Chapter 220 Do Not Be Too Moved
Elysia took the food containers out of the insulated bag at the restaurant and called out to them, "Hurry up and wash your hands, come eat."
"Got it." Caroline stood in the bedroom holding a rainbow cotton candy, her eyes hopeful. "What do you think?"
"For me?" Leopold asked.
"Of course, why else would I show it to you?"
"Cute."
"Your vocabulary of compliments is really limited."
Leopold held up his phone. "Let me take a photo first." Then he asked her, "Was the one you ate earlier a bunny?"
"Yeah. It wasn't as pretty as this one. I saved the pretty one for you. Pretty loyal of me, right?"
Almost thirty years old, yet fluffy pink cotton candy could still awaken her girlish heart.
Leopold said, "Very loyal. To reward you, I'll take good care of you all night tonight."
Caroline froze. Though she didn't want to overthink it, the smile in Leopold's eyes wouldn't let her not overthink it.
Remembering how he could practically devour her when he was in the mood, and now they hadn't made love in several days, wouldn't he wear her out completely?
Caroline laughed nervously and shyly, "Actually, you don't need to be that moved. It's just cotton candy, really."
Leopold pulled open her collar to look inside. "Much better. Should be fine now."
"Not fine," Caroline closed her collar. "It still hurts. Pretty bad. Really bad."
She said it like it was true, but Leopold could tell she was just embarrassed. He wrapped his arm around her waist, his tongue brushing across his lips, smiling meaningfully. "It doesn't hurt."
Images from the walk-in closet instantly flashed through her mind—intense and hot. Caroline's ears burned, her face blazing.
She lowered her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze, wanting to run, but Leopold noticed and held her tighter, his voice husky as he said, "Where are you running? Am I going to eat you up?"
Looking at his expression now, he really did look like he was going to eat her up.
"Honey." Leopold called softly in her ear. Before he could say more, Caroline pushed him away. "Mom's calling us to eat."
Watching her flee the bedroom, Leopold picked up the cotton candy and spun the stick. "Can you run away tonight?"
After dinner, Leopold went to the kitchen to clean up while mother and daughter sat in the living room chatting.
Elysia glanced toward the kitchen, then turned to Caroline and said, "When you went to church last time, did you pray to get pregnant soon?"
Caroline had just put a piece of cantaloupe in her mouth and mumbled while chewing, "What?"
Elysia asked again, "Did you or didn't you?"
She'd heard that chewing food 20-40 times helped with weight loss. Caroline had never tried it before, but right now she started putting it into practice.
She chewed endlessly. Elysia got the picture—she definitely couldn't count on her.
She'd chewed forty-one times now, almost to the point where there was nothing left to chew. If she didn't speak soon, she'd really make Elysia angry.
Caroline said, "No."
Elysia had an expression as if she had long known the result. "I knew you didn't go. Here, put this under your pillow."
A wrapped rectangular object lay flat in Elysia's palm.
Caroline asked, "What is this?"
"Don't open it, just put it under your pillow." Elysia said, "It's a protective charm I got."
"Mom, you..."
Before Caroline could refuse, Leopold finished cleaning up and came out. Seeing what was in Elysia's hand, he asked, "Mom, what's that?"
"Leopold, perfect timing," Elysia smiled kindly, calling him over and handing him the item. "This is a protective charm I got. Put it under Caroline's pillow."
Leopold's first reaction was to look at Caroline. She had a somewhat helpless expression. Leopold said, "Got it, Mom."
"Leopold is so understanding. Make sure you put it properly for her."
Leopold got up, went to the bedroom, and came back. "Put it under Caroline's pillow."
Elysia nodded with satisfaction.
Leopold picked up the fruit plate. "Mom, have some watermelon." Then he said, "About having kids, Caroline and I both have it in mind, but having children depends on fate. There's no rush."
Elysia said, "Caroline has always wanted to achieve something in her career. She told me she doesn't want kids right now. I understand her thinking—I went through that age too. Right now, she's at a critical point in her career. If she can move up during this time, she'll have a good future. But in the system, sometimes it's about putting in the years. Looking at her current prospects, if nothing goes wrong, she has a very promising future. Building a career isn't something that needs to be rushed."
Caroline said, "Mom, you pushed me to get married, and now you're pushing me to have kids. I want to enjoy our time as a couple for a few more years."
Elysia said, "I'm not pushing you, just seeking peace of mind."
Caroline laughed. "Now that it's in place, you can have peace of mind."
Caroline's real plan was not to consider having children for three years. She wanted to make achievements at the Seaside City Power Station and implement some new initiatives. If Elysia knew, she probably wouldn't understand.
Elysia understood her daughter and had heard Caroline talk about work. When it came to work, Caroline was a lot like Elijah—they both had that stubborn streak in their bones.
Caroline had said she wanted to achieve results, but achieving results took time and energy. If she put all her time and energy into work, how could she think about having children? Put simply, Elysia didn't want Caroline to work too hard—Elijah had worn himself out with illness.
"Work is work, just do your best. Don't wear yourself out too much. If you ruin your health, no one can replace you. If you don't do the work, someone else can take over, but who can take over your illness?"
"Mom, I'm still young. I'm in good health."
"Elijah said the same thing back then. Look at him now, sick all the time." Elysia said, "While you have time now, have the baby first. When you really get busy, I can help take care of the child. In a few years, when Elijah retires, the two of us will take care of the child while you do your thing. It won't interfere with either."
Caroline really didn't want to discuss this. After Leopold's hint, she swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.
Elysia wanted to take a taxi home, but Leopold wouldn't hear of it and insisted on driving her home.
On their way back, the car passed by the river.
Leopold pulled over. "Want to take a walk?"
Caroline felt stifled too, so she nodded and got out of the car with Leopold.
The riverside was quiet. Quite a few people came out at night to walk off their dinner, and there were night joggers too.
Leopold held Caroline's hand and said, "Remember? When we first met, we ran into each other here."
How could she not remember? He'd even posted on Facebook to help her feel better.
Caroline turned to face him and asked, "Was that Facebook post you made back then meant to comfort me?"
Thinking he might not remember, she reminded him, "You said not to listen to gossip, to go see the scenery you like."
"You still remember." The smile at the corner of Leopold's mouth deepened.
Caroline said, "You look so pleased with yourself."
Leopold said with a knowing expression, "Looks like you had feelings for me pretty early on."
"Who had feelings?"
"If you didn't have thoughts about me, would you remember so clearly? Makes sense though—I'm so excellent, it's perfectly normal that you had a crush on me."
"Who had a crush on you?"
"You're denying it so quickly because you feel guilty."
"I'm not."
"There you go, getting worked up again."
Caroline burst out laughing at Leopold's teasing.
Leopold let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders. "What Mom said tonight, don't take it too much to heart. It's all the same—not just us, other families push for marriage and kids too. We can't escape it. But whether to have kids, how to have them, when to have them—that's still up to us. Don't worry about it. Whenever you say we should have kids, that's when we'll have them."