie had to hunch over to match his height. He wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and said, "I can only provide you with moral support. Because a man should never involve a third person in an argument, in business, and in a marriage. It has brutal consequences."
Jie’s face twitched as he heard him say all that. He held him in his arms and stood up straight. "Where do you even come up with all this?"
"Oh, this one I learned from Ruru," he answered matter-of-factly as if Jie was supposed to know about this.
"Your godmother is up to no good as expected of her. Why is she teaching so much nonsense to my son?"
Zhu Bao narrowed his eyes at his father and warned, "My Ruru is never wrong. So, dad, mind your words."
"Son, you’re too young for this conversation," Jie tried to stir him away from the anger. Since Jie was aware that his son’s sore spot was his godmother a.k.a Jie’s best friend/cousin, Ru. How could it not be like that? It was already an established fact that even though Zhu Bao was the young prince of the Zhu family. Ru was still the person who pampered him the most.
"Dad, Ruru also said, the most childish of people are those who bring up your age to end an argument. Age has nothing to do with intelligence or knowledge. Everything begins with perception and will."
Jie heaved a long sigh and walked towards Zhu Bao’s room without a word. It was safe to say that even at the age of 8, his son had the ability to make him think twice. Zhu Bao wasn’t like him, he had his brown eyes but that’s all. He wasn’t like his mother either. His temperament was completely different from others.
And when Zhu Bao’s first words were Ru’s name, Jie had figured that his son was gonna be a masterpiece. Now, there was no doubt left. Zhu Bao was a genius even in school. The only problem was that he didn’t have many expressions. He either didn’t talk or if he did, then he’d never give the other person a chance to talk.
Jie tucked him in his bed and sat beside him when he heard Zhu Bao’s voice, "You can sleep with me if you want." Jie smiled at his offer and laid down beside him. "Dad..."
"Hmm..."
"Why do you always lose when it comes to mom?"
Jie stroked his head gently and said, "Because... I can either keep my pride or my love. Somehow, I end up choosing love every single time. Or I guess I’m too afraid to lose your mother."
Jie hugged him and sighed. He knew his son was the sensitive one even though he acted like a strong person. But Zhu Bao felt everything stronger than others. He could observe people so well, that it was envious. And yet his sensitivity was the reason he was becoming distant from the world.
"Don’t you ever get angry? I mean mom is always willful, doesn’t that ever annoy you?" Zhu Bao asked again keeping his head on his father’s arm.
"She gave me the biggest gifts of my life in the form of you and my princess. How can I dare say anything to her?"
Zhu Bao’s lips curled up slightly at his reply. As they both just closed their eyes, the adjoined door in Zhu Bao’s room was pushed open and a little girl in her purple pajamas stood there with a scowl.
"Bro, how can you steal my dad while I was asleep?" She came around the bed and laid down on Jie’s other side while pushing Zhu Bao’s hand away.
"Don’t make a scene in the middle of the night," was Zhu Bao’s reply while he placed his hand back on Jie’s shoulder.
Jie chuckled at their banter and hugged them both saying, "My little prince and princess, let’s just sleep now. Dad is really tired."
He felt so relaxed and happy that he couldn’t put his happiness in words. Both his kids were hugging him to sleep. The night that was supposed to be lonely turned into a beautiful one. Ah! But his wife was still missing.
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