Matthew Nelson lifted his eyes to look at her, his eyes filled with inexpressible sincerity and distress.
He wasn’t there for her when she needed someone to take care of her.
‘It must have been hard for her to raise them alone.’
Simona Flores’s little fist was looser.
Dolores Flores’s voice was softer, “Even if after I will have many other babies, it would never replace
my Simona and Samuel, because I can’t live without you.”
Simona turned the head with a lump in her throat and looked at her.
Dolores reached out to wipe her tears and stroke gently her face with the fingers, “Simona is my little
baby, mummy wants her to grow up, mummy also wants her to be a strong and brave child, because
daddy and mummy can’t be with you forever. The world is so wonderful, there is still a long way to go
and you need to go your own way. Mummy loves you, so she needs to be strict with you.”
Simona let go of her hand and touched her belly. It was still early, so she almost didn’t feel him. She
sniffed her nose, “Is there really a little baby inside?”
Dolores bowed her head, her eyes filled with tenderness, and hugged her daughter, “Yes, also Simona
was in mummy’s belly before and she grew up little by little.”
The little child was curious and reached out to touch, but she still didn’t feel him.
“In the future, Simona will become a big sister. The baby will be very little, and he will need to be cared
by you before he can grow up.”
The little child’s face pressed against Dolores’ belly and rubbed against her clothes, “Am I the big
sister?”
“Yes, you are the big sister.” Dolores smiled and rubbed her daughter’s hair. “My Simona grew up, she
will attend primary school soon and she’s going to become a big sister. I remember when you were
born, you were small, not so big, and I was afraid that I couldn’t raise you.”
The little child hugged her tightly, “Mummy.”
“Do you remember what you ate to grow up when you were a child?” Dolores held her daughter’s face
in her hands and looked at her.
“Remember?”
The little child nodded, “Yes.”
“Do you know what your brother ate to grow up?”
“Yes, I know. Mummy was afraid that I didn’t eat enough, so you gave breast feeding to me, and
Samuel could only have milk powder.”
“So tell me, do you think mummy loves you?”
The little child laid silently in her arms and sobbed softly.
“Sorry…”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I understand what you are worried about. No matter if it’s mummy or
daddy, you are our sweetheart and nobody can replace you.”
The little child held Dolores’ hand more tightly.
Knock...
Victoria Forbis knocked on the door and stood on the doorway, “Dinner is ready, come to eat.”
Dolores hugged her daughter, “Okay, don’t cry anymore. You don’t look pretty when you cry.”
Simona wiped her face. “Mummy put me down. I don’t want the baby to leave.”
Dolores smiled and kissed her daughter’s face. “Mummy will be careful, but I want to give you a hug.
You already grew up, so very soon I won’t be able to hug you. Now that I can still do it, I want to hug
you again.”
The little girl nestled in her neck and felt so happy that her mum still loved her.
Matthew held her waist and told her, “Slow down.”
Dolores gave a sound of hum.
Victoria was also terrified. The signs of the miscarriage could easily reappear and she was afraid that
she would have some accidents.
The study room was not too far from the dining room but Matthew’s heart still leapt with anxiety. The
doctor told her not to go down to the ground, but not only she went down and walked, she was also
holding that “little butterball”.
Although Simona was not fat, she was over fifteen kilos.
When they arrived at the dining room, Matthew took his daughter and put her on the chair.
Samuel put down a musical notation, walked over, sat down on the chair and asked, “Who plays the
piano at home?”
“I play it,” Dolores replied, smiling as she looked over.
“Mummy, can you play the piano?” Samuel asked, opening his eyes wide.
“I’ve never seen mummy play the piano,” Simona said with an expectant look, her voice was husky
from crying.
“After dinner, I will play it for you.” Dolores didn’t want them to feel ignored because of her pregnancy.
Moreover, she had been cooped up at home since she got pregnant.
“Wow, we will see mummy playing the piano.” The children were very happy.
Matthew pulled out a wet towel to wipe his daughter’s face, which still filled with tears.
The little girl smiled, “Daddy.”
He could never say a word of reproach to his daughter.
Victoria made a bone broth especially for Dolores. She let it simmer for more than three hours. The
broth was white and the bones were fragrant and thick. She didn’t put any other ingredient or
condiment, and the broth kept its original flavour.
Coral brought a bowl and Victoria gave it to Dolores. “Take more extra calcium, otherwise you will have
leg cramps when late in the pregnancy.”
She put the broth in front of Dolores.
“How do you know that she could get leg cramps when late in the pregnancy?” Coral asked, as she
placed the dishes on the table.
‘That was to say that Victoria married Jayden Nelson but they didn’t have children.’
‘How did a woman who had never been pregnant know about leg cramps later in pregnancy?’
Victoria was stunned for a moment. She didn’t expect Coral to ask such a question and didn’t know
how to reply.
Fortunately, Dolores reacted quickly, “I told her that I had leg cramps when I was pregnant with Simona
and Samuel.”
“Oh.” Actually, Coral didn’t doubt anything, but she just asked it casually.
Victoria pulled out a stiff smile, “Yes, Lola told me that.”
Matthew leaned back in his chair, his eyelashes drooping slightly to hide the mixed feelings pouring out
of his heart.
At that moment, Victoria put some dishes that Matthew liked to eat in front of him, and it seemed that
she did it unconsciously and naturally.
Dishes were all up, she sat next to Simona and helped her to pick up food, “Now Simona can eat by
herself, before she always needed someone to feed her.”
Dolores smiled, “Simona grew up.”
The little girl was in a good mood, as if she received a compliment. “I will become a big sister soon, of
course I grew up. Later I will feed the baby and help him to eat.”
Victoria was amused by her. The little girl had been jealous just a moment ago, but now she was fine.
“You have to eat all that mummy gives you and let the baby grow up quickly.” The little child picked up
the shrimps that Victoria had put in her bowl and put them in Dolores’ bowl.
“Ah, Simona really grew up!” Victoria gently kneaded her granddaughter’s hair.
“Because I’m going to become a big sister. “ It seemed that the little girl couldn’t wait for the baby to be
born.
She was thinking about how it would feel to be called “big sister” by him.
The atmosphere at the table was very good, but Dolores realized that Matthew didn’t eat anything until
now.
“What’s the matter with you?” Dolores picked up the food and put it in his plate. “These are all dishes
that you like…”
He looked up at the time. “I have an appointment at eight. You eat first.”
With that, he pulled out his chair, left the dining room and went up to the second floor.
Dolores looked at the clock on the wall. ‘It was just seven o’clock. Even if he had an appointment, now
it was dinner time, so he must be hungry.’
“Daddy should be unhappy. Don’t you find that he hasn’t been talking for all the time?” Samuel sat next
to Matthew. He realized that he seemed to be unhappy since he heard grandma say that mummy
would have leg cramps.
Victoria also lost her appetite. At the beginning, when she knew that Dolores was pregnant, she was
very happy. “It’s because of me…”
“No, mum. It’s probably because of me. That’s a thorny problem. He’s been like this all the time. I’ll go
see him, you just eat.”
Dolores stood up. She was wearing a light green loose-fitting skirt and soft-soled cotton slippers. She
walked slowly and steadily.
“Slow down” Victoria said, still worried.
Dolores smiled at her, “Don’t worry, it’s ok, just eat.”
She walked upstairs. Because of her body, her footsteps were very light and there was almost no
sound. She gently opened the door.
There was no light in the room, only a beam of light through the crack of the door.
She saw Matthew sitting on the edge of the bed and bending his body. That broad figure looked very
lonely at that moment.
She walked slowly in and stood up in front of him, then asked softly, “You…”
Before she could say what she wanted to say, she was drawn into his arms. His arms were wrapped
around her waist, his face buried in her belly.
Dolores was startled. His movement was so abrupt that she raised her both hands.
“Let me hug you for a while.” His voice was low and sullen, as if he had something on his mind.
Dolores slowly lowered her arms, put her slender fingers into his hair and clasped hard, so that his face
was closer to her.
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