Joe is playing with Adair at a small garden in front of the restaurant. Once he sees Lily coming out of the restaurant, he brings Adair over to her and sees her reddened eyes. Joe could almost tell for sure and then says, “Lily, enjoy your meal.”
Lily knows that his words are loaded and she warms up immediately, “Yes, thank you. Let’s have dinner when we’re free.”
“Okay.”
Lily holds onto Adair’s small hand and walks through the large restaurant entrance before sighing in relief. When Adair sees the sea of flowers he becomes excited and shocked. He sees the messages and raises his head, “Mommy, these were prepared for you by Uncle?”
Lily leads him to the staircase and pauses when she hears him. She wants to say no but she realizes that they are the only ones in the restaurant and can only admit, “Yes.”
“Does Uncle like you? Is he proposing to you?” Adair suddenly asks.
Lily is stunned, “Why do you say that?”
“Because Uncle Ryan once told me that roses are usually given to someone you love and also for proposals.” After saying, he even stretches out his fair and short fingers and points at the rose petal covered staircase, “So many flowers, I’m right, it must be a proposal.”
Lily doesn’t expect that Ryan once said that to the kid.
She forces herself to be composed and squats down to look at Adair’s face. She sees his uneasy expression and softly assures him, “No matter whether uncle had proposed to mummy or not, it will never affect mommy’s love for you.”
But what Adair says next makes Lily surprised.
She sees him look up and scratch his head, his voice is soft but certain, “Mommy, actually I know that Uncle is my father. I, I… I feel that he is rather good. He explained to me why he didn’t look for Mommy and me. He doesn’t know that we existed.”
Lily doesn’t know that Rex had told her kid about these. She was afraid of hurting Adair and that’s why she lied to him but now she realizes that she could be wrong to do that. Now she doesn’t know what to say.
But what did he just say?
Rex had explained to him previously?
Lily’s is immediately anxious, she is worried that he may inadvertently hurt Adair’s little heart. She anxiously asks, “What else has he said?”
Adair looks at her seriously, “He says that he will protect mommy and me in the future.”
Lily is stunned and she has a lump in her throat that can’t be relieved. This man has done more than she has imagined.
Seeing her remaining silent, Adair can’t understand the complex feelings of the adults but a child’s world is innocent and pure, he speaks from his heart, “Mommy, I rather like uncle, he can propose to you.”
He is very implicit. Is that an indication of acceptance of Rex?
Lily was afraid that the child will feel that Rex is snatching his mother from him. But when she hears these words, she realizes that she had mistaken her child for being too naïve.
After all these years of not having a father, he should be yearning for it.
She can’t be so selfish to deprive the child of getting along with his father.
Lily holds onto his small and tender hand and looks at him tenderly, “If Adair likes, you can play more often with uncle, and mom will be by your side.”
Adair is now happy. He smiles and very firmly nods, “Yeah!”
Lily holds onto his hand and leads him up the stairs. As soon as they reach the final step, Adair couldn’t resist and runs to the terrace.
Lily sees his small body running towards Rex was full of energy and his strides were very firm. He walks with a swagger into the man’s embrace.
A big man with a small boy… Rex lowers his head and Adair tilts his tiny face. It is picture-perfect.
Lily briskly walks over. There are beef steak, salad, soup, and other appetizers on the table. Each dish is exquisite. She can smell the delicious fragrance as she walks over.
On the table is a golden candle stand with one long and two short white candles. Beside the napkins is an arrangement of champagne color roses. The glittering night sky can be seen from the terrace. The scenery is beautiful and complemented by fine gourmet food.
Especially now when there is a new change in their relationship, a look from either one would stir each other’s feelings.
This meal must be the most comfortable Lily has eaten in these five years. She doesn’t have any worries with the child next to her and that person who she misses so much is also by her side.
“Uncle, can I take some of these flowers with me?” At that moment, Adair thinks of something and suddenly asks him.
Rex has never rejected Adair’s request but this time he breaks his own rule, “Uncle gave these to mommy, you must ask mommy for these.”
These words inadvertently pull the three of them closer.
Lily’s hands pause and tremble, she laughs, “If you like, choose some fresh ones and bring them back. They will look nice in a vase.”
Adair immediately runs to the flowers by the side and looks for some. Lily calls out to him, “Hey, don’t you want to eat?”
“I’m full!”
He isn’t full at all. But because he wants to play, he doesn’t have the mood to eat anymore.
Lily looks at his plate and there is another small piece of beef steak on it. There isn’t much left on his plate so he did eat sufficiently. So Rex just lets him go as he wishes.
As she lifts her head, she sees him looking at her and she quickly looks downwards at the beefsteak on her plate. She is extremely nervous.
Rex looks at her and says tenderly, “This is the life I’ve always wanted.”
Lily doesn’t reply but her redden ears say it all.
After dinner, as the three of them walk out of the restaurant, he holds onto the door for the mother and son to exit first.
Lily holds on to Adair and walks past Him. Her wrist accidentally brushes against his fingers and she suddenly feels an electrifying sensation overwhelming her. She turns and looks at him.
But he looks as if nothing had happened. He walks in large strides to the car.
On the way home, it is as if both of them are still savoring quietly what happened in the evening. Adair looks at Lily with his big wide eyes, tilts his head, and then looks at Rex. He looks at them back and forth. At four years old, he is unaware of the meaning of the current atmosphere. He just feels more delighted and has the desire to become rowdy.
When they come back, Fanny has already left. Lily places the roses that Adair brought back in a vase. She adds some water in the vase and places it on the dining table. It is very beautiful.
She slept as soon as she came home from the hike earlier today and before she could wash up herself after waking up, she was summoned away by Rex for the evening. She hasn’t had a shower since the morning and feels rather uncomfortable. She doesn’t plan on taking a shower at that moment but she absolutely couldn’t endure any further. She quickly tucks Adair into bed and coaxes him asleep before getting into the bathroom for a shower.
Though Lily is very gentle when closing the door, Rex is still able to hear them. He took a quick shower as soon as he came back, and prowled around downstairs like a predator waiting for exactly a moment like this.