Inside Jane Gardner’s mind, it was all about Steven Irwin’s phrase, “Daddy looks at your picture every day and gawks.”
She really didn’t know that the unbeatable, domineering and strong Zachary Irwin in her memory would fondly hug her picture and gaze at it after she left.
“Also, the gazebo in The Shine, Mommy’s favorite, has been converted into a hundred-square-foot house by Daddy over the past five years, and whenever Daddy misses you, he’ll carry me to that place to look at the lake.”
“Daddy said, when you were pregnant with me, you loved to look at the lake from the gazebo!” Steven Irwin said again, his eyes more serious.
“He really missed me that much?” Jane Gardner couldn’t believe that Zachary Irwin had done so much behind her back for her, and her eyes watered.
For the past five years, everything about The Shine had been a scourge for Jane Gardner, and she hadn’t allowed herself to think about the scenery there, let alone the few happy days she’d had with Zachary Irwin.
At this moment, Steven Irwin unveils her memories of The Shine without warning.
He made her realize that there are people and things that she can deliberately not think about, but that doesn’t mean she’s really forgotten.
“Mommy, you do love Daddy, right?” Steven Irwin took advantage of the situation and stared at Jane Gardner, demanding a definitive answer.
Jane Gardner did not answer him, she pursed her lips, and then Jane closed her eyes.
Love or no love, it doesn’t matter anymore!
“Baby, Mommy loves you the most in this world! As long as you are well, Mommy can not want anything!” Jane Gardner opened her eyes again, and she bent down to take Steven Irwin into her arms.
On her face, there were tears.
She didn’t want love, she didn’t want a family, she didn’t want a job, she didn’t want a career, she just wanted him to be safe, healthy and happy!
Steven Irwin felt Jane Gardner’s heartbeat, and he could see that Jane Gardner loved him significantly more since his last injury.
He lifted his fleshy little hands and wrapped them around Jane Gardner’s neck as he choked out in a small voice, “I love Mommy the most too, Mommy has to promise me that she won’t leave me again!”
“Okay, Mommy promises you that no matter what happens in the future, Mommy will never leave you.” Jane Gardner wiped the tears from her face, her eyes firm.
In the evening, Jane Gardner had just prepared the meal that Steven Irwin wanted to eat when Zachary Irwin came back.
He looked at John and John at the table, and his eyes sank hard.
“You’re back? Dinner is ready, you can eat after sitting with the baby for a while.” Jane Gardner saw Zachary Irwin coming home, and she was afraid he would kick her out, her eyes tinged with pleading.
Zachary Irwin withdrew his gaze from her phone and sat down at the table.
“Steven Irwin, did I tell you no picky eaters! Eat that carrot right now!” Zachary Irwin snapped when he arrived at the table and saw Steven Irwin picking out all the dishes he didn’t like and putting them aside.
Jane Gardner wanted to speak up for Steven Irwin, but was afraid of offending him completely, so she hid in the kitchen and waited until Zachary Irwin’s anger was less intense.
“Daddy, if you keep being mean to me, I won’t help you chase Mommy, you know, Mommy is very popular now!” Steven Irwin looked askance at Zachary Irwin, who fearlessly faced up.
But his hands still dutifully ate the various greens he picked out.
Zachary Irwin grunted, Jane Gardner’s popularity, of course he knew!
After dinner, the same steps as yesterday, Jane Gardner waited for Steven Irwin to fall asleep and prepared to slip away.
But tonight was different from last night, Zachary Irwin stopped Jane Gardner as she was about to open up to leave.
“What? Leaving from me to go to your Beck Moore again?” Zachary Irwin swore that tonight, if Jane Gardner went to Beck Moore again, tomorrow, he would tear Sweet Film apart!
Jane Gardner wants to stay at Sweet Film, he’ll see how she stays!
“I’m going back to my own house, it was an accident that I stayed at his house yesterday.” Jane Gardner looked at Zachary Irwin’s unabated anger, and she helplessly took out her cell phone to give him an explanation.
“Your home?”
“The house I rented earlier in Laguna City.” Jane Gardner explained again.
“I’ll give you a ride! As compensation for your near death in the line of duty today!” Zachary Irwin grabbed his car keys and was on his way out the door when he thought of something and added the last sentence stiffly.
Jane Gardner wanted to say that she didn’t need it, that she could go back on her own, but looking at Zachary Irwin’s face, which was beginning to look grim, she swallowed the rest of her words.
Jane Gardner opened the car window and felt refreshed by the cool Laguna City evening breeze.
Zachary Irwin, in a rare move, did not continue to speak harshly, and the ride was, well, peaceful.
The car drove all the way along the ocean and finally arrived in front of a dilapidated old house in the center of town.
Zachary Irwin looked at the precarious iron staircase, and then looked downstairs littered with garbage, he unconsciously felt from his pocket handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose.
He always knew that Jane Gardner might have a bad life in the past five years.
But seeing her bad with his own eyes, tonight was the first time.
“Is this the kind of environment you’ve been living in all these past years?” Zachary Irwin was not mocking, not dismissive, but simply asking Jane Gardner.
“In the beginning, living worse than here, compared to those first years, now this place is very good.” Jane Gardner smiled bitterly as she said, “I’m already home, you go back, Steven is still sleeping at home.”
“I’ll go up and check!” Zachary Irwin did not give Jane Gardner a chance to refuse, he lifted his foot up a flight of stairs.
The stairs squeaked instantly.
Jane Gardner was used to it, she knew that Zachary Irwin wanted to do something, she could not stop him, she did not stop him, and walked ahead to open the way.
Jane Gardner rented a house is the third floor, not very high, but also not short.
The main door is also made of iron, over the years, many places have been born of dark yellow rust.
Jane Gardner opened the door, looked at the small, stretched-out house, and then looked at Zachary Irwin’s couture clothes and his long figure, only to feel that he did not match the place.
“You’ve seen it all, so why don’t you go back?” Jane Gardner again offered to let Zachary Irwin go home.
Zachary Irwin, however, acted as if he had seen nothing. He walked into the living room and scanned the surrounding arrangements.
Not finding a picture of her and Beck Moore in the house, his mood brightened a little.
“Is there anything to eat in the house? I’m a little hungry.” Zachary Irwin asked Jane Gardner as he sat down on the couch.
Jane Gardner was frantic, she wanted to say that she hadn’t cooked or he hadn’t eaten in the evening, it had only been a few hours, how could he be hungry!
But she didn’t dare to say it, she went into the kitchen and looked for it, then grabbed a packet of noodles and asked, “Is this okay?”
Zachary Irwin looked at it, and without looking at exactly what it was, he said, “Yes.”
Ten minutes later.
Jane Gardner brought out a bowl of braised beef noodles in her own miniature soup pot, topped with an egg and a few slices of ham hock.
“What’s this?” Zachary Irwin looked at the instant noodles, and he stirred them with his chopsticks, sucked in a bite, and thought they tasted pretty good, except, well, he’d never had them before.
“Kimchi noodles.” Jane Gardner’s mouth twitched a little when she saw that Zachary Irwin, a big president, was addicted to a bowl of instant noodles.
“It’s pretty tasty.” Zachary Irwin finished the noodles in less than three minutes, and wiped his mouth elegantly with a paper towel, “Anything to drink? Seems like I’m a little thirsty.”