When Ruby Sullivan and Ethan Sterling got ho, it was already past nine at night. Normally, the kids would have been in bed by this ti.
But what they didn’t expect was to see Gwen Yates playing Lego with Honey in the living room, with Seth Sterling in his pajamas, fighting sleep and nodding off on the couch. Although this sleepy-but-stubborn-to-stay-awake look was adorably silly, as a mom, Ruby felt more heartache than amusent at the sight.
She stared blankly at the scene in front of her.
Upon seeing her, Honey imdiately climbed up from the floor, ran over, and hugged her mother’s leg, "Mom, did you enjoy your date today? Did you miss Honey and Seth?"
Ruby knelt down, ruffling her daughter’s hair, answering one question at a ti, "Mom had a great ti on her date and missed both Honey and Seth. But can you tell Mommy why you’re still not asleep?"
Honey adorably bumped her head against her mom’s forehead, "Honey missed Mommy and wanted to wait for her to co back."
Ruby kissed her little darling and couldn’t bring herself to scold her, "Alright then, Mommy is back now. Pick up your toys, let Mama Bennett help you with your bath, and get ready for bed."
"Okay." Honey giggled but didn’t imdiately go to bathe. Instead, she went off to ask her dad for a hug.
Gwen Yates also stood up, "Wenny, I noticed you weren’t back yet, and Honey wouldn’t go to sleep, so I stayed a little longer to keep her company. Now that you’re back, I’ll be heading out." She gave Ethan Sterling a smile to greet him as she spoke.
Ruby thought she shouldn’t have stayed so late at all, but for her daughter’s sake, she didn’t point it out, "Alright, it’s pretty easy to catch a taxi from here. Text when you get back to school, just to let know you’re safe."
Gwen pursed her lips, feeling sowhat displeased. She hadn’t stuck around this late to take a taxi back, and when she was near the entrance, she slowly said, "Wenny, I’ve been reading so news lately about incidents involving university students taking taxis at night. It’s a bit scary, so... could soone drive back?"
Even though it felt a bit brazen to ask, given last week’s taxi assault case still trending, her fear seed quite reasonable.
Ruby didn’t show any reaction on her face, but in her heart, she was rolling her eyes at the thought. Every day there are all kinds of news reports, and if you’re afraid of everything, having a driver take you isn’t safe either. What if the driver gets so ideas about her looks? Or what if there’s an accident?
She glanced at Ethan Sterling, pretending not to have heard anything, as she carefully considered how to refuse without being rude, when her naive daughter who was cuddling in her dad’s arms piped up, "Mom, it’s so late already, let Mr. Yates stay over. Anyway, she’s moving in next week. She can stay in my room. We even napped together this afternoon. My bed is totally big enough."
Upon hearing Honey’s words, Gwen wished she could just rush over and smother her with love. She really was the teacher’s little darling!
Everyone else present just felt a bit stressed.
Her daughter truly had a way with words, amazing!
Ruby squinted at Honey and smiled, her laughter creating crow’s feet at her eyes.
Already wide awake, Seth Sterling heard his sister’s words, let out a helpless sigh, and said, "Mom, Dad, I’m going to bed now, goodnight." He had already showered on ti, and if it weren’t for Honey’s troublemaking, he’d have been in bed long ago. He always kept a regular sleep schedule.
"Goodnight, son." Ruby knelt down and kissed Seth’s cheek.
Ethan nodded at his son, looking no more pleased than he did. He thought for a mont and then said to the daughter in his arms, "Honey, Mr. Yates has an exam coming up, and it’s already very kind of her to have co today. If she stays overnight, it will really disrupt her schedule."
"It’s okay, my exam is on Monday afternoon. If I leave after teaching Honey tomorrow morning, it should still be fine." Gwen interrupted quickly, then lowered her head ekly, "If staying over is too much trouble, I’ll just take a taxi back."
"It’s indeed inconvenient." Ethan said bluntly, "I can take you to catch a taxi."
No matter how shrewd Gwen might be, she was only in her twenties, and her face turned red with embarrassnt at such a straightforward refusal. Despite still wanting to stay and even wanting Ethan to drive her back, she couldn’t bring herself to speak up anymore. Hearing him offer to take her to a taxi, she felt a bit comforted and replied softly, "Thank you, senior."
"We’re not from the sa school, and besides, I don’t really like that title. You can call Mr. Sterling or just Ethan Sterling." Ethan couldn’t understand why she suddenly changed her address, but even if his emotional intelligence was low, he could tell that the term ’senior’ carried so ambiguous undertones. However, he was speaking the truth; she wasn’t a student at Ariston University, so calling him ’senior’ was really odd.
Gwen’s face was flushed red, though she didn’t want to leave a bad impression; she was a bit petulantly angry, "I call all the seniors in higher grades ’senior’. It’s just a habit. If Mr. Sterling doesn’t like it, I’ll stop."
Though Honey was a bit reluctant, she knew that after seeing her dad’s expression, there was no use asking, so she waved goodbye to Gwen.
Gwen waved her hand, "Then your teacher will co back next Thursday when the holiday starts."
"Okay," Honey nodded.
Gwen couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed; she thought Honey might beg Ethan to let her stay. How was she to know that although Honey weighed heavily in dad’s heart, she always watched people’s expressions before pleading.
Ruby was sowhat displeased thinking about Ethan having to send her off and didn’t feel like saying goodbye, turning to slip away when she heard Ethan say, "Honey, where are you going?"
She almost didn’t realize he was talking to her and replied, slightly sluggish, "I was thinking to change clothes?"
"Don’t change. Let’s send Mr. Yates to the taxi first," Ethan said, taking her hand, "I know you’re tired today, but I’m scared of the dark."
Ruby was petrified, surprised that Mr. Sterling could even say sothing like that – wasn’t he being a bit too much?
She felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry, cleared her throat with all her might to avoid losing her composure, "Alright, I’ll go with you."
Gwen’s face had already turned as black as if sared with coal, pretending not to hear anything, and continued instructing Honey.
A few minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling watched as Gwen got into a taxi.
The car hadn’t gone far when Gwen saw in the rearview mirror Ethan hugging Ruby from behind, frowning in discontent, "Pretending when you’re already divorced? A business marriage, it’s not about love, surely they’re staying together for the kids or for interests. It can’t be for love!"
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