"Mama~ Papa~"
Calliope cheerfully welcod Calix and Leslie back. She ran deng deng deng toward the entrance.
Her parents had just stepped inside the manor. Aunt Wendy, Uncle Raymond and Mrs. Su followed from behind.
The ti was still early for a weekend night. It was slightly over nine.
"Welco ho, Mr. Calix and Mrs. Leslie."
"Should we prepare anything for you both?"
Leslie and Calix thanked the three people before saying they were good. Aunt Wendy, Uncle Raymond and Mrs. Su retreated to give the family privacy.
"Hehe, did you miss us?" Leslie hugged Calliope once the little one threw herself at her, "What did you have for dinner?"
"Poppy miss Mama and Papa~" Calliope giggled when Leslie lightly pinched her chubby cheek, "Poppy eat honey chicken and carrot! Also rice!"
"Surely with dessert too, didn’t you?"
Calix patted Calliope’s head. He smiled in helplessness at the sight of the little one cuddling with his wife as he changed into ho slippers.
"Poppy eat pink pudding! Dragonfruit pudding! Two cups!" declared Calliope loudly. She looked so proud of herself for eating so much.
"Wow~ Papa’s buttercup is so good ah! We should award you with a trophy."
"Hehehe~"
Leslie laughingly watched Calix clapping his hands while Calliope acted smug. The father and daughter really resembled one another.
"We should head upstairs..." Leslie gestured to the ho elevator with a tilt of her chin. Her eyes stayed on Calliope’s face, "Poppy, don’t you want your papa to read you bedti stories?"
Calliope abruptly nodded like a little chick pecking grain, "Want! Poppy wanna sleep with Mama and Papa!"
"Hehe~ Then, co with us..."
The family of three leisurely headed to the ho elevator. The hallways were filled with the echoes of their chatter and laughter.
Aunt Wendy and Uncle Raymond were nowhere to be seen. They most likely had returned to the annex in the backyard to rest before another day started.
As for Mrs. Su, she was already waiting upstairs while being accompanied by a book.
Calliope went inside her bedroom, wanting to choose which storybook she wanted her papa to read to her. Her book collection kept on expanding, from storybooks to children’s educational books.
Calix pushed Leslie inside the walk-in wardrobe. Sitting opposite the vanity table, she began taking off the tiny hairpins from one side of her head.
"Let do it."
Leslie let out a chuckle. Tilting her chin up, she smiled at Calix, "You know I can do it myself, en?"
"Hehe, yes~ But, I still wanna pamper my wife."
Shaking her head in helplessness, Leslie let Calix do what he wanted. Her eyes looked straight ahead of her, seeing the reflections of their figures in the mirror.
Calix stood straight behind Leslie’s wheelchair. He carefully took the remaining hairpins off from her head.
"Are you thinking of the chaos you’ve caused?" asked Calix, his tone imbued with ridicule, "Well, they surely won’t get any decent sleep tonight."
"It’s a pity I can’t watch them fight among themselves..." Leslie shrugged. Recalling the event at the restaurant spilled laughter from her mouth, "Hehe, I’ll get so gossip from Irene later..."
"Let’s ask her tomorrow."
"Okay~"
Pulling out the last hairpin, Calix let his fingertips stay a second longer on Leslie’s locks before he gathered all pins in his palm. He stored the hairpins inside one of the hair accessory storage compartnts.
"I’ll go change," Calix turned around, getting ready to leave the bedroom, "Poppy will co here soon."
Haha... their daughter might bring three storybooks and all of her favorite plushies – the fox, the dragon and the strawberry.
Nodding, Leslie reversed her wheelchair. She wanted to grab one of her nightgowns, "En, go now. I wanna change too."
Taking a pause, Calix looked back at Leslie. Mischief flickered in his eyes as his lips curled into a smirk, "Want to help?"
"...go!"
"Hahaha!"
Leslie’s cheeks flushed red. She glared at Calix’s disappearing figure.
The man continued laughing as if their brief exchange was totally funny. His cackle only faded once he walked out of the room.
Ignoring Calix’s shaless act, Leslie focused on changing out of her dress. The man was the one who brought this red dress ho yesterday, saying it was the perfect battle gear for her.
’I wonder what happens now.’
Calix hadn’t received any phone call from Mr. Wei throughout their ride ho earlier. The attorney most likely was still dealing with Old Madam Li, Geoffrey and the rest.
’They might still try sothing but, it’s not my problem anymore.’
Leslie was resolute with her decision. She believed the Li family would try looking for Calliope after Calix’s shocking revelation right before they left.
They were bound to be horrified and disappointed because their search was futile.
Leslie and Calix had agreed to disclose Calliope’s existence to the Li family. It was not sothing he did driven by impulse.
But, Calix and Leslie simply stopped at that. There was no need to give more details about their daughter to them.
Leslie wasn’t worried about the Li family attempting to guilt the orphanage director and the staff. Calix had prepared reliable bodyguards there to ensure no one causing trouble.
"Oh... I still need to contact Mrs. Wang."
Leslie was too preoccupied with Calliope and the Li family’s matters that she forgot to reach out to Mrs. Wang. The middle-aged woman was the only one who treated Charlene well during her exile years ago.
Charlene and Mrs. Wang stayed in contact even after the forr returned to Silvercrest City[01]. The older woman most likely wondered why there was no recent contact with the forr.
Leslie wished to offer her gratitude for the genuine kindness Mrs. Wang had shown Charlene all this ti. The middle-aged woman didn’t cower under the cruel Mrs. Jiang and others’ contempt.
Perhaps, Charlene considered Mrs. Wang as a family instead of the people she shared blood with.
’Well... blood doesn’t really make you family actually.’
More often than not, people found their families in outsiders.
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Reference:
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