“Okay, I’ll drink it later,” Nana took the chicken soup and nodded.
The taste of the chicken soup hit her again, and Nana felt nauseous. Her face turned pale, and she accidentally spilled the soup on the floor.
Mrs. Waters looked heartbroken as she watched all of the chicken soup go to waste. “You didn’t have to drink it if you didn’t want to, but why did you have to waste it?” Mrs. Waters scolded Nana harshly. “Carl asked me to take care of you, and I did my best for you. Why can’t you appreciate that?”
Nana’s face turned even paler as she quickly tried to explain herself, “Mrs. Waters, I didn’t mean to spill it! My stomach has been upset these past few days… I’ll clean up the mess soon.”
To avoid making Mrs. Waters angrier than she already was, Nana tried her best to make amends.
Carl had just returned from work when he heard a commotion upstairs; his first thought was that Nana and his mother were arguing again.
He put down his things in a hurry and rushed upstairs, “Nana? Mom? What happened?”
As soon as he reached their room, he saw chaos everywhere: chicken soup spilled on the carpet with ceramic bowl fragments scattered across the floor.
Nana’s face was pale while his mother looked displeased; Mrs. Waters spoke first, “I listened to your advice about taking care of your future wife by having our kitchen prepare some nutritious chicken soup for her… but when she smelled it, she threw up all over my carpet!”
“Mom,” Carl defended Nana immediately knowing how sensitive pregnancy could be for women like her; he continued reassuringly, “It’s okay if some got spilled.”
Seeing Carl defend Nana made Mrs. Waters unhappy; frowning deeply, she said, “I specially stewed this pot of chicken broth for hours just so that your future wife could benefit from its nutrients.”
Nausea overwhelmed poor Nana who couldn’t help but cover her mouth in an attempt not to throw up again.
“I’ve also been pregnant before,” Mrs. Waters continued worriedly. “But back then, I wasn’t so fragile like this girl is now! She’s too precious! Even though we should treasure our children, but we must also consider their nutrition needs or else they might grow into deformed babies…”
Carl looked at his mother helplessly and reassured her, “Mom, it’s okay. Nowadays, we have scientific parenting, and potential issues can be detected.”
“We will go for regular check-ups, and the baby will be fine,” Carl patted his mother’s shoulder and said, “Nana appreciates your intention of making chicken soup.”
After speaking, Carl gestured for Nana to say something.
Nana immediately understood, “Mrs. Waters, I’ll drink the chicken soup after my morning sickness passes.”
Carl tried to smooth things over between them, and Mrs. Waters didn’t want her son to be in a difficult position. She looked at Nana with a scowl and said, “You two can cook for yourselves. See what Nana wants to eat.”
After Mrs. Waters left, Carl put his arm around Nana’s shoulder and helped her sit down. “Nana, are you okay? My mom has that kind of personality. Don’t take it personally.”
Having lived under the same roof for a long time now, Nana knew Mrs. Waters’ personality well and knew that Carl was really good to her and their unborn child. For Carl’s sake and the baby’s sake, she was willing to endure these things.
“I’m fine,” Nana chuckled lightly. “It’s just that my appetite hasn’t been good these past few days; I accidentally spilled it when I smelled the chicken soup.”
Carl looked at Nana tenderly; he worried about her body not being able to handle this if it continued like this.
“It won’t do if you don’t eat anything all the time,” Carl hugged Nana gently as he spoke softly, “Not just for our child but your body can’t handle it either.”
He went downstairs himself while instructing Nana to rest in their room properly so he could keep an eye on cooking in kitchen.
According to what she liked most, Nana was served several dishes specially made by chef which included squirrel fish with cinnamon sticks, clean stir-fried vegetables, and oil-burst shrimp hoping she would eat more or less some of them so as supplement energy on her body.
After resting briefly, Carl came up carrying a large plate with squirrel fish with cinnamon sticks, clean stir-fried vegetables, and oil-burst shrimp, all of which were Nana favorite dishes.
“Nana, taste this dish freshly made by our chef,” said Carl gently handing over spoonfuls of food while watching her closely as she ate.
Looking at delicious food, Nana was delighted but suddenly felt nauseous again. “Take it away… I feel like throwing up…”
Even though they were dishes she usually loved, she couldn’t swallow any of them now because of pregnancy nausea.
Carl looked at her sympathetically, hugged his wife tightly saying, “Nana, you’ve worked hard during your pregnancy.”
This was also his first time accompanying Nana during pregnancy; he never expected such severe reactions during this period.
“How about resting for a while? Lie down on bed,” suggested Carl as he poured water into glass placing it on bedside table next to her bed.
Just when they were ready to rest, a nanny suddenly knocked on the door.
“Mr. Waters, someone is here,” said the nanny slowly.
Carl furrowed his brow. There were guests in the house, but who could it be? He needed to go down and see for himself.
Looking at Nana in the room, Carl spoke up. “Nana, there are guests in the house. I’ll go downstairs and check it out. You rest upstairs for a while.”
The guest that Carl needed to entertain was likely an important one. Nana struggled to get up and said, “No, I’ll come with you so as not to upset your mother.”
For Mrs. Waters’ sake, Nana endured her physical discomfort and helped Carl downstairs.
In the living room downstairs, Mrs. Waters was chatting affectionately with a young girl while holding her hand with a smile on her face.
“Mom,” Carl said as he came down with Nana.
Mrs. Waters quickly pulled him over and asked excitedly, “Guess who’s here?”
Pointing at the beautiful young woman beside her, she introduced, “This is Grace!”
Grace Panchak was Carl’s neighbor whom he grew up together since childhood until they lost touch when she went abroad for studies.
“Grace just came back from studying abroad,” Mrs. Waters continued happily, “She came all this way just to visit me! Look at all these gifts she brought me! She’s such a thoughtful child!”
Mrs. Waters held Grace’s hand tightly without letting go while praising her non-stop.
Nana watched them chatting happily like old friends but felt like an outsider unable to join their conversation.
Noticing Nana’s awkwardness, Carl took hold of her hand and introduced, “Grace, this is my fiancée. Nana is pregnant recently.”
As soon as he mentioned Nana, Carl couldn’t help but smile from ear-to-ear.
Seeing this scene made Grace secretly jealous. She had always liked Carl since they were kids, but after going abroad for studies, she found out that Carl already had a fiancée, and now he was about to become a father!