Matteo, who was in preschool at that time, had been wanting to give Ian a call. Ever since he heard from his mommy that morning that Ian had fallen ill, he had been feeling guilty and worried. He thought about calling Ian to ask how he was doing. Unfortunately, he did not have the courage to do so, for fear that this brother would not answer his call. Luckily, Ian called him first. Matteo was delighted. “Ian, I’m sorry. I didn’t know stopping Mommy from going to your place would cause you to fall sick. Are you okay? I really didn’t mean it. I got upset after seeing Daddy bullying Mommy, and I don’t ever want Mommy to be with a man like him. Ian, do you get me?”
Matteo apologized to his twin over the phone. After listening to him, Ian paused momentarily before he nodded. “Yeah.” Matteo sounded grateful. “Thank God you understand! That’s great, Ian!” “But,” Ian had more things to say. “I want to see Mommy too. Matt, can you give Daddy another chance?” This was the first time he managed to form several sentences at once. The fact that his tone carried a hint of grief and desperation made it even rarer. Matteo was stunned. Give bad Daddy another chance? Of course he wanted his daddy and mommy to be together. He also wanted to have a father by his side. That way, their family would be complete. But he knew that his daddy was a really nasty man. The other day,
Matteo was bursting with anger when he saw him bullying his mommy. Matteo deliberated for quite some time on the phone. Nevertheless, Ian patiently waited for his reply on the other line. In the end, Matteo finally agreed to his request. “Okay, we’ll give him one more chance then. But remember, you must not let him bully Mommy again. Also, report to me if anything happens, do you understand?” “Alright!” Ian agreed as well before he hung up the phone with satisfaction. For the first time, there was a faint smile on his usually emotionless face. Sasha knew nothing about the little secret between her two sons.
After she came upstairs and noticed that the bathroom lights were still on, she quickly composed her emotions. Warm light emitted from the gap of the closed bathroom door, and the silhouette of a small figure could be seen crouching on the floor in there. What’s he doing? Is he doing that because he doesn’t feel safe? Seeing him like this, Sasha’s heart wrenched in pain. She sprinted to the sofa and quickly retrieved a set of clothes for Ian to change into.
She called out to him outside the door, “Little Ian? Little Ian? It’s me, Ms. Nancy. Can I come in?” “No!” At that moment, Ian was actually trying to put on his underwear in the bathroom. He was so nervous that beads of sweat were already trickling down his flushed cheeks. He was not Matteo, who had been independent since he was much younger. Matteo did not require anyone to help him get dressed, among other basic tasks. On the other hand, Ian was the young master of a rich family whose daily routines had been taken care of since he was a baby. Hence, he was not accustomed to getting dressed on his own. Fortunately, after a little struggle, he finally managed to put on his underwear.
He did not have to feel ashamed in front of his mommy anymore. Only then did he announce from the bathroom, “You can come in now.” Sasha had been waiting anxiously outside. This was the first time she had to personally help her eldest son get dressed. She actually felt both excited and blessed to be able to do so. Moreover, she was worried that he would be scared while he was inside. When Sasha was finally given the green light to enter, she quickly opened the door and burst into the bathroom, holding the stack of clothes in her hand. “Little Ian? You…” Surprisingly, after coming in, she found that her son had disappeared behind the shower curtain. Only the back of his head could be seen. What’s this kid doing? Suspicion glinted in Sasha’s eyes, and she hurried over to check on him. Standing behind Ian, she asked him gently, “Ian, is there something wrong?
Why are you hiding?” Ian’s face stiffened. “You… don’t look!” Huh? Don’t look? Sasha finally understood why Ian was behaving so strangely. As she stood there, with her previous confusion vanished, she could not help but chuckle, “So our Little Ian is actually quite shy. That’s alright. Do you see what I have here? I’ve brought you a big bath towel. We’ll wrap you up in this and then get you into some clothes. How does that sound?” Sasha waved the bath towel in front of the boy. Behind the shower curtain, Ian stayed quiet. Wrap my whole body? Eventually, his little head poked out from behind the curtain. His face had turned red because of the water vapor in the bathroom. His pair of dark, charming eyes resembled his father’s as they sparkled like that of a vigilant kitten. “Give it to me.” “Oh, alright, here you go!” Sasha then passed the bath towel to him.
The experience she had as a mother came in handy. She had already foreseen the situation in the bathroom before coming in. And so, Ian came out of the bathroom wrapped in the big bath towel. Thanks to her quick thinking, Sasha successfully helped her son dress up for the first time. Additionally, she also found a good excuse to turn over the underwear he had put on wrongly in the bathroom. After Ian was properly dressed, both mother and son stepped out of the bathroom. “Little Ian, do you… want to stay here?” Now that Ian was done with his shower, she thought about leaving again, refusing to stay in this place a moment longer.
