Chapter 148 Are You Planning to Work Until Dark?
Arabella tried not to look at Gabriel, focusing solely on transferring the children.
But Isabella seemed to sense something was wrong. When her father tried to take her away, she suddenly burst into tears, her chubby little hand clutching tightly to her mother's clothes.
Arabella's hair got tangled up with her clothing in Isabella's grip, and when the baby yanked hard, it made her cry out in pain, startling Gabriel as well.
"Sweetie, Mommy's not leaving. Mommy's still holding your brother—I'm not going anywhere..."
Knowing the little girl hadn't seen her in so long and was reluctant to let go, Arabella endured the pain and immediately tried to soothe her.
But what could a five-month-old baby understand? She was simply following her instincts, wanting to hold onto her mother, unwilling to be separated from her.
Gabriel worked hard to calm his daughter, gently trying to pry her little fingers loose, managing only to free the clothing.
The baby still had her mother's hair tightly wound between her tiny fingers.
With one hand holding the child, he couldn't free up another hand, and he couldn't just yank roughly, so the scene reached an impasse.
Arabella held her son, and Henry, finally in his mother's arms and catching the familiar scent, became even more impatient. He whimpered in protest while his hands pawed at his mother's shirt front.
What a chaotic, helpless, and embarrassing scene.
Both adults were at a complete loss.
"Baby, Mommy's not leaving. Can you let go? Mommy promises she's not going anywhere... Mommy needs to feed your brother—look, he's crying from hunger..."
Arabella continued trying to calm her daughter, but Gabriel had already lost patience. He glanced at her and said curtly, "Move over. I'll get in with her."
She looked at him, seeming to hesitate.
She'd been maintaining distance between them, and now sitting together while she had to unbutton her shirt to nurse—what was this supposed to be?
Feeling frustrated and blocked up inside, she wanted to refuse, but both children were whimpering in protest, on the verge of breaking into full wails. She could only grit her teeth and reluctantly move inward with her son.
Gabriel crouched down and climbed in with his daughter, the two adults now squeezed tightly together.
"There, we're staying with Mommy, not going anywhere... See, Mommy's right here beside you, she didn't leave..." Gabriel lifted his daughter up, pointing out her mother to her.
Isabella's eyes were teary, still clutching her mother's hair, but her tight little mouth gradually relaxed, her dark eyes fixed steadily on her mother.
Henry had already started crying in earnest, so Arabella had to set aside everything else and get him nursing first.
Gabriel said nothing, his eyes darkening as he glanced at her once, his brow unconsciously furrowing before he quietly looked away.
Once her brother was settled and eating, Arabella had the mental space to turn back to her daughter, cooing gently, "Mommy's not leaving... Mommy's staying with baby, okay? Are you sleepy? If you're tired, let's take a little nap, alright?"
Isabella seemed to understand her mother's words somehow. She calmed down, babbling responses to her mother, and was soon coaxed into smiling.
As a result, the little girl got excited and wanted her mother to hold her, struggling in Gabriel's arms to get to her mother's side.
Arabella couldn't possibly free her hands, so she could only keep cooing. Gabriel was afraid Isabella would disturb Henry's feeding and started to take her away, but before he could even turn around, the little girl protested loudly and grabbed onto her mother's clothes again.
There was no choice...
He could only sit back down, holding his daughter upright with both hands, letting the little girl clutch her mother's clothing while her upper body pressed against her mother's shoulder in a snuggle.
Arabella's emotions were incredibly complex—she was both happy about the children's dependence on and attachment to her, thoroughly enjoying this moment of family time, yet heartbroken that she'd have to separate from the children and wouldn't be able to experience this love and reluctance every moment going forward.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to press her head against her daughter's, continuously murmuring soft words, utterly reluctant to let go.
Gabriel could clearly see the moisture in her eyes. Words hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he held them back.
By now, he'd compromised enough, shown enough sincerity, even humbled himself enough, but still couldn't make her change her mind.
Resentment had built up in his heart too, and he was unwilling to continue placating and persuading.
The family of four maintained this awkward and strange position, the car filled with a thick, suffocating atmosphere.
This continued until Henry fell asleep while nursing, naturally releasing his latch...
Arabella carefully repositioned Henry, holding him properly, and pulled down her shirt.
Looking back at Isabella on her shoulder, she saw the little girl had also closed her eyes and fallen asleep—just like that, half-hanging on her shoulder with her little head tilted to one side.
She silently glanced at Gabriel and whispered, "Isabella... is asleep..."
"I know," he replied equally quietly, his expression impassive.
Gabriel knew his daughter was asleep. He'd been supporting the little body with both hands for nearly twenty minutes, his arms aching.
But afraid that any movement might wake her and cause more crying, he'd simply continued holding her up.
Arabella could see his particularly cold attitude and roughly understood why—he must know about her filing with the court, know that reconciliation was hopeless, and had completely given up and turned cold.
In that case, she had no reason to linger either.
"Um... why don't you call Mary and have them come get the children," Arabella suggested.
"They've already gone back," Gabriel replied.
Mary, intent on bringing them together, had handed off the children and immediately left. She was definitely home by now.
Arabella felt helpless. Looking at him, she said hesitantly in a low voice, "So... what do we do now?"
Gabriel didn't respond.
Anyway, he had nothing to do on the weekend and could afford to wait. He wouldn't mind sitting in the car until dark.
Arabella could see he was being passively uncooperative, deliberately trying to make things difficult for her. She stopped talking to him and tried to figure things out herself.
Taking out her phone, she called Mary.
But somehow, nobody picked up.
She called three times, and each time it rang until it went to voicemail with no answer.
How embarrassing.
She put down her phone and looked back at the man, anger beginning to flare in her heart.
This was clearly something he could resolve with one phone call, but he was deliberately staying out of it, watching her flounder helplessly.
With anger rising, her tone became unfriendly: "Are you planning to just sit here like this until dark?"
Gabriel let out a cold laugh, "I'm not stopping you. You can leave."
She was so angry she could barely breathe.
True, he wasn't physically restraining her.
But with one child hanging on her shoulder and another lying in her arms, both asleep—how was she supposed to extricate herself?
Their eyes met, one angry, one indifferent. After several seconds of standoff, Arabella gritted her teeth and steeled herself, carefully lifting Henry from her arms and placing him on the seat.
As she shifted, Isabella naturally slipped from her shoulder, and the little girl immediately burst into loud cries.
Arabella settled Henry and saw he was sleeping soundly, not waking up, which put most of her mind at ease. She then turned and took Isabella directly from Gabriel's arms, gently soothing her.
Both children had always kept regular schedules, and it was indeed their naptime.
Surrounded by her mother's familiar scent and feeling completely secure, Isabella quickly stopped crying and gradually drifted back to sleep.
Arabella turned around and carefully placed Isabella down as well, laying her flat on the car seat...