Erica knew that if she used a cellphone or instant messenger, her father and brother would be easily able to track her down.
Hearing Erica's apology, Blair couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She broke down sobbing, clutching Erica closely.
Yvette touched Feb Wu's smooth face and said, "He's so adorable!"
Blair didn't think about the baby until just now. She let go of Erica and cautiously took the boy from Wesley's arms. With a tearful smile, she said, "Come here, little one. Do you look like your mom?"
Maybe it was chance, maybe he felt that many eyes were upon him. Regardless of the reason, the sleeping boy slowly opened his eyes and looked at everyone curiously.
Yvette had never seen such a tiny child before. His every action charmed her. When she saw him do that, she said excitedly, "Mom, look! He opened his eyes!"
Blair explained resignedly, "I saw it. But why the fuss? Did you think he couldn't do that? But check it out—his eyes are so small."
Wesley turned to look at the baby and said, "Rika's eyes weren't that small when she was born." 'He might take after the father, ' he thought.
Blair explained, "The baby is only a month old. He's too young to have any well-defined facial features. Maybe when he gets older, his eyes will look like Rika's." Rika's eyes were beautiful. Blair hoped the little guy had a pair of beautiful peepers too.
Erica breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her family liked Feb Wu.
When Gifford walked in the door, Feb Wu was crying, perhaps because he was hungry. Blair had sent a servant to buy some formula.
Gifford heard the baby's cries the moment he walked up to the door. He thought he had the wrong place at first. But once he was inside, he recognized the woman holding the child. It was his mother, Blair.
After taking off his military cap, Gifford looked around the living room searching for his sister. "Mom, who is this baby? Where is Rika? I thought she was back home."
"Yeah she is. She's upstairs in the study with your dad. He's probably reading her the riot act. That's your nephew, of course. Why did you ask if you knew the answer?" Then Blair turned her head to look down at the baby. She rocked him a little, hoping to get him to calm down. "Look, that's your uncle. See him? Alright, alright. There, there. Don't cry."
Shocked, Gifford pointed at the crying baby and stammered, "Is...he really Rika's kid?"
He was told that Rika got pregnant after she ran away from home. But he was still shocked at the new development.
Rika always hung around with boys. A ton of boys. And she flirted with the more handsome ones. But Gifford had never heard anything about a boyfriend, and then she was pregnant all of a sudden. He understood why Blair had a problem with it.
Later, Wesley sent one of his men to Erica's university, trying to find out who the baby's father was. He talked to many students and faculty, but none of them had a clue. So eventually he gave up.
Blair nodded resignedly, "Yes," in answer to Gifford's question. No one could believe it, but it was a fact, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Gifford had no answer. He was still astounded, staring at the crying baby.
His younger sister was still a child herself. How could she have given birth to another kid?
Rika had just celebrated her 21st birthday. She hadn't graduated from university yet. She was always a little troublemaker. How could she take care of a baby?
Seeing her son standing there in a daze, Blair understood how he felt. But since things had come this far, no one could do anything about it.
So she said, "Call the maid and tell her to hurry up. I think he's hungry." Rika was still a kid after all. She produced breast milk, but it wasn't easy to express, so she had to resort to formula. But she didn't have the good sense to bring any along with her.
"Okay." Gifford took out his cellphone quickly to make the call. "You have the number?" He was almost never home, so he wouldn't know.
In the study upstairs
Erica walked into the study and closed the door. They sat opposite each other. The old man spoke first. "Who is the father of the child? Won't he take responsibility?" Now, Wesley could understand why Carlos wanted to kill Sheffield when he heard that Evelyn was pregnant.
Erica bowed her head and fiddled with the pen on Wesley's desk. "He can't step up, and I'm not sure I want him to. But that's not why I came back. If you don't want to help me with this, Dad, then I'll leave, and take the kid with me."
"Oh, come on!" Wesley scolded. "Does he know about the baby?"
"He does!"
"He didn't say anything about taking care of you and the child?" Wesley resolved to find out who the baby's father was. He wanted to break the guy's legs.
Erica became impatient. "It's been a long time. Can we not do this now?"
"Do what? Discuss something important? We need to hammer this out!"
"Dad! You just won't cut me any slack, willya?"
"Because you don't do that for us!" Last time they saw her, she showed them an ultrasound report. Now, she was back with a baby. She just didn't give them the time to mentally prepare themselves. So they were gobsmacked again and again.
Erica bent over the desk listlessly and stared at Wesley. "Why can't we just go back to the way things were?"
Wesley's mouth twitched. "No! With such a huge scandal, I can't be as lenient as I was."
Everyone knew Erica was pregnant. Although the excitement had tapered off, people still remembered it.
Wesley knew this country well. They didn't accept breaches of tradition as readily here. He believed Erica would have a hard time of it. That was Wesley's biggest concern.
"You weren't easy on me before, either. You followed me wherever I went! And you hit me." Especially when she was making trouble, Wesley would stop her every time.
"Probably far less than you deserved. Do you think you don't make mistakes?"
Despite Wesley's protests, things seemed to go back to the way they were, and the long lost happiness appeared in the Li family again.
"Father, my surname is also Li. We're in the same boat. From now on, you will have to protect me as long as we live here!" She gave birth to a baby in her early twenties. Erica figured more people might look down on her!
She didn't care what other people thought, but there were always some problems that couldn't be avoided. So she had to ask her dad for help.
"Not too smart, kiddo! You just now figured out life would be hard? What were you thinking back then?"
Erica pleaded, "Father, I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen again!"
"It better not, or I'll break your legs. I'll send you to a convent before you run away from home."
Erica couldn't believe her ears. 'Listen to this guy. Is this how a father is supposed to act?'
The following week was tough on Blair.
Because it felt like she and Wesley were the baby's parents. It was they and the maternity matron who took care of the baby, feeding the baby, and changing the diaper. As the baby's mother, Erica was hardly involved.