Chapter 133
After dinner, we sat in the living room.
Celestia kept asking me to read picture books with her, while Faye and Sophia were discussing their favorite celebrities.
"Blair, it seems that Jessa has started doing endorsements again recently."
Faye suddenly bringing up Jessa surprised me a bit.
"Yeah, endorsing for Michael's company."
"He really let my brother down..."
"Is Celestia sleepy?"
I interrupted Faye, since Sophia was here, many things couldn't be said casually. Faye probably realized this, too. She blinked at me and stopped talking.
"Mommy, I'm not sleepy yet. Can we read a bit more?"
Faye leaned over, "How about I keep you company instead? I think your mom looks a bit tired."
I was indeed tired. I'd seen Elliot early in the morning, and with the morning sickness, I was really exhausted both physically and mentally.
Indigo had been asking me earlier, constantly saying she'd go with me to the hospital for a checkup.
"Auntie Faye, but I want Mommy to stay with me."
Faye pouted, "You little girl..."
"Mommy, I miss Daddy so much. I haven't seen him for days. I called him, but he didn't answer. He seems really busy."
Levi wasn't even answering Celestia's calls?
A wave of sadness hit me. Levi couldn't be that petty, could he? Just because of an anonymous gift, he really wouldn't come home?
And since when did he care about these things anyway? He'd never even said a single straightforward word expressing his love for me.
I stroked Celestia's hair to comfort her, "Your daddy is busy with work. He'll come back when he's done."
"Mommy, I'm a bit sleepy now. I'm going to bed."
Celestia wasn't oblivious to my exhaustion. She just wanted me to spend more time with her.
"Let's go back to the room then."
Celestia pressed down on my hand, "Mommy, let Auntie Faye stay with me instead."
"You little girl, who just said she didn't need me?" Faye teased her on purpose.
"Hehe, Auntie Faye, you're the best. Didn't you say to let Mommy rest?"
Faye stood up and took her hand, "Now you know I'm good. I'm telling you, from now on, you need to say nicer things about me, got it?"
"Got it, got it."
"That's more like it."
The two of them went upstairs hand in hand, leaving just Sophia and me in the living room.
She stood up, looking unsure of what to do. She seemed to want to follow them upstairs, but felt it wouldn't be appropriate.
Sophia looked around and asked with a smile, "Blair, how come I don't see any wedding photos of you and Mr. Morgan in the house?"
Normally, there should be photos of Levi and me in the house. Sophia asking this meant she probably hadn't fully thought through the fact that Levi and I had a secret marriage.
"We don't have wedding photos."
I admitted it openly. We really hadn't taken any photos. Even in our phone albums, there weren't any pictures of just the two of us or of our family of three.
"Well, wedding photos are all the same anyway. I'm sure you two wanted to avoid that cliché."
Sophia tried to explain it from my perspective. I didn't mind—it was a perfectly normal question.
"We just didn't take any."
Indigo brought over another plate of fruit. "Sophia, try this dragon fruit. It's really sweet."
"Thank you, thank you."
Sophia thanked her repeatedly. She looked at Indigo awkwardly, probably feeling she shouldn't have brought up that topic.
"I'm going to rest now. Sophia, just like Faye, make yourself at home. If you need anything, just ask Indigo."
I treated her like a younger sister, too.
"Thank you, Blair, I'm really imposing on you."
Just then, Faye came back. She said confidently, "Blair, Celestia wasn't just a bit sleepy—she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow."
"Celestia is always like that. Kids sleep so well."
Indigo laughed along. She often spent time with Celestia and knew this trait of hers.
Faye pulled Sophia to sit down, "Don't be nervous. My sister-in-law is really gentle. We'll eat a bit more and then go rest. Blair, don't worry about us."
"Okay, rest early."
Sophia smiled slightly, "Blair, sweet dreams."
I nodded in acknowledgment. Compared to Cleo and Jessa, having Sophia in the house didn't make me uncomfortable. Instead, I felt like they brought life to the home.
However, I suddenly realized it was noon, so telling me to have sweet dreams was a bit funny. Sophia was probably just too nervous.
Thinking back to when I was her age, I was struggling alone with my studies. Although Aiden had already brought me to the Morgan family by then, I still felt like I was living under someone else's roof.
The more I thought about it, the sadder I became, and the easier it was to think about more troubling things.
I lay down and opened my chat with Elliot on my phone.
In the photo, he and Jessa were smiling happily.
Even if they'd run into a business partner, given Jessa's personality, she wouldn't be overly flattering. Could there be some other relationship between them?
I opened Elliot's Facebook—it was completely blank. But on his profile page, the background image was a corner of our classroom.
I zoomed in and saw it seemed to be the seat I often sat in when I was in school.
So he... had been paying attention to me all along?
I closed my eyes and tried hard to recall bits and pieces from my school days, but even though we were classmates, why couldn't I remember him at all?
I clicked on Professor Elise's profile picture. Just as I was about to type, I hesitated. I'd heard the two of them were in frequent contact, so if I asked this question, Professor Elise would very likely tell him.
Buzz buzz.
Faye sent me a photo—a picture of her and Sophia together in the yard.
[Blair, I haven't been here for a few days—when did the house get decorated so beautifully? If all the lights were turned on at night, it would be absolutely stunning.]
[Your brother arranged it.]
I replied to her, and the image of Levi decorating the yard floated into my mind.
That day, he must have also set up the "stars" in the storage room. Thinking about this, the corners of my mouth unconsciously turned up. Even if the sky fell, this memory would hold it up.
Levi didn't have Facebook, and Levi wasn't in my Facebook. I used to post some of Celestia's daily life, but later, when I was preparing for divorce, I never posted anything again.
It had been more than half a year. I was used to hiding my emotions, which made me bottle things up even more.
When Sophia asked me about wedding photos, I was actually quite affected. On the surface, I acted like it didn't matter, but I did care about this.
Aiden had asked us to take photos, but Levi didn't cooperate. I remember Aiden saying, "Blair, no rush. That brat will understand eventually."
Now we temporarily didn't have a marriage crisis. Jessa had finally separated from him, but then this inexplicable Elliot jumped out.
"What a mess!"
I cursed in my heart, but the other party had never expressed any feelings of affection—just strangely kept sending gifts.
I couldn't help thinking, if Levi and I had taken wedding photos, if he announced our relationship to the whole world, how wonderful that would be.