“Go out?” Elijah wondered.
She didn’t want him to see her changing her pads. It was so embarrassing! “Don’t look! I don’t want you to see what I’m doing!”
“Your clothes are dirty. I’ll carry you to take a bath!” He had already put on his clothes. Ignoring her shout, he bent down and carried her to the bathroom, “Where are the pads? Where are the pads you bought this afternoon?”
“None of your business!” Esther was very shy.
“Shy?” He teased her. “Use warm water to bathe!”
Then he didn’t continue to embarrass her but went to the bedroom. He took the new undergarments and a nightgown from the closet. When he saw her little panties were all cute with bows, he couldn’t help but freeze. Once again, he wondered if he was robbing the cradle!
That night, they stopped halfway, and it made Elijah upset. But he was also relieved that she wasn’t pregnant! She could continue with her studies. However, when thinking of her not being pregnant, he felt a sense of loss and had different feelings in his heart. He was thinking that one day she would give birth to a baby who looked like her or himself. He was looking forward to seeing the fruit of their love!
Esther’s days were a bit hectic. She was going back and forth between school and the hospital every day. In addition, she had menstrual cramps, so her face turned pale.
A few days had passed.
Kattie still couldn’t speak. But obviously she was recovering quite well, and she could eat now.
The doctor said there was a blood clot that was suppressing her nerves. It caused speech impediment. She could recover once the clot or the blood stasis had dispersed.
On Sunday, Esther went to the hospital after drawing. Elijah was also there. He was always there in these few days. Kattie was especially happy to see Elijah.
Just like at this moment, Esther saw Kattie’s eyes were focusing on Elijah all the time. While sitting in the ward, she wanted to take care of her but didn’t know what to do. Besides, there was caregivers too. She tried to talk to Kattie. But it was obvious that she didn’t seem to like listening to her.
When she told jokes, Kattie didn’t laugh. But once Elijah spoke, she would laugh.
Esther suddenly felt upset and so out of place.
And just in time, Lena Lloyd called her.
“Lena, are you looking for me?”
“Do you have time? Come and do me a favor!” Lena said on the other side of the phone.
“Sure!” Esther agreed quickly. “I’ll be right there!”
“Going out?” Elijah had just peeled an orange and gave a slice to Kattie.
Esther saw him feeding Kattie. She ate it and smiled extremely happily. Suddenly, she felt that the way Kattie looked at Elijah was very gentle. The happy smile at the corner of her mouth was so dazzling.
Esther felt very oppressed, “It’s Lena, she asked me to help her with something. I’ve got nothing better to do here at the moment. I’ll go first!”
“Go home early!” Elijah unexpectedly didn’t stop her.
Esther smiled brightly. She always used a smile to cover up her disappointment whenever she was upset. “Kattie, I’m leaving! Let Elijah take care of you!”
After hearing her words, Kattie smiled extraordinarily bright and answered her lightly.
Esther nodded and turned around. The moment she walked out the room, the smile on her face froze. She felt somehow upset. She didn’t leave hurriedly and didn’t understand why she stopped her footsteps.
“Kattie, come, try to talk!” Elijah whispered to Kattie.
“Ah-” Kattie was like a child who was just learning to speak and making simple monotone sound.
“Relax! Take your time!” Elijah said. “Practice slowly. When you get better, I want to hear you play the piano and sing too. So you must recover!”
“Heh-heh” It sounded like Kattie’s laugh.
Esther smiled again and walked out. She felt that her steps were getting heavier. Elijah had never spoken so much with her before, but he became talkative when he was with Kattie.
Esther went to the address that Lena said to her by taxi. When she got off the car, then only she realized it was an alley, a very grubby alley. Lena was actually staying in this kind of place. It was a slum.
She walked further into the alley until she reached a dilapidated tube-shaped building. Then, she heard a child crying, followed by Lena’s voice. “Baby, don’t cry, don’t cry!”
Esther was stunned. She remembered that Lena had said she was a mother! She walked quickly into it and accidentally bumped into something. The crackling sound was extraordinarily loud. She turned around and found it was a broken old iron pot.
She was so frightened that she shouted out. This place was too crude, there were a lot of unexpected danger. When she turned around, she accidentally kicked someone’s garbage bin again and it created a loud sound. The rubbish all fell on the floor and made even louder noises.
“Esther?” Lena came out and saw Esther. She pursed her lips, “Sorry for asking you to come here. I’ve no other choice!”
“What happened?” Esther walked in the house with her. She then saw a baby crying in the baby walker.
After she got in the house, Esther realized that Lena was staying in a house which was very simple and crude. There was only one room and the furniture was worn out. But the house was very clean and neat.
The baby was very cute. He was about a year old and had a pair of eyes which were as blue as the ocean. The baby, who was initially crying, maybe because he saw someone was here and instantly stopped crying. Then, he curiously looked at Esther. His watery eyes made him more pitiful than ever. “Aww, baby. What a lovely baby. Whose baby is he?”
“Mine!” Lena smiled bitterly.
“Lena, it’s really your son?” Esther asked incredulously.
“Yes, he’s my son!” Lena said. “Oscar, say hello to Esther!”
Oscar sobbed and just stared at Esther with his eyes widely opened.
Esther smiled and pinched his cheeks. She took some tissues to wipe his tears. “Wow, baby. What are you crying about? Who dares to make our baby angry? Tell me, I will help you destroy him!”
Oscar kept looking at Esther and suddenly smiled. It was so cute when he smiled with some teardrops on his little face. He was so adorable. Only children could laugh or cry as they wanted. Esther liked this little guy right away. “Is he mixed race? Oh cutie, smile again! Come on, give me a kiss!”
“No, he got a cold! Don’t let him pass it to you!”
“Oh, I’m not afraid! I’m an adult!” Esther said and gave Oscar a big kiss on his little face. “Aww, little handsome guy. Do you like the kiss from me? Do you think I’m beautiful? Our little handsome guy laughs. Do you like me? He even has a pair of blue eyes. The eyes were so beautiful. Baby, I’m already falling in love with you. What can I do? You grow up quickly to marry me, okay? How about you becoming my hero? It’s a deal. Little Oscar grows up quickly! Hehehe…”
“Hehehe…” the little handsome Oscar followed Esther giggling.
“You have such a big honor! Although my son is fond of beautiful women, he doesn’t simply smile to anyone!” Lena said.
“Really?” Esther was playing with Oscar, “What’s his name? Oscar? How to spell it?”
“Yes! Oscar, O-S-C-A-R!” Lena said.
“Where’s the baby’s father?” Esther asked inadvertently.
Lena was indifferent and said, “I don’t know!”
Esther was stunned and looked at her.
“He is a stranger. I went to France once and I had drunk too much. Then, I accidentally had a one-night stand with a man. He seemed to be a mixed-race man. Anyway, he is not a pure race foreigner. After that, I brought Oscar back!”
She explained the origin of this child with such an understatement.
“You didn’t look for the child’s father?”
“Where should I go to find him?” Lena smiled bitterly. “After I got pregnant, I did go to France, where I was supposed to go to find him! Only left a keychain and nothing more. The keychain only had a few French words written on it. Who knows!”
Esther froze. “Oh my God!”
“It’s nothing! It doesn’t matter, it’s good enough to have Oscar!”
She was poignant and sympathized with Lena, “Lena, you take care of the baby by yourself. Furthermore, you have to go to school, and Oscar is so small. How can you cope with all of these?”
Lena explained, “Oscar has a cold. That’s why he’s crying all the time. He usually doesn’t cry. It was so embarrassing today. The nanny who takes care of my child is also sick but there is no food at home. I can’t bring him out. I’m worried he will get a fever again after getting cold. It’s ok for me if I’m hungry, but Oscar can’t be hungry. So, I want you to help me buy some groceries!”
“Ok! I’ll go get it!” Esther was wondering what she wanted her to do all this time! “Let me know what to buy!”
Lena took out the written note and money. then passed it to Esther. “Buy what’s in this list!”
Esther looked at the money she gave and took it. The money wasn’t much. Esther also didn’t ask her. Thinking that since she lived in such a simple house, Lena maybe had no much money.
Lena said with a little embarrassment, “Just buy these first. Next week I can get my pay from my part-time job. Then, I’ll buy some more!”
“Okay!” Esther took the note and money without asking any question, then left the house.
When she reached the supermarket, she realized that the prices of those things had increased. Besides, the money Lena gave could not buy that much either. Esther thought of Lena, a single mother, and she felt a sourness in her heart. Why was it always women who got hurt?
Then, she used Elijah’s card to buy a lot of household items and asked the supermarket’s distribution van to send them back! She directly asked for door-to-door service.
Until her house was filled with the items by the workers, Lena still hadn’t come back to her sense! After the workers left, Esther was playing cheerfully with Oscar. Lena looked at Esther, “Esther, how much is it? I will pay you back!”
“No need!” Esther waved her hand in a careless way. “We are friends, don’t talk about money. Besides, it’s Elijah’s credit card. I used his card. I don’t know the price!”
“Esther!” Lena said solemnly, “I’m not a beggar!”
“Lena?” Esther raised her head and saw a look of desolation in her eyes. She was flustered. “Lena, I don’t mean that, don’t be sad!”
“I’ll pay you back!” Lena didn’t want to owe anyone.
“Lena, just for this time. I promise I will not do that in the future, okay?”
Lena still insisted. “I’ll pay you back!”
Esther’s heart ached. She understood why Lena was so determined, as she had once been through the same thing when she rejected Hudson’s help. “Lena, you can owe me the money first. It’s not urgent, but I will not reject it. When you can make more money, you can pay me along with the interest. If you really do feel bad, you can repay me when one day I’m living in poverty so that I won’t starve to death!”
Lena nodded, “You’re truly a kind person. You help and don’t want to embarrass me! You won’t be poor. You still have Hudson!”
“That depends on him! I would do this to nobody else. Your baby is too handsome, I like him! I want to marry him! Let’s not mention money!”