Summer and Jessica hurried back, and the moment they opened the door, they noticed the television in the hall was on.
Summer called out, “Rosie?”
Rosie stood up from the sofa with potato chip crumbs all over her cheeks and chin, her hair messy and the remote control in her hand.
She saw Summer’s eyes light up and called out in surprise, “Mommy.”
Rosie was small, and when she sat on the sofa earlier, her visage was blocked by the back of the sofa and Summer could not see her.
She ran off the sofa barefooted toward Summer, as she held on tightly to the remote control in her hand.
Summer matched her height as she squatted down and wiped the crumbs off her face before carrying her up. “What are you doing?”
“TV.” Rosie waved the remote control in her hand and pointed at the TV behind her.
Jessica walked to the sofa and had a look, and what she saw was a sofa full of snacks. Potato chips were all over the floor and sweets littered the place along with a bottle of yogurt drink by the side.
Seeing so, Jessica could not stop laughing. “Hahahaha! Oh my goodness, Rosie, how did you find all of my snacks, and you actually opened them yourself! This is awesome!”
Summer carried Rosie over, and when she saw the mess on the sofa, she too was a little dumbfounded.
“You took all these by yourself?” Summer placed Rosie standing on the sofa, allowing her eyes to be on the same level as hers.
Summer’s expression was a little stern, and Rosie probably noticed that something was not right with her mother’s expression as she placed her tiny hands behind her and blinked, whispering. “Yes.”
Jessica pushed Summer. “You’re scaring her.”
“Look, didn’t you dirty Aunt Jessica’s sofa? Summer asked as she pointed at the crumbs on the sofa.
Rosie followed Summer’s hand and nodded blankly.
Summer could not help but soften her tone a little. “Next time, you can’t dirty the sofa like that. Do you want to help Aunt Jessica clean up?”
Rosie obediently responded, “Yes.”
Seeing how well-behaved Rosie was, Summer suddenly felt her nose heavy.
She turned her back abruptly as tears poured out from her eyes.
Summer calmed herself and made her voice sound as usual. “Rosie, go help Aunt Jessica clean up the sofa. Mommy wants to go to the bathroom for a while.”
As she said that, she rushed to the bathroom.
As soon as Summer entered the bathroom, and slammed the door behind her. She then leaned against the door panel as she slowly slid down, and covered her face to suppress the sound of her crying.
Outside, Rosie saw Summer suddenly going into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She then pointed at the bathroom at a loss as she looked at Jessica. “Mommy?”
Jessica could naturally hear the sobbing in Summer’s voice.
She smiled and said to Rosie, “Mommy is washing her hands and will be out soon. Rosie, help Auntie clean the sofa first.”
Even when Jessica brought and was cleaning the sofa with Rosie, the latter still looked at the bathroom from time to time.
Her pretty eyes just made her extremely loveable.
Jessica walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Summer, are you okay?”
Summer’s voice very quickly came from the other side of the door. “I’m fine. I’ll be out soon.”
Summer stood up, and walked to the sink and washed her face as she silently looked at her reddened eyes in the mirror.
Seeing Rosie so well-behaved earlier, Summer suddenly felt very sorrowful.
She did not enjoy any happiness being her daughter.
Since Rosie’s birth, she had not been able to take good care of her, nor was she able to protect her.
Since she was born, Rosie had been swapped and taken away by others, and when they finally had the opportunity to reunite, another incident happened.
Three years.
The years where a mother should have been by Rosie’s side, she had never been a part of it.
When Rosie called her mommy earlier, Summer even felt guilty.
Summer raised her head as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes again, her ears were clear and determined.
…
As Summer got out of the bathroom, she saw Jessica leading Rosie in cleaning up the sofa.
“Just like that. Slowly, just wipe it bit by bit.”
“I wiped it!”
“Good girl!”
The two were squatting by the sofa as they wiped the stains off, and it looked really heart-warming.
Summer then noticed that Rosie was still barefooted. She went to the bedroom to take out a pair of socks and brought out a pair of furry slippers as well.
When Rosie saw Summer, she raised the towel in her hand. “Mommy, I wiped it.”
“Yeah.” Summer too smiled back at her. “Put on your socks first.”
“Okay.” Rosie seemed to remember Summer’s stern look earlier and thought that she was angry because she did something wrong. Hence, she was particularly obedient.
After Summer helped her put on her socks, Rosie smiled at her looking rather silly.
Summer ruffled her hair. “Mommy isn’t angry, but you’ve dirtied the sofa. That’s not right, and you can’t do it again in the future.”
Rosie nodded.
By the time they were done cleaning and placing the snacks Rosie have yet to eat back to their place, it was already night.
Summer cooked dinner for Rosie and Jessica.
Jessica was always cheerful and playful and needed no introduction on how to play with a child. It was all natural.
Most children would like beautiful people, and especially when this beautiful person was playing with her, she would like her even more.
Rosie’s relationship with Jessica was increasing by leaps and bounds.
Summer brought out the dishes and called them, “Jessica, Rosie, dinner time.”
“Coming.” Jessica held Rosie’s hand as they went to the dining table.
Rosie followed along, and as she ran she said, “Hee hee… coming!”
The two sat down at the dining table.
Summer served up the last soup dish and looked at Jessica, teasing. “Jessica, have you and Ms. Rosie there washed your hands yet?”
Jessica said, “… No.”
During the meal, Summer put some of the dishes into Rosie’s bowl.
Seeing that, Jessica seemed to recall something and said to Summer, “Once, I saw Leonardo and Rosie having a meal at the Golden Cauldron. He…”
Hearing the words “Leonardo”, Rosie looked up, and her eyes widened. “Leonardo, my daddy.”
“Huh?” Jessica was a little confused.
“She calls her dad Leonardo.” Summer could not help but laugh as she thought of the matter.
Leonardo’s arrogant and domineering temperament would bow before someone other than her…
And it was a three-year-old little dumpling.
As she heard that, Jessica let out an audible “pfft” and laughed. “Rosie even calls the big boss Leonardo. Won’t he beat her?”
Rosie listened intently when she heard Jessica talk about Leonardo.
She only understood what Jessica said partially, but she nodded seriously. “He beats me.”