‘The daughter you didn’t want,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan’s maternal instincts gave her the strength to stand her ground. After giving birth, Xiao Bao occupied the biggest part of her heart. Xiao Bao was her treasure, her life.
‘I didn’t know my daughter existed before but now I do and I want my daughter,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu had no attachments to embryos. He couldn’t correlate embryos to living babies. But he bonded with Xiao Bao the moment she was born.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, you can take my daughter only after you kill me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Xiao Bao is a baby but she’s a smart baby. She knows who has always loved her and who didn’t love her. She doesn’t want a father like you.’
‘Waah, waah…’ Xiao Bao cried.
Gu Jiao Wu stood in front of Xiao Bao’s baby bed and picked her up. He imitated Mrs Qiao and checked her nappy, she did pee in her nappy. But he didn’t know how to change her nappy.
Qiao Tan Yuan saw Gu Jiao Wu’s clueless face and scoffed. She got out of bed, picked up Xiao Bao from him and changed Xiao Bao’s nappy in a flash.
Gu Jiao Wu was shocked to see how smoothly Qiao Tan Yuan changed Xiao Bao’s nappy. He didn’t expected Qiao Tan Yuan would ever do anything that would dirty her hands.
‘What’s so strange about me changing a nappy?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘It’s called a mother’s maternal instinct. It’s natural I can learn quickly how to feed and take care of Xiao Bao.’
Xiao Bao stopped crying and went back to sleep in Qiao Tan Yuan’s arms. Gu Jiao Wu suddenly felt jealous and he wanted to hold Xiao Bao. But Qiao Tan Yuan held Xiao Bao close to her chest and wouldn’t let him hold Xiao Bao.
‘I’ll let you hold Xiao Bao if you promise to leave us alone if Xiao Bao cries after you hold her,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Gu Jiao Wu pursed his lips. Xiao Bao was his daughter, he had the right to hold Xiao Bao. He didn’t believe Xiao Bao hated him holding her. Qiao Tan Yuan pa.s.sed Xiao Bao to him and he held Xiao Bao in his arms.
‘Waah, waah, waah…’ Xiao Bao cried.
Gu Jiao Wu was speechless. Why did Xiao Bao cry every time he held her?
‘Xiao Bao be good,’ Gu Jiao Wu coaxed.
‘Waah, waah, waah, waah…’ Xiao Bao cried.
Qiao Tan Yuan thought she was hearing things, because Gu Jiao Wu was coaxing Xiao Bao.
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t believe Gu Jiao Wu was standing in front of her. Did a monster take over his body? She was too shocked to hold Xiao Bao and stop Xiao Bao crying.
Mrs Chu the nurse maid entered the room carrying two bags of nappies and clothes for Xiao Bao. She heard Xiao Bao cry pitifully, put the bags on the sofa and quickly held Xiao Bao and coaxed her.
‘Xiao Bao why are you crying?’ Mrs Chu asked. ‘Did you pee in your nappy?’
Gu Jiao Wu shook his head. ‘Her nappy was changed before.’
Gu Jiao Wu was embarra.s.sed he made Xiao Bao cry, because he was holding her.
Mrs Chu gently patted Xiao Bao’s back. ‘Xiao Bao be good and don’t cry anymore.’
Xiao Bao stopped crying and Gu Jiao Wu was upset Xiao Bao favored Mrs Chu over him, her own father.
Mrs Chu laid Xiao Bao on the baby bed and patted Xiao Bao’s back. Xiao Bao yawned and fell asleep.
‘Aunty, where did you go?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘I went to get baby essentials for Xiao Bao because Xiao Bao’s father was here to watch over Xiao Bao while you were sleeping,’ Mrs Chu explained.
‘Xiao Bao’s father?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked and pointed at Gu Jiao Wu. ‘Aunty, Xiao Bao and I have no relation to this man. He isn’t Xiao Bao’s father.’
Mrs Chu looked back and forth at Gu Jiao Wu and Xiao Bao. She didn’t understand why Qiao Tan Yuan said Gu Jiao Wu wasn’t Xiao Bao’s father.
‘Aunty, get this man to leave,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘If he refuses to leave, aunty can call security and tell them he’s disturbing patients.’
‘Qiao Tan Yuan…’ Gu Jiao Wu warned.
If Qiao Tan Yuan was going to play dirty, Gu Jiao Wu didn’t mind his hands getting dirty.
‘Mr Gu,’ Qiao Tan Yuan called. ‘Have you forgotten we’re divorced?’
Qiao Tan Yuan yawned. She was tired too and laid on the bed. ‘Aunty, in the future don’t let anyone apart from my family and Shen Cheng come near Xiao Bao and me.’
Mrs Chu felt embarra.s.sed to ask Gu Jiao Wu to leave. But Shen Cheng hired her to take care of Xiao Bao and Qiao Tan Yuan while Shen Cheng was at work. Shen Cheng paid her generously, and she didn’t want to be fired if she didn’t follow Qiao Tan Yuan’s instructions.
‘Mr Gu, I’ll escort you to the door,’ Mrs Chu said.
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t believe Qiao Tan Yuan could fall asleep that quickly. He stepped to the bed, but Mrs Chu didn’t let him near Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, I’m not going to give up Xiao Bao,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu looked at Xiao Bao one last time before leaving the room.
Qiao Tan Yuan opened her eyes the moment she heard the door closed. She couldn’t wait until Xiao Bao and she were discharged in the morning. After they returned to the Qiao Mansion, she wouldn’t let Gu Jiao Wu step foot into the Qiao Mansion.
The following morning, Gu Jiao Wen and Tan Pan Ting walked out of the doctor’s office at the hospital.
Tan Pan Ting rubbed her stomach. ‘Did you hear the doctor? The doctor said the twins are healthy.’
‘Um,’ Gu Jiao Wen said.
Gu Jiao Wen was relieved Tan Pan Ting and the twins were healthy. He worried constantly while Tan Pan Ting was at work. He asked Tan Pan Ting to take maternity leave, but she refused. She told him she wanted to wait until after the twins were born to take maternity leave and working helped keep her mind busy. He could only keep a closer eye on her and the twins. Her stomach was bigger by the day, at seven months pregnant her stomach was huge.
‘Jiao Wen, I can’t wait to see the twins,’ Tan Pan Ting said.
Tan Pan Ting was excited to see the twins, and looked forward to the day she could stop carrying around a heavy stomach.
‘Um, are you tired?’ Gu Jiao Wen asked. ‘Do you want to take a rest?’
‘I’m OK,’ Tan Pan Ting said.
‘Um,’ Gu Jiao Wen said and led Tan Pan Ting to the maternity ward front entrance.
At the entrance Gu Jiao Wen and Tan Pan Ting b.u.mped into Qiao Jie.
‘Pan Ting, are you here for a doctor’s appointment?’ Qiao Jie asked.
‘Yes,’ Tan Ping Ting said. ‘But why are you heading to the maternity ward?’
‘I’m here to escort my big sister home,’ Qiao Jie said.
‘Your big sister gave birth?’ Tan Pan Ting asked.
‘Um, she gave birth to a daughter four days ago,’ Qiao Jie said proudly.
‘I hope I’ll have a daughter too,’ Tan Pan Ting said. ‘Where’s your big sister’s hospital room? I want to see her and the baby.’’
‘Pan Ting…’ Gu Jiao Wen called.
Gu Jiao Wen disliked Qiao Tan Yuan. He thought there was no need for Tan Pan Ting to be excited about Qiao Tan Yuan giving birth, Qiao Tan Yuan had nothing to do with them.
‘Don’t tell to go home,’ Tan Pan Ting said. ‘I want to see Qiao Tan Yuan and the baby.’
Gu Jiao Wen sighed and reluctantly followed Tan Pan Ting and Qiao Jie to Qiao Tan Yuan’s hospital room.
End of Chapter Twenty-Four