Cristelle was in the car with the babies. Jack was in the driver’s seat. He sneaked a couple of glances at Cristelle through the rear-view mirror, “Mrs. Bradley, Lana, and Linford have known each other since they were small kids. They are almost like siblings.”
Cody looked up. Why was Jack explaining this?
Cristelle was also a bit stunned as well. But she didn’t overthink it, “I didn’t misunderstand anything. I know they are just friends.”
Jack let out a breath. This was nice.
But Lana White was pretty annoying. Jack decided to report the whole thing to Franco when he got back.
Candace was tired from crying. She fell asleep in Cristelle’s arms before they left the car. Cristelle carried the little girl carefully to her room and put her in bed.
Cody was following her the whole time like a little puppy. He knew his Mom was still mad at him, but he didn’t know what to say to make her happier.
The boy acted so carefully around her.
As angry as Cristelle was, she still couldn’t bear making Cody so uneasy.
She grabbed Cody’s arm and looked him in the eyes, “Cody, why did you hide it from me?”
Cody blinked, “Because I don’t want to make you worried. I thought I could handle that carefully. I really didn’t expect it to turn out like this, Mom. I didn’t know Jasper would die in the end. But I really didn’t have another choice.”
If that man didn’t block the bullet for him, Cody knew he would have died.
Cristelle pulled the boy in tightly, “The only thing that matters to me is your safety, Cody. Nothing is more important than that, including my life! No one expected Jasper to die. But the only person I care about is you. It would help if you didn’t hide it from me. You should at least tell me!”
Cody sniffed against Cristelle’s chest, “Mommy, I won’t do that ever again. I promise.”
The boy was too smart, and he always had his own ways of dealing with things. Cristelle didn’t believe his promises. But she couldn’t bear seeing him being so sad. She thus forgave him in the end. Cody’s problem was solved. Linford, however, was not as lucky as his son.
He spent three days in the hospital alone, and Cristelle didn’t even show up again to visit him. He was a composed man. But after hearing that Cristelle had forgiven Cody and they were gonna go to the theme park this weekend, Linford couldn’t stay in the hospital alone anymore. He went back home secretly that day without telling Drew.
After taking the babies back from school, Cristelle went upstairs to change her clothes. She didn’t find out the person lying in bed until she got dressed up.
She yelped as she turned around and met Linford’s eyes.
Linford stared at her innocently. Cristelle, however, was so pissed off that she could vomit blood, “When did you come back?”
“This afternoon,” Linford answered matter-of-factly.
Cristelle wanted to walk away, but Linford grabbed her hand, “Don’t leave.”
Cristelle didn’t even look back, “Why didn’t you stay in the hospital? You will receive better care in that place.”
“I missed you,” Linford was sincere, “And… I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t,” Cristelle was still annoyed, “You don’t owe me anything.”
“I…” Linford swallowed, “I shouldn’t have done those things without telling you. I know you must be so worried.”
“You’re the same with your son,” Cristelle cut him off, “You both even used the same excuse. You hid your plan from me because you didn’t want me to get scared, right? Have you ever considered my feelings? If anything happened to you both, how could I keep living?”
“I’m sorry,” Linford held on to her hand, refusing to let go, “I’m so so sorry. It won’t happen again, Ipromise. Please forgive me, Cristelle. I missed you so much.”
Cristelle hmphed and pulled away, walking out of the door. Linford was a bit defeated, but he wouldn’t stop trying until Cristelle forgave him.
The dinner began quite soon.
Pop was happy since Linford had come back from the hospital. Lily made Linford’s favorite dishes.
When she sat beside the table, she suddenly remembered, “Linford’s got injured on his shoulder. I bet it’s quite inconvenient for him to take a bath by himself. The wound can’t be drenched in water, yet Linford has a habit of showering every night before going to bed. I think he probably needs some help in the bathroom later.”
Cristelle was focusing on her plate. When she looked up again, she noticed everyone was staring at her. She blushed immediately. Of course, she was Mrs. Bradley by name. People surely expected her to do private things like that for Linford.
Cody noticed the look on his Mom’s face. The boy thus decided to save his Mom from misery, “It’s pretty easy. I will do it.”
Linford was silently pissed off upon hearing Cody’s suggestion, but he refused to show it.
****
Cody changed into his pajamas after dinner. He went to knock on Linford’s door. Linford was struggling to take off his shirt.
He stood up from his bed as he heard the knock on the door.
“What are you doing here?” He stared at the boy alertly as he held the door open.
Cody held his little hands up. The boy was holding two pieces of sponge as he smiled at him, “Shower for the old man. Remember?”
Linford huffed and turned away, “I don’t believe you would be so caring.”
“What? You don’t want your son to help you?” Cody looked pretty serious, “This is probably a good chance to bond with me. I’m reminding you.”
Linford rolled his eyes.
He’d rather use this chance to bond with his wife.
But he didn’t say anything as he took his shirt off with one hand and walked into the bathroom.
Cody stuck his tongue out behind the man’s back and followed him.
The skin around the wounds needed to be cleaned. But in the meantime, Cody must try his best to avoid water reaching the wounds. Linford was sitting on a stool and faced Cody with his back as Cody tried to clean it up for him.
The boy was pretty careful as he did that. It took Linford a while to realize that the boy was taking care of him. It felt surreal.
This could be a chance to bond with him.
“Cody,” Linford cleared his throat.
“Yeah?” The boy answered half-mindedly.