Chapter 89
“Theo, do you like this room?” Ethan asked excitedly, knowing that Theo would like it; that's what boys like these days.
With only 24 hours to go, he had to ask Antonio to get everything ready quickly, and luckily, the room was ready this morning before Lilian and Theo arrived.
Theo didn't answer his father, who looked at him beaming with joy. Instead, he looked at his mother, who was standing behind him, as if he wanted to ask her through his eyes.
“Mom, didn't you tell him that I don't like unimportant things like these!?”
Lilian seemed to notice her son's dislike for the room from his expression, and could only smile sympathetically as she stroked his hair gently.
“Honey, can you just accept it and pretend you like the room?” She leaned closer and whispered, and Lilian feared that Ethan would be disappointed if Théo was honest with him.
She could feel the happiness shining in Ethan's eyes, and besides, she was also touched by his effort to quickly arrange that room for their son.
Theo blinked, looking at his mother, trying to understand what she meant.
“At least your dad tried hard to create this special room for you, dear...” She continued her words gently, trying to convince him.
“Yes!” Theo nodded and smiled at his mother before looking at Ethan. “Dad, I like the room!” he said, smiling even though it seemed forced.
“I'm so glad you like your room, Theo!” Ethan replied as he ruffled Theo's hair affectionately. “All right, you can take a look at the rest of the room!” He continued before approaching Lilian, who was standing near the window with her back to them.
Ethan was standing next to her, following her gaze to the garden behind the house, and when Lilian looked up and saw him, he turned to face her.
“He didn't like this room, did he?” Looking at her calm expression, Ethan said in a low voice, and the corners of his lips lifted, revealing a slight smile.
Earlier, he could see the dislike in Théo's eyes, but he pretended not to notice, and Lilian was speechless, feeling sorry for him and only managing to nod slightly in response.
“I've told you before, he's different from other children his age.” After a few more seconds, Lilian replied, and Ethan put his hand in his pants pocket, sighed deeply, and turned his gaze back to the garden outside.
Lilian follows his line of sight.
"Actually, I just remembered that, and at least I still have another surprise for him. I hope he won't be disappointed this time.“ A smile slowly appeared on Ethan's face again.
He had already thought of this, so he had prepared a plan B to make his son happy, and Lilian was surprised to hear his words.
”Another surprise?" She turned to face him hurriedly and asked, confused.
Ethan nodded with a mysterious smile on his handsome face, and Lilian narrowed her eyes at Ethan, suspicious of what he had prepared for Theo.
“Please tell me what you've prepared for him?” Worried that the man would disappoint him again, she said. “I'm afraid you'll make another mistake!”
However, Ethan shook his head and refused to tell her, and Lilian became even more suspicious. Before she could ask any more questions, Theo approached her.
“Mom, is my bag still in your car?” Theo asked, wanting to check his iPad and contact his gaming friend.
“No, but it's in my room.” Lilian immediately left the room. “Wait a minute, let me get it for you...” A short time later, she reappeared carrying a black backpack and handed it to Theo.
“Thanks, Mom...” After receiving his bag, Theo went straight to the study table in the corner and picked up his iPad.
“What's that?” Ethan asked curiously, seeing his son excited about his backpack.
“His laptop and iPad!” Lilian replied as she looked at Theo, who was busy behind his iPad.
Then Lilian looked at Ethan. “I already told you, our son is different from other children his age.”
“Yes. Can you tell me more about that?” Lilian nodded, inviting Ethan to follow her to the two-seater sofa near the window.
She began to explain after Ethan sat down next to her.
“When Théo turned one, he spoke with good articulation, although it wasn't perfect yet, and his vocabulary was still limited, but he spoke well, and by the time he was two, he spoke clearly and had a broad vocabulary, and even Anna and I were amazed when we heard him speak...”
Ethan was stunned, and listened to Lilian without taking his eyes off Theo, who seemed immersed in his iPad, ignoring them.
“When he was three, I lent him my cell phone to watch a cartoon. However, I was shocked to discover that he didn't watch cartoons. Instead, he started playing some games I had installed on my phone.”
Lilian shook her head, smiling as she remembered when she discovered that Théo knew how to play a difficult game.
“What game?” Ethan asked curiously.
“Minesweeper and Chess. What shocked me was that he beat my record, even though I never taught him how to play those games...” Ethan was shocked.
He knew that the game was challenging even for adults and required strategy to play.
“Since then, I bought him an iPad. With strict usage limits for children, of course...” Lilian emphasized the strict limits for children to reassure him. "I only installed a few games that could improve his cognitive skills, and every day, his skills surprised me. He mastered all the games I installed for him in no time. Last November, on his fifth birthday, I gave him a laptop. Since then, he has started to study some things about programming. And I enrolled him in online programming classes...“
”Is he interested in programming? Did he do well in programming class?" Ethan was surprised once again upon hearing this, and asked.
Lilian couldn't help but laugh, and moved closer to Ethan.
“He actually stopped taking online classes, even though I had already paid for a year's worth of lessons for him.”
“Why? Wasn't he interested?” He frowned.
“He was interested, but he said his teacher taught him material he could learn on his own, and he got bored and didn't want to study there anymore. He downloaded all the materials and studied them. He could master a year's worth of curriculum in an hour...”
Ethan was even more surprised to hear this.