"Go home?" The smile on Li Bingbing"s face disappeared when she turned to him. "I"m leaving with my son, I-"
"Mama is leaving?" Mengmeng"s eyes became teary. She quickly went and hugged her mother"s leg. "Mama, please don"t leave Mengmeng!"
Clueless of what they were talking about, Qinqing turned to his sister who looked like she was about to cry. "Jiejie (big sister), what"s wrong?"
Lu Xian Yu narrowed his eyes at Li Bingbing, "No one is going anywhere, we will go home together. Li Bingbing, can I have a moment with you?"
When Xia Meilin saw that Li Bingbing and Lu Xian Yu were about to have an argument, she didn"t want the kids to get involved, she stood up and said, "I remembered that I baked cookies earlier, do you want to try out auntie"s cookies, Qin"er? Mengmeng?"
Qinqing"s eyes sparkled in excitement. "Cookies!" He jumped off from his mother"s lap before he went toward her. He then called for Mengmeng, "Jiejie, let"s eat cookies! Eat cookies!"
Mengmeng hesitated since she was afraid that if she let go of her mother, she might leave her.
Knowing his daughter"s worries, Lu Xian Yu gave her a rea.s.suring smile, "Sweetheart, your mother and I will just have a small talk, okay? After that, we will go home together. For now, why don"t you go and have some snacks with your brother?"
Mengmeng stared at him, trusting her father"s words, she obediently left with Xia Meilin and her brother.
After the children left them, Lu Xian Yu"s faced Li Bingbing.
While watching the two children eat their snacks, Xia Meilin couldn"t help but hope that things would get well for their family.
"Auntie Meimei, does mama hate Mengmeng?"
Xia Meilin was taken aback by the little girl"s sudden question.
Mengmeng turned to her brother who was happily eating the cookies and was ignoring his surroundings. "Mengmeng doesn"t like him but Qinqing looks a lot like daddy so Mengmeng loves Qinqing a lot too."
Hearing his name, Qinqing raised his head and smiled cutely at his sister, he reached out a half-eaten cookie to her, "Want?"
Mengmeng leaned and took a bite from the cookie before she grinned, "It"s delicious."
Qinqing grinned back at her before he turned and continued eating his snack.
Mengmeng"s eyes started to become teary as she lowered her head. She could never hate her brother even if he was getting all her mother"s attention. Didn"t she already tell herself that she should not hate her beloved little brother?
Xia Meilin"s eyes softened. She could see how much Mengmeng cared for her brother. She went and hugged Mengmeng closely, "Your mother loves you a lot, Mengmeng."
She believed that Li Bingbing did love Mengmeng, it was just... Li Bingbing was trying to cope up from her husband"s death through the help of Qinqing who was the exact replica of Xia Sinian.
The little girl buried her face on her chest as she started crying quietly in her arms.
Mengmeng knew that if she cried out loud, her brother would definitely join her in.
"But mama never says that she loves me..." Ever since Xia Sinian died, Li Bingbing never once said those sweet words to her but her mother would always say it to her brother. She couldn"t help but feel jealous even if she didn"t want to feel that horrible feeling against her brother.
Xia Meilin gently stroked her hair, "Mengmeng, your mother loves you, okay? Never think that she doesn"t. She may not say it but she really loves you so much." She said softly, "It"s just... Right now, she"s going through a lot."
"Do you think Xia Sinian would be happy if he saw you this way?"
Li Bingbing glared daggers at Lu Xian Yu, "Don"t you dare use that card on me."
"Mengjie is your daughter. It is okay if you continue to ignore me but you can"t do the same to her. Don"t hate her."
Li Bingbing clenched her fists tightly as she lowered her head, "I do not hate her."
How could she? She raised Mengmeng together with Xia Sinian while he was still alive but... after she found out the truth about Xia Sinian not being the father of their daughter, she was devastated. But Xia Sinian didn"t hate her for it, instead, he accepted Mengmeng as his own.
She honestly loved Mengmeng since she was such a sweet child even if she was a little devil in her baby days. Why would she hate her?
It was just... after her husband died, she Qinqing reminded her of her late husband that she couldn"t help but give the little boy most of her attention.
"Is it because she"s mine?" Lu Xian Yu asked with a sad smile on his lips.
Was it because Mengmeng was his? No, that wasn"t it. She has already gone past through that with the help of Xia Sinian. He helped her accept that fact.
Hearing no answers from Li Bingbing, Lu Xian Yu thought that it was really because he was the father.
"I"m not fitted to become a mother, I can"t do what other mothers do. I am careless and irresponsible, I am horrible and-"
"Yes, you are." He interrupted her. "But this is not you, Bingbing." He held her hand, "I know that you are hurting because of Xia Sinian..."
Tears welled up in her eyes, "X-Xian Yu..."
"You may be a horrible mother right now but that"s because of the situation you are in. I understand... I have to understand." He knelt in front of her, "I love you, Bibi, I will always do... the love I have for you has brought me this far. I will wait for you, until you heal, so don"t push me away. I"m always going to be here for you."
Li Bingbing"s lips quivered, her tears rolled down uncontrollably as she looked at him. He was really a stubborn man... but then... his stubbornness has brought warmth to her.
Whenever she was alone and breaking, Lu Xian Yu was there for her. He was always there whenever she was in pain.
"Just be yourself, the Bibi I know. I know how important Xia Sinian is to you that is why, I"m not stopping you from thinking of him, even if it"s through your son... but all I ask for you is to... give me a chance to show you my love. Also, please, treat the children fairly, especially Mengjie. Don"t abandon her, she may have me as her father but she is also your daughter."
Abandon her? Was she abandoning her? The reason why she wanted to leave Mengmeng behind was so that Lu Xian Yu could give her a better life.
Lu Xian Yu will never stop following her if she brought Mengmeng with her and it would just make it harder for the child and she didn"t want that.