After knowing each other for so many years, even though Benson had deceived her, he never once thought of hurting her. On the contrary, Cheyenne saw his efforts and knew that she owed him a debt that she might never be able to repay.
Snap!
A single tear rolled down her beautiful face silently, tugging at the hearts of everyone present.
Kelvin walked up to her nervously and hugged her shoulders. “Cheyenne, what’s wrong?”
“Cheyenne, you’re a mother of two now. Why are you still crying? I might make fun of you! My Cheyenne is tough!” Benson said.
The two little ones held onto their mother’s hand obediently with concern written all over their faces.
Seeing how much everyone cared for her made Cheyenne smile through tears. She wondered how she deserved such kindness from those around her.
Wiping away the tears from her eyes, she regained composure and said, “It’s nothing really; I’m just touched by your kindness. Benson, I’ll always consider you my brother.”
Hearing this made Benson feel elated; if being called brother could mean more time spent with Cheyenne then he was all for it!
“Okay then,” he agreed happily. “From now on I’m your big brother and you’re my little sister.”
“And when it comes time for your wedding day,” he added with a grin turning towards Kelvin pleadingly.”Let me attend it as your big brother?”
Kelvin felt a pang in his heart at this request – what was once his rival had become his future family member! How would he ever get back at this pretty boy?
Despite feeling conflicted inside, Kelvin couldn’t bear seeing Cheyenne upset, so he pretended to be aloof while nodding slightly in agreement.
Suddenly Oliver spoke up looking confused. “But then doesn’t that make our godfather into our uncle?”
Cheyene walked over holding Oliver’s hand leading him towards Benson saying, “What’s wrong with calling him Uncle? Omari will always be your godfather but now you have an extra special Uncle.”
With this explanation given, even Oliver stopped hesitating about calling him ‘uncle’ although it still felt awkward for him initially.
Cierra didn’t have any reservations about calling him ‘uncle’ sweetly which melted Benson’s heart completely .
Ignoring his own recent illness, he held Cierra in his arms and spun her around. “Alright, I’m your uncle from now on,” he declared.
Watching his sister and uncle having fun together, Oliver couldn’t help but feel envious. But the young boy’s pride made it difficult for him to admit it. He coldly muttered, “Childish!” before turning away.
Just then, Kelvin’s warm hand touched his head and his father’s magnetic voice reached Oliver’s ears. “Oliver, whether he is your godfather or uncle doesn’t matter. What matters is that he loves you just as much as we do. Go ahead and call him ‘uncle’ too.”
Even Cheyenne was surprised by Kelvin’s words – her eyes still red from crying earlier – but now they shone with a newfound brightness when she looked at him again.
“You…” She had thought Kelvin would be jealous of Benson and want Cierra or Oliver to have nothing to do with Benson; she never expected this side of him that was so understanding.
Kelvin couldn’t help but feel proud as he snorted in response to Cheyenne’s surprise. “You don’t have to praise me; all I need is for you to love me a little more every day.”
Cheyenne rolled her eyes in response, refusing to give in so easily. “Who said I was going to praise you? Don’t flatter yourself!”
“Cheyenne,” Kelvin replied seriously, “you can call me a peacock if you want… but don’t call me old!”
This was an important issue for Kelvin since he firmly believed that thirty-one years old was still young
However, Cheyenne refused to back down either. “You just said earlier that I’m approaching twenty-five!”
Kelvin quickly apologized without hesitation. “I’m sorry Cheyenne; in my heart you’ll always be an eighteen-year-old girl… so pure and lovely.”
If anyone else had heard such sweet talk, they might have given up right away – not Cheyenne though! She waved off his words disdainfully. “Stop it! This is the one thousandth thirty-ninth time you’ve apologized! And how many times have you called me ‘pure’ or ‘lovely’? Are your language skills really that limited?”
Kelvin protested immediately since after all he graduated from a prestigious foreign university- how could anyone question his language skills?
But when it came down praising his wife, even someone like Kelvin ran out of fresh vocabulary eventually!
“Don’t be mad at me Cheyenne,” pleaded Kelvin sheepishly.”I’ll go home tonight and order myself a slang dictionary.”
“Um, you’ll have to deduct this money from your allowance.”
…
Suddenly, Benson felt his ears go numb. He held Cierra in one arm and led Oliver with the other. After a moment’s thought, he decided to ask. “Do they do this every day?”
Oliver nodded and sighed lightly. “More or less. My dad’s pillow is always a dictionary.”
Cierra suddenly planted a kiss on her uncle’s cheek and whispered in his ear. “And my dad is so pitiful. He spends every day praising Mommy and begging for her forgiveness.”
Benson was taken aback by the sudden kiss but couldn’t help noticing how pure the little girl’s eyes were.
What bad intentions could a child have? She just couldn’t resist kissing her handsome uncle.
Returning to the topic at hand, knowing that Kelvin had such a difficult past made Benson feel happy all of a sudden.
He looked out of the window at the bright sunshine shining on pink cherry blossom trees outside and smiled slightly as he murmured. “This ending isn’t too bad either.”
After staying in Jostrana for almost a week, during the day Benson would lead them to various famous tourist attractions for sightseeing while Cheyenne would help him with acupuncture treatment at night.
After years of research, Cheyenne’s medical skills had improved significantly; it was evident from these few days’ acupuncture treatments that Benson’s complexion had become much healthier than before. With two children accompanying him now, his smile never faded away from his face anymore.
As people say – happiness brings joy – he was no longer as fragile as when they first met; even if there were strong winds blowing against him now, he wouldn’t fall down easily anymore.
That night after dinner, Cheyenne returned to their temporary room provided by the Miller family where she found Kelvin laying out their bedding.
Although it was October already but still quite hot outside.
She wore a Jostranan-style bathrobe just after taking a shower. Then she saw Kelvin secretly take out something from his pocket and place it next to his pillow.
What could that be?