Chapter 153: There was no other way
The restaurant Michael chose based on the reviews, since they hadn’t exactly gone out to have a family dinner at an expensive restaurant before, had a very nice atmosphere and view.
They chose to eat on the top floor, where the view of the nightlife was incredible, thanks to the see-through glass.
And of course, expensive.
But Noah had that covered.
"Have this, sweetheart." Michael said, giving Olivia the dessert that had just come in. "It’s your favorite flavor."
Olivia liked chocolate and after that, she liked even more chocolate. Okay, let’s just say everything she liked was chocolate, then maybe you could squeeze in a strawberry at one point.
Michael felt it was because she was a kid and kids tend to love chocolate, but she had an unfounded obsession with chocolate and would choose it over any other sweet.
"You like chocolate?" Noah asked, stroking her hair back and she nodded, smiling gleefully.
"Yes, daddy. Lots and lots of chocolate so if you want to bribe me, you can use chocolate instead."
"Olivia, why would your father want to bribe you?" Michael asked, surprised but then Olivia smirked, mischievously.
"Hm, who knows? Daddy might want to know a thing or two about Papa that Papa doesn’t want him to know about, and I know about it, so..." She chuckled. "I believe you understand."
They both stared at her for a while and then laughed.
So, she wanted to be bribed? What a crude practice in order to get more chocolate. Michael decided he should correct her on that, but then realized she knew exactly what the word ’bribe’ entailed, so she probably knew it wasn’t a lawful practice.
Even if he told her now, she would find another way to bypass it.
Why did she have to be so smart?
"I don’t think there’s a need to bribe you." Noah said. "If you want chocolate, just let me know and I’ll get lots for you."
"Really?"
"Not too much though." Michael shipped in, sighing at his own defeat. "She’ll get cavities and a belly ache if she eats too much at a time so that’s why we limit it to a certain number of times per week."
Hearing this, Olivia pouted her lips. This was her chance to extort a lot of chocolate from her daddy but her papa ended up ruining it.
"Then just this once," Noah said. "Let me spoil her a bit and then get her checked right away to avoid problems." He smiled at Olivia. "It’ll be all the chocolate I never got to give you till this moment."
Michael stared, shocked but his shock turned to refusal as he shook his head and said,
"You don’t have to do that." He looked into Noah’s eyes. "If you just go ahead with that then you’ll be giving your daughter a belly ache just because you wanted to give her all the chocolate you couldn’t give her for four years."
"Hm," Noah thought about it, looking at Olivia who was just watching them in silence and waiting for a conclusion.
Michael felt he might be depriving Noah of what he wants to do to make up for his wasted time away from his daughter. It made him uncomfortable but he couldn’t compromise this.
That time they let Olivia eat all the chocolate she could stuff into her belly, she ended up with a stomach ache that made her go pale and she cried even when Roland was taking care of it.
It was a sight that he could not manage.
She had never gotten ill since she clocked 1, so that sight made him worry a lot and despite Roland’s assurance that it was just a belly ache from eating too much chocolate, he wanted to contact Noah, fearing that their daughter was dying.
His fears were understandable but they were able to stop him from trying to contact Noah or Sebastian.
It was during the time Michael had finally stabilized his emotions and was no longer weeping every night so it was as if he would suddenly revert to that state.
It took all they could to assure him that Olivia would be fine and calm his heart.
Only after Olivia was able to fall asleep and was breathing properly without shifting in pain did Michael calm down.
He cried that night, feeling he was very incompetent.
"Instead of that," Michael spoke up and Noah turned to him. "Let’s do it like this. You’re on chocolate duty from now on. Every Tuesday, you’ll get Olivia her chocolate. That should make up for the times you didn’t get her chocolate, alright?"
Noah listened to this and nodded.
There was no other way.
"I’m okay with that."
Olivia looked at her daddy and then at her papa and then sighed.
’I wish to build my immunity to sweets so I can have all the chocolate in the world,’ she thought, quite a childish mindset. But this new wish was what she thought of after her daddy arrived.
Now, she didn’t need to wish for her daddy to come home every day. She was free to wish for whatever she wanted to wish now because the first wish had already come true.
’I’m sure my next wish will come true as well.’ she thought, her eyes sparkling. ’The first wish took a while to come true so I won’t be impatient for this next one. It can take five years as well but it can also take ten years. No matter what, I will gain that immunity.’
They watched Olivia’s determined expression and how she was huffing, letting steam blow from her nostrils with so much seriousness.
It looked cute and they laughed.
Whatever she looked so determined about, they hoped she would get her heart’s desire soon.
After the dinner, they went off to the suite.
In the car, Roland was driving, Alyssa was in the passenger seat, while the three, Michael, Noah, and Olivia, sat at the back with Olivia sitting in between them and chattering nonstop.
Noah paid keen attention to his daughter, and from time to time, he would lift his gaze to look at Michael, who was also paying attention to their daughter.
He’d notice Noah’s gaze and lift his. Their eyes would lock and then a soft smile would play on their lips.
That was how things went until they got to the five-star hotel.
"Are we really going to stay in a suite, Daddy?" Olivia asked.
Noah lifted her and made her sit on his arm as if she weighed nothing at all.
"Do you know what a suite is, sweetheart?" Michael asked.
"Hmmm," she pressed her index finger on her lips and then tittered. "It’s a big house inside a house with many rooms."
Hm, not exactly the ideal explanation but she was close.
Since the suite was like a luxurious house inside a hotel building, it was a house inside a house.
"Where did you get that idea from?" Noah asked, wondering what she was doing that she came across the word ’suite’ and got an idea of it.
A child her age shouldn’t even know what a hotel is.
"Hm, the Internet." She confessed innocently and their eyes twitched.
And what in the world was she doing on the Internet that she looked up a suite?
"Ah, don’t misunderstand," She frantically waved her small hands. "I was only wondering what Aunty and Uncle meant when they said they would go on a vacation and stay at a suite."
Noah and Michael turned their heads towards Alyssa and Roland who quickly averted their eyes.
"What in the world were you talking about in front of the kid?" Michael asked, his eyes blazing at them.
"Not in front of me." Olivia said and it looked like she was covering for them since they couldn’t even come up with an excuse. "I was, um, what was that word?"
"Eavesdropping." Roland said. "The kid was definitely eavesdropping."
"Ah, yes. That’s the word. I was eavesdwopping." She said, her tongue giving away her status as a child and they laughed. "No, don’t laugh. I’ll get it this time. I’ll definitely get it." She wanted to pronounce it again and this time say it like the adults do but the ’r’ in her tongue kept rolling towards ’w’ and their laughter got her red in the face.
She pouted, her cheeks puffed in dissatisfaction and her eyes teary from embarrassment.
"I’ll grow up very big soon."
"Yes, you will, honey." Michael kissed her forehead but that was not enough to console her. Someone had to take a fall with her.
"I... I’ll even be taller than Aunty just you wait." She said, throwing a stone at Alyssa and she froze.
Olivia just called her short in such a cruel way.
"Ahh, my chest," she grabbed her chest but Roland laughed.
"You’ve been served." He gloated and she frowned.
"Okay, I get what happened but what was the talk about a vacation?" Michael asked. "Are you two planning something?" He squinted his eyes, his expression turning to that of a love detective. "Is there something going on that I don’t know about?"
"What?! There’s nothing." Alyssa immediately reacted, making it evident that there was indeed something under the surface.
"There’s definitely something," Olivia added, having the same detective expression as her papa.
"I think so too, sweetheart. They’re hiding something."
Noah watched them and all their spectacle. He couldn’t even butt in if he wanted to.
This was the bond they had created without him.
It was a bit lonely and he was jealous, but he would try to match their energy going forward. There was no way he would accept being left out when he had come this far.
"Then, shall we start heading in?" He asked. "We’ll take the top floor."
