Chapter 403: Nora"s Suspicion
The reason why Nora knew about the birthday of the children was that on that day every year, Tanya would be in low spirits.
When she was overseas, no matter where Nora was, she would always be by Tanya"s side on this day.
The two of them did nothing. Nora would sleep while Tanya would be in the room, dancing to the birthday gift she had bought long ago.
Usually, when she woke up, Tanya would be covered in sweat, but she would not feel tired. If she continued like this, she would eventually collapse.
Every year, she would fall seriously ill.
It was as if she wanted to use this method to vent her longing for her child for the next year.
Therefore, Nora remembered her child"s birthday very clearly.
She couldn"t help but doubt Mia"s ident.i.ty.
Tanya"s child and Mia were both Joel"s children. Furthermore, they were only five days apart…
She narrowed her eyes and began to think about the relations.h.i.+p between Mia and Tanya…
"Mommy, can I?"
Pete"s words interrupted Nora"s thoughts.
She looked at him and nodded. "Alright, I"ll ask your uncle when he comes back."
If she took Mia out to play, she would definitely ask Joel.
With that, she yawned loudly and turned to walk to the bed. "It"s already so late. Why isn"t he back yet? I"ll lie down and wait for him!"
Pete: "…"
As expected, half an hour later, there were uniform breathing sounds on the bed.
Pete sighed helplessly and put down the pen in his hand.
He walked to the bed and gently covered Nora with the blanket. Then, he went out and downstairs to sit on the sofa in the living room.
When Joel returned home, this was the scene he saw.
Pete was clearly sleepy and anxious. His little head was nodding off, but he had still forced himself not to sleep.
Joel looked at the time. It was already 11 PM. He walked over and asked, "What"s wrong?"
Pete woke up suddenly and said excitedly, "Uncle, you"re finally back!"
He jumped off the sofa and looked at Joel. "Tomorrow, Dad and Mom will take me and Cherry… to the amus.e.m.e.nt park. I want to bring Mia along, okay?"
Joel looked at him and touched his head. After some thought, he said, "Okay."
Pete heaved a sigh of relief.
Joel bent down and picked him up before carrying him upstairs.
After taking him to the bedroom, he asked, "Where"s your mother?"
Pete said helplessly, "Mommy said that she would lie down and wait for you to come back to ask you. In the end, she fell asleep…"
Joel: "…"
Joel brought Pete to his room and watched him shower and change into his pajamas. Then, he sent Pete to Nora"s bedroom.
He watched as he tiptoed in and returned to the bedroom in relief.
At the same time, he could not help but think that Nora was such a worry-free mother. Be it with Cherry or Pete, they were both so sensible and independent.
After returning to his room, he washed up and lay on the bed. He took out his phone and opened Tanya"s Facebook.
Her profile picture was of a mature grape.
Joel stared at his phone screen for a long time, not knowing what to send her. Just as he was in a daze, he suddenly saw the words "Typing…" on the dialog box.
Joel was instantly delighted.
What was Tanya going to say to him?
However, after waiting for more than ten minutes, she did not say anything.
Joel couldn"t help but send a message: "?"
Tanya replied: "?"
Joel: "Where"s the small composition?"
Tanya: "What small composition?"
Joel smiled and typed: "You"ve been typing for almost twenty minutes. You should have written a small composition with 800 words by now? Where is it?"
Tanya: "!!!"
Tanya: "I wasn"t sending you a message!"
Tanya: "You"re mistaken!"
Tanya: "Oh, I was watching television and accidentally opened your chat window."
Seeing that she was not being honest, Joel continued to type with a smile. "What are you watching?"
Tanya: "A show on FOX TV."
Joel: "Is it Friends? I haven"t seen it in a long time."
Tanya: "Yes."
Joel laughed again. "But FOX TV is currently playing a melodramatic drama."
Tanya: "…"
Tanya: "Can"t I watch a replay?"
Joel: "Alright, you can watch whatever you want. Whatever you say is right."
After these words were sent, the two of them paused for a moment.
Joel suddenly recalled when he and Tanya were still in high school.
At that time, they once had a disagreement over a small matter. As for the specific reason, he could not remember it clearly. However, Tanya"s eyes were red from crying as she roared at him, "Do you even know how to be a boyfriend? Don"t you know that a girlfriend is always right no matter what she does? You"re such a serious person. Other than me, no one else will want you!"
At that time, they were young and did not know how to cherish each other, much less how to love each other. They had stumbled forward in confusion.
However, he had continued to press forward. It was unlike now where he was restrained and careful in everything he did.
A warm feeling suddenly flowed through Joel"s chest. He sent a message: "I missed you."
Tanya did not reply for a long time.
Joel lowered his eyes and sent another message: "Nora will take Cherry and Pete to the amus.e.m.e.nt park to play tomorrow. Mia wants to go too. Do you want to go?"
This time, Tanya replied: "I"ll consider it."
Joel chuckled softly. "Yes. How long do you want to consider?"
Tanya replied proudly, "Two minutes."
Joel said dotingly, "Alright."
Two minutes later, Joel punctually asked, "Go ahead."
Tanya: "Since you"re begging me, I"ll go."
Joel laughed.
—
The next day, when Nora woke up, the sun was high in the sky.
She picked up her phone in a daze and was about to look at the time when she opened her eyes and saw four heads staring at her from her bedside.
Mia and Tanya were on the left, both of them holding their chin.
Cherry and Pete were speechless.
Nora was shocked. "What are you doing?"
Her voice was hoa.r.s.e.
Tanya: "Waiting for you to wake up so that we can go to the amus.e.m.e.nt park."
Nora: "?"
Stunned, she looked at her phone and realized that it was already 11 AM.
Nora rubbed her head and sat up. "…Why didn"t you wake me up?"
Tanya looked at Cherry. "You have to ask your little darling about this."
Cherry said, "Mommy, you can"t be disturbed when you"re sleeping!"
Pete said, "Mommy, it"s okay. It"s okay if we play less, but you have to sleep enough."
Nora: "…"
She lifted the blanket and went to the bathroom. As she washed her face, she looked at Tanya and Mia in the mirror. She suddenly recalled her suspicions from last night.