Chapter 16 chapter 16
Chapter 16
“Jojo, come on, our taxi is already here. Any second late and we might miss our flight.”
“Mommy, I am coming,” Jojo shouted.
When Natalie and Jojo finally boarded the taxi, Jojo looked at her mother with a downcast expression, “Mommy, why is Daddy not here? Is he not coming with us?”
Natalie did not know what to say. This was among the many reasons why she hadn’t wanted Jojo to get used to Sean as her father, but the two of them were just too stubborn, and they couldn’t listen to her.
She felt a lump in her throat as she looked at her daughter. Maybe telling her the truth would mentally prepare her for future disappointments, “Jojo, darling, your Uncle Sean is not coming with us. He will be staying here, and we might never be able to see each other again.”
“What? Jojo was stunned as tears immediately fell from her eyes.
She looked at Natalie and asked in between sobs, “Mommy, does Daddy not want me anymore? But I have been a good girl. Did I do something that made Daddy angry?”
Natalie’s heart broke. The one thing she hated was seeing her daughter’s tears, and she did not even know how to console her.
“Jojo is a good girl, and she is well-behaved. Daddy just had some urgent matters to attend to, and when we reach Sterling City, we will give him a call, okay?”
“No, daddy hates Jojo. Maybe he found another daughter, and now he does not want me anymore.” Jojo cried.
She puffed her cheeks and said in a pained voice, “Since daddy doesn’t want me anymore, then I don’t want him either.”
Natalie was speechless. She could not understand anything anymore.
She hugged her daughter and looked through the window, her mind drifting to the events that had happened not long ago.
One hour ago…
After they left the university, Sean insisted on taking her somewhere else, and to her surprise, he took her to a place they used to frequent while she was pregnant with Jojo.
While pregnant with Jojo, Natalie craved a lot of weird things, but the thing she loved the most was the hot, spicy noodles sold on one of the busy streets in the city.
When she had her first bite, she instantly fell in love with it, and she would drag Sean every day there just so they could have the hot, spicy noodles. While she enjoyed the hotness in her mouth, Sean always looked like he had swallowed hot pepper, and his face would turn red.
Natalie used to make fun of him, but Sean never stopped catering to her every whim.
He even paid the stall owner a huge sum of money to get the recipe, but after he made it at home, Natalie insisted that it did not taste as good as the one made on the streets.
So, Sean had no choice but to accompany her there almost every day. When she got tired due to pregnancy and her mobility was limited, Sean used to get her takeaways, and it always left her in a good mood.
And today, when he took her there, Natalie almost cried from the memories.
She could not wait to taste the hot and spicy noodles, but when she finally did, she felt like she had drunk a whole bottle of hot chili sauce.
Her eyes turned red as she looked at Sean, who was happily enjoying himself like it was nothing. She could not help but ask, “Sean, why is it so spicy? Isn’t your mouth burning?”
Sean looked at her with a nonchalant gaze as he continued to munch on his noodles. After he was done, he wiped his mouth with the warm towel and finally answered Natalie, “It has always been this hot.”
“What?” Natalie could not believe her ears.
How the hell had she eaten such a spicy dish without feeling anything?
Indeed, pregnancy cravings would remain one of the many unresolved mysteries in the world.
Sean looked at her, pretending to be shocked, “What, don’t you like it anymore? My mouth suffered a great deal before it got used to it.”
“What? Why didn’t you stop eating it? You know that I was just driven by the pregnancy hormones, and I honestly can’t even recall how many weird things I did.”
Sean spoke as a matter of fact, “Why was I to stop? I liked anything you liked, so I had to train my brain to get used to all the weird stuff.”
Present time…
The driver’s voice brought Natalie back to her senses. Jojo had cried until she fell asleep.
“Ma’am, we are already at the airport. Please go ahead and alight from the car.”
“Oh, uhm, sorry…” Natalie said. She quickly woke up Jojo, and with the help of the driver, they carried their luggage and went for the security clearance.
Before disappearing into the hustle and bustle of the airport, Natalie looked towards the city, feeling an ache in her heart that she could not even explain. Her voice was low as she mumbled, “I will miss you so much, Sean. Thanks for all the wonderful memories, and I love you too.”
…
The security check was quick, and when Natalie showed her boarding pass, she was told that her ticket had been upgraded from economy class to first class.
“What? I never made any adjustments. Did you make a mistake?”
“There is no mistake, ma’am. Please, this way.”
They even passed through the VVIP gate, making Natalie have more questions than answers.
When they finally reached the first-class cabin, Natalie wanted to ask who had upgraded their tickets, but when she turned around and saw a certain someone, she could not believe her eyes.
Sean was seated in the first-class cabin. He had a laptop on his lap and earbuds in his ears. He seemed to be in the middle of a meeting because he did not even notice their arrival.
Natalie’s mouth widened in shock as she called out, “Sean!”
“Mommy, what did you just say? Did I hear you call daddy’s name?”
Natalie carried Jojo and showed her where Sean was sitting.
Jojo could not believe what she was seeing. She wiggled out of Natalie’s arms and ran towards Sean at lightning speed.
She shouted in a loud voice, finally catching Sean’s attention, “Daddy.”
Realizing that they had already arrived, Sean quickly ended his meeting and closed his laptop. He caught Jojo in time just before she knocked over a chair and reprimanded her in a gentle voice, “Slow down, I am not going anywhere.”
Jojo hugged Sean and immediately started to cry, “Daddy, is it really you?”
“Yes, baby.”
“Daddy is bad!”
Sean was confused. He soothed his daughter as he asked, “What have I done, baby?”
“You made Jojo sad.”