Chapter 825 A Daughter Instead of a Son
Alexander answered with pride, “I’ve been plotting the whole thing over the last seven years. No woman will ever bother to answer me even if I call them now.”
Elise hummed before she started to make fun of him. “It seems like you have to call a lot of women every day.” “Ellie!” He was vexed at her teasing.
Her chuckle could be heard from the other side of the phone. “All right, I’ll stop teasing you. Then again, didn’t we see each other a while ago? Why did you call? Is something going on?”
“In fact, there’s a matter. I’m afraid that I can only get you and the children back two months later,” he elaborated. “Jessamine’s children are celebrating their birthday soon. They will leave after the birthday party.”
“No problem,” she agreed with him good-naturedly. “We’ve made it through seven years, so we don’t mind waiting any longer.”
“It’s just that I don’t want to see you and the children suffer.” Sighing, Alexander changed the topic. “By the way, you should bring Irvin to visit the child from the Lawrence Family at the hospital when you’re free. The girl, Jace, indeed broke her arm.”
Elise found his request odd. “Girl? Isn’t the child a boy?”
“The Lawrence Family have been expecting a son, but Mrs. Lawrence has failed to give birth to one. Therefore, they’ve been raising the girl in the way they would a son,” he elaborated.
Elise let out a long breath and felt a pang of sadness well up inside her. “I feel sorry for the girl.”
Not only was Jace’s gender not expected by her family, she was also being forced to use another gender to live. It was too much a hardship for a girl at her age.
“Therefore, we should never allow our children to make her suffer even more. She must feel upset after being hit by a boy, and Irvin indeed took it too far. He needs to apologize, so he can understand the consequence of acting without thought,” Alexander said earnestly.
Elise nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “I know what to do.”
As they had dealt with one matter, Alexander asked, “Is Lexi asleep?”
“She is,” Elise murmured. “She had too much fun at your engagement party. Once we came back from the party, she fell asleep after a bath.”
He was dejected to learn it. “She seems like she was eager to look for a father during the party a moment ago. How dare she sleep tight without me? Does she not need me anymore?”
A giggle escaped from Elise. “Children tend to let the memory of their words slip. You’ve got a long way to go before she acknowledges you as her father.”
“Fine. It seems like I’ll have to work harder.”
As the pair had a lot to talk about regarding the topic of children, they chatted for more than thirty minutes until they ended the call.
Once she put her cell phone aside, Elise turned on her heel and headed to Irvin’s room.
Pushing the door open, she found him sitting in front of the computer and concentrating on programming based on the information she had provided.
He only noticed her presence when she got closer to him, and he withdrew his hands from the keyboard. “Mommy, what brings you here?”
“Checking in on you.” She cast a glance at the programming codes on the monitor and concluded that he was mastering the programming skills.
“Mommy, do you have something to tell me?” He perceived her thoughts with his keen mind.
“How did you know?” She raised a brow at him.
His answer was straightforward. “Other than having something to discuss with me, you are usually putting Alexia to sleep around this time.”
“Is that so?” Elise shot him an embarrassed laugh before she shrugged and accepted his accusation. “All right, I’ll cut to the chase.”
Bending down to hold his gaze, she rested her hands on his shoulders and began with a gentle tone, “Little Irvin, the child who fought with you at the banquet just now has a broken arm. I suggest we visit the child tomorrow. How about you take the opportunity to apologize?”
Irvin furrowed his brows. “I’ll visit him, but I won’t apologize. Mommy, I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I understand that you want to protect Mimi. However, both of you are only children, and you’ve gone a little overboard. Moreover, she’s a girl.” Elise saw no point in hiding the truth from him.
“A girl?” Confusion was written all over Irvin’s face. “Mommy, there must be a mistake. I was fighting a boy.”
“That’s what I thought until we found out that she’s a girl,” Elise explained.
“I wouldn’t have known that!” He was stubborn to admit his fault. “I wouldn’t have hit her in the first place if I knew she’s a girl. She’s the one who chose to become a boy, so she should’ve taken the challenge instead of blaming her opponent for being tough!”
A long sigh escaped Elise. As she straightened up, she continued with a sad voice, “You have a point there. But will you change your mind if I tell you that she didn’t choose to not become a girl, and was forced to become a boy? Irvin, you should know that not all of us can choose the way to live our life. People won’t blame us if we don’t know they’re suffering, but we can’t pretend to not know someone is suffering after we’ve learned their history.”
He was even more confused than a moment ago. “Why can’t she be a girl? Why does she have to be a boy?”
“Her family doesn’t want a daughter, so they blame her. She must act like a boy to have a place in the family,” Elise elaborated.
At last, Irvin compromised, “I understand, Mommy. I’ll go to the hospital and apologize to her tomorrow.”
“You got that?” She shot him a curious look.
“I’m still confused,” he answered honestly. “But now, I know that she didn’t choose to become a boy. Thus, I’ve hit a girl, and I must apologize for hitting her.”
Glad to listen to his words, Elise caressed his head. “Good boy.”
…
The following day, Elise drove to the private hospital where Jace was admitted to, with Irvin and Mimi in the backseats.
Noticing she was unfastening the seatbelt to get down from the car, he stopped her, “Mommy, you’ve done enough. Just wait for us outside. We’re the ones who started it, so you don’t have to share the responsibilities.”
Elise, however, was worried about the children. “Are you sure? Mrs. Lawrence might be around. Aren’t you afraid of her?”
Irvin shook his head. “I’m not afraid of her. Don’t worry, Mommy. I’m a real man.”
After that, he slid out of the car with a bag of fruits in his left hand and Mimi’s hand in his right as they strode for the building where the inpatient department was located.
Soon, the duo found Jace’s ward.
Knocking on the door a few times, Irvin pushed the door open and walked inside.
It was quiet in the ward as she was resting on the bed. She looked like she was in better condition with a plaster cast around her arm.
“Jace?” Irvin called out to her quietly.
However, she did not give him any response.
Therefore, he and Mimi walked closer to the bed hand-in-hand, and put the fruits onto the space at the end of the bed.
At the same time, Mrs. Lawerence walked into the ward. Finding the uninvited guests in the room triggered her anger. “You little b*stards again! Who let you in?”
Her scream immediately woke Jace. When the girl found Irvin standing in front of her, she began to throw a tantrum. “It’s you! You’re the one who broke my arm! Go away, l don’t want to see you!”
“Mom, tell them to leave! I don’t want to see him!”
Afraid of their hostility, Irvin pulled Mimi behind him as he attempted to explain but failed every time.
Mrs. Lawrence was worried about her daughter’s condition, thus she snatched the bag of fruits from the bed and began to chase them away. “Didn’t you hear that? My son is not seeing you! Get lost. We don’t care about your fruits.”
Within a few minutes, the duo was being pushed outside the room.
Irvin stood at the door for one more attempt, but she slammed the door on them before the words could leave him.
“Ouch!” His nose bumped into the door and instantly swelled up.
