“How come…”
Summer was not expecting Leonardo.
He was still in the same business suit that he had worn from the airport in the afternoon. Glancing at Summer, he bent down to lift Rosie in his arms before he walked straight in.
After he took two steps, he sensed that Summer did not catch up to him, so he looked back at her. “Shall we have dinner?”
Hearing his words, Summer checked the time. It was already seven in the evening.
Leonardo carried Rosie to the sofa and sat down while Summer quickly closed the door and went back in.
“Are you hungry, Rosie? What would you like to eat?” Summer asked.
Rosie was sitting on Leonardo’s lap. “Chicken drumstick!” She waved both her hands and feet.
“Chicken drumstick? Let me check if we still have them.” Summer turned to walk over to the fridge.
When she left for the trip earlier, her plan was to go there for a week or two. Hence, her fridge was empty with the exception of some meat in the freezer. But she was not so sure if there were chicken drumsticks in there.
She entered the kitchen and checked the freezer. There were still some chicken drumsticks inside.
Chicken drumsticks were every child’s favorite. Summer would usually buy some extra stock of drumsticks whenever she went shopping. She continued to do the same thing, even though Rosie had not been staying with her as often.
Summer kept a hand on the fridge door as she called out for Rosie. “There are still chicken drumsticks in the freezer, Rosie. You play with your daddy while I prepare dinner.”
“All right.”
Summer took out the meat from the freezer and glanced in the living room’s direction.
Leonardo had turned on the TV. Judging from the sound, it seemed to be showing a cartoon program.
Rosie was sitting beside him with her little tiger in her arms, staring unblinkingly at the TV. Leonardo was sitting with his legs crossed, his eyes on the TV as well.
The postures of the father and daughter were identical.
Rosie chuckled from time to time, but Leonardo had the same expressionless face the entire time he stared at the TV screen.
Summer smiled and carried on with her cooking.
There were no fresh vegetables left at home. Other than meat, there were only some potatoes and dried fungi. She made braised chicken drumsticks, fungi with meat slices, simple stir-fried shredded potato, and seaweed shrimp soup. It was a simple and common home-cooked meal.
While she prepared the soup, she called out into the living room. “Dinner is ready, Rosie. Come into the kitchen and get your bowl and chopsticks.”
A moment later, she sensed someone approaching with steady footsteps.
Rosie would usually scamper into the kitchen to fetch her own bowl during dinnertime. So, the steady footsteps had to belong to Leonardo.
She froze for a second before she looked back. Sure enough, it was Leonardo.
Leonardo did not look at her but spontaneously opened the cabinet and took out some bowls.
Rosie’s bowl was a colorful child’s bowl. He took that one for Rosie first followed by two smaller, white bowls.
He had probably sensed that she was looking at him. Leonardo looked back all of a sudden and had eye contact with her.
Initially, Summer was looking at him openly. But when Leonardo stared back at her, she suddenly felt a little awkward.
She smiled, quietly shifting her attention back to the soup.
Making seaweed shrimp soup was easy because seaweed and dried shrimps required no prior preparation. She just needed to put them in a bowl, pour in the boiling water, and add some salt, vinegar, as well as shallots, then it would be done.
Once the soup was done, a big hand reached over to take a bowl of soup.
Summer looked back and saw that Leonardo was still holding a few bowls in his other hand. “Let me take that.”
He ignored her and exited the kitchen with a few empty bowls in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other.
So, Summer let him be and carried the dishes out of the kitchen.
Leonardo put the bowl of soup on the dining table. “Come here for dinner, Rosie.”
Rosie was immersed in the TV show, and her ears were not tuned in to Leonardo’s call.
He squinted as he got up and walked over. Picking up the remote controller from the coffee table, he switched off the TV.
Interrupted from enjoying her favorite show, Rosie threw a tantrum by hurling her soft toy to the ground and pointing at Leonardo. “Why did you turn off my TV?”
Anger made her raise her voice, it sounded like she was shrieking.
Despite that, Leonardo was unruffled. He pointed at the little tiger on the floor. “Pick it up.”
“No!” Rosie creased her nose and hissed at him, wanting to grab the remote controller to turn the TV back on.
How could Leonardo not know what Rosie was going to do? Just as she reached out, he grabbed her by the collar and lifted her from the sofa to the dinner table.
Summer saw what happened as soon as she fetched the last dish out of the kitchen.
Rosie had probably sensed that Leonardo was angry at her when he lifted her up. She dared not make a sound but clenched her little fists and pursed her lips, just short of crying.
Summer put down the dish and looked at Leonardo. “What’s going on?”
Rosie fought back her tears at first, but when she saw Summer, she could no longer hold back. “Mommy, I want Mommy!”
Her cry sounded like the saddest sound in the universe.
If Summer had not seen what was going on, she would have thought that Leonardo was a child abuser.
Leonardo shoved Rosie into the children’s chair, his face vacant. “Even Grandpa can’t help you today.”
Rosie stopped crying for a moment before she looked up and cried loudly again. “Grandpa! I want Grandpa!”
Leonardo’s face darkened instantly.
Summer was struck dumb. It was also her first-time seeing Rosie throw a tantrum.
Leonardo poured her a cup of water and delivered it to her lips. “Drink some water and calm down.”
Summer looked at Leonardo, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Was that how he coaxed children?
She could not bear to see it anymore. Walking over, she wanted to carry Rosie, but he stopped her.
Rosie’s cry had softened by then, and she looked at Summer as if she had been treated unfairly. “Mommy…”
Just as Summer wanted to say something, Leonardo gingerly pushed her. “Drink some water,” he repeated.
He sounded serious. Rosie shuddered and lowered her head to drink from the cup.
After she took a mouthful, she pushed his arm away. “I’ve had enough.”
“Have you calmed down?” Leonardo put the cup down.
Still whimpering, she wiped the tears from her face with her hand. “Yeah.”
“Do you want to eat now?”
She looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah.”
Leonardo picked up her bowl, filled it with rice, and placed it in front of her before he served her a chicken drumstick.
She took her chopsticks and started to eat. After only one bite, she sobbed again. “Hot.”
“Then let it cool down a bit first.”
Leonardo did not look at her and continued to fill the other bowls with rice.
Summer watched on and was dumbfounded as he served her a bowl of rice.
Yet, he did not seem to realize what he had done. He just filled his bowl with rice.