“The matter of surgery, I will consider seriously,” Eleanor said faintly, then turned and lay down on the bed. “I’m a bit tired, Isabella, you should go back first.”
“Okay.” Isabella nodded, not pressing for more. She knew the importance of patience.
She carefully tucked in her mother and quietly left the hospital room.
Leaving the hospital, she drove straight to Maple Leaf Road.
She had been filming on the set for almost two months, and she hadn’t seen Asher in almost that long. Last time on the video call, Amelia mentioned that Asher was already crawling everywhere. Isabella was somewhat surprised; her baby seemed to be growing faster and smarter than the others.
Turning left into the neighborhood, Isabella’s car stopped in front of the building.
She pushed open the door to the apartment and unexpectedly saw Andrew sitting in the living room.
He was wearing a white shirt with the collar slightly unbuttoned, giving off a lazy vibe. Asher was sitting on his lap, trying hard to climb on him.
“Asher!” Isabella kicked off her shoes and walked barefoot on the floor, running over excitedly. However, her outstretched hand was stopped by Andrew.
“Go wash your hands,” he said.
She pouted slightly, a little dissatisfied, but obediently went into the bathroom, washed her hands, and then took off her coat. Wearing a fitted chiffon shirt, she approached to hug Asher.
“It seems like the little guy has gotten heavier.” Isabella awkwardly held the child, her face glowing with a brilliant smile.
She had been away from the filming for almost three months, and for a small baby, every day brought significant changes, let alone three months.
However, the baby in the her embrace was not calm. His small body twisted and turned, waving a pair of chubby little hands, shouting, “Dad, Dad…”
“Asher can call Dad?” Isabella exclaimed in surprise. Hugging Asher, she pressed her face against his little face, coaxing, “Asher, call Mom, let Mom hear it.”
After coaxing and teaching for a long time, the little guy was still blowing bubbles and only uttering “Dad, Dad.”
Isabella playfully poked Asher’s little head with her fingertip. “You little rascal, are you doing it on purpose? I told you to call Mom, but you insist on saying Dad.”
“He still can’t say Mom,” Andrew spoke up.
“Why?” Isabella asked with a puzzled expression.
“You’ve been away, who do you want him to call?” His voice was low and magnetic, with a calm tone.
After hearing this, she nodded in agreement. “True, if you dare to find a stepmother for my son while I’m away, watch how I deal with you.”
Isabella said this without much thought. In her understanding, stepmothers were never good people, such as the stepmother in Cinderella or the cunning Charlotte. What she wanted to express was that she didn’t want Asher to suffer from mistreatment by a stepmother.
However, unintentional words can be interpreted differently.
Andrew, upon hearing this, looked up at her. His deep gaze was still hard to read. Only the slightly curved corner of his lips carried a hint of cold mockery.
“You don’t want me to find a stepmother for Asher. Does that mean you want to marry me? Or do you want me to be a bachelor for life?”
Isabella stared at him blankly, unexpectedly at a loss for words.
She felt that this topic was really not suitable to continue discussing.
Fortunately, Andrew did not show any intention to pursue further. He elegantly rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, reaching out to lift a purple clay teapot from the coffee table.
The hot tea slowly poured into the teacup, and the refreshing tea fragrance accompanied the rising white mist that floated in the air. Andrew’s cool brows disappeared behind the mist, making it hard to see clearly.
Isabella stood there awkwardly, holding her child. At this moment, she deeply regretted her impulsive words from earlier.
A brief silence fell between them.
Both fell into a brief silence.
Andrew, with a lazy demeanor, leaned back on the sofa drinking tea. Even if he didn’t speak, he exuded a powerful presence.
She felt as if the air around her was freezing, a suffocating feeling making it hard to breathe.
She stood frozen in place, neither sitting nor standing.
Fortunately, after Andrew set down the teacup, he stood up from the sofa.
“I’ll be back in a moment. Keep Asher company.”
After Andrew left, Isabella finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In the living room, a soft wool carpet was spread in front of the French windows. Isabella sat on the carpet, holding Asher, and began telling him stories.
Asher was an active little guy. After listening for a while, he couldn’t sit still and crawled toward his toy car, using both hands and feet. He was like a little puppy, enjoying smelling things around him. Isabella found it amusing; her son indeed had a sensitive sense of smell.
Isabella played with him and toys, and Amelia teased, “One big child and one small child, no wonder they get along so well.”
After the evening, Asher took a bath, drank milk, and fell asleep just past seven.
Isabella originally planned to leave after Asher fell asleep, but heavy rain started pouring down in the evening, making it pitch dark outside.
“It’s deep autumn, why such heavy rain?” she couldn’t help complaining.
“With this weather, it’s not safe to drive. You better stay overnight,” Amelia suggested.
Isabella nodded. “Tonight, I’ll stay with Asher. Amelia, you have a good night’s rest.”
Amelia smiled. Although she didn’t refute, in her eyes, Isabella was still a child who needed care. How could she take good care of Asher? Asher woke up around two every night to drink milk, and Isabella probably didn’t even know how much milk he drank or how many scoops of formula were used.
“Well then, you stay with Asher. If he wakes up, call me. I’ll sleep in the next room,” Amelia said.
Isabella slept in the nursery, lying on a single bed with Asher’s crib beside her.
The little guy was sleeping soundly, chubby cheeks and a red little mouth, innocent and harmless.
She quietly watched him, a smile unconsciously forming at the corner of her lips.
The room was extremely quiet, as if even the air was silent.
However, outside the window, lightning occasionally cut across the sky, and the sound of pouring rain was particularly loud.
Isabella couldn’t fall asleep no matter how she tossed and turned, so she decided to sit up.
She looked at the baby in the crib; he hadn’t changed his position and was still sleeping peacefully.
Gently tucking him in, she then quietly walked out of the room, planning to get a glass of water from the kitchen.
Quietly going down the stairs, when passing through the living room, she noticed that the wall lamp was still on.
Isabella thought it was left on by Amelia, but as she approached, she found Andrew lying on the black leather sofa.
He was wearing a very formal white shirt and black trousers. The blue-striped tie was crooked, buttons of the shirt were undone, revealing a sculpted chest rising and falling faintly.
His right hand was resting on his forehead, and his attractive eyebrows were deeply furrowed. Although he seemed to be sleeping quietly, a powerful and cold aura emanated from him.
A faint scent of alcohol wafted in the air.
Isabella thought, “He must have drunk too much and collapsed on the sofa after coming home.”
“On such a rainy day, why did he go out to drink? ” she grumbled and complained.
Then, she quickly ran upstairs and brought down a thick blanket.
Isabella, holding the blanket, squatted by the sofa.
In the dim light, Andrew’s facial features were deep and three-dimensional. Isabella couldn’t help but sigh; with these good genes, her Asher would surely grow up to be a handsome young man.
She unfolded the blanket and gently covered Andrew. Just as she was about to get up and leave, her wrist was tightly grabbed. Suddenly, with a forceful pull, her body tilted and fell into the sofa.
Isabella’s upper body hit a solid wall, and as she looked up, she saw the enlarged handsome face of a man, his blue eyes deep as the ocean, clear and sober. There was no sign of drunkenness, nor did he seem like he had just woken up.
He stared deeply into her eyes, the vortex in them seemed to want to pull her in.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a deep voice, probably due to the effects of alcohol, making his voice magnetic and hoarse. Isabella widened her eyes; it seemed she just saw his pupils turn into vertical pupils like those of a wild beast once again.