Imperfect Desires

When Xiu entered the room, she found Xiao Li sitting beside Darren's bed. Seeing her, Xiao Li stood up and tried to help her, "Why didn't you ask someone to help you?"

Xiu immediately raised her hand to stop him, "Let me do something on my own. Do you want me to sit around and catch rust all over? I'm already rusty enough!"

Darren smiled at her words and said, "Li bro, let her be."

Xiao Li nodded and watched as she moved her wheelchair close to Darren's bed and said, "Regan, see I brought you cupcakes."

Darren moved his head slightly to see her tray full of colorful cupcakes and said, "Are you sure it's for me and not for you?"

Xiu grinned at him before she pointed at the cupcakes before her saying, "All of these cupcakes are definitely for me." Then she placed a hand under her chin and added, "This cupcake is for you."

Xiao Li coughed at her words while Darren's smile widened, "Wow! I love this cupcake!"

"I knew you'd like it," said Xiu happily before picking up a cupcake and taking a bite of it. "Yummy... This is good."

"I bet it's not as good as you make," said Darren.

Xiu retorted, "Of course, not! The ones I make are in a league of their own."

"You both make me feel like I'm gonna get diabetes," remarked Xiao Li. "Don't you both get tired of being so sweet?"

Xiu stared at Xiao Li, "Li bro, my life had been too salty for way too long. Is it too wrong that I want it to be too sweet now?"

Xiao Li shook his head, "No. That's not what I meant. You want to be sweet, stay sweet. I won't say a word again."

Xiu ignored and went back to eating her cupcake with gusto as he asked, "What took you so long outside?"

"I was talking to Ah-Xin," replied Xiu. 

"And of course, you'd lose track of time once you are with my dad," said Xiao Li.

"Why? Did you miss me?" 

"Yes!" Xiao Li rubbed her head. "I was waiting here for you."

"What for?" she questioned.

"Just because I wanted to see you," replied Xiao Li. "Is there a need for me to come here with a reason? Isn't it good enough that I wanted to see you?"

Xiu thought about it and nodded her head, "It's a good enough reason." She suddenly recalled something and added, "Ah, I just recalled... Can you make those two disappear?"

Xiao Li looked where she pointed and found the two nurses sitting in a corner. He frowned, "Why?"

"Am I a prisoner?" retorted Xiu. "It makes me feel uncomfortable having someone watch me all the time."

"But they are here to make sure that nothing goes wrong," stated Xiao Li.

"They can wait outside the room," said Xiu. "I don't want a stranger looking at me. It's kinda annoying."

"Fine," sighed out Xiao Li and told the two nurses to leave the room. "Is it okay now?"

"Much better," replied Xiu. "By the way, Li bro, how's your newly wedded wife? Is my Clara mom treating her well? I mean she isn't being too harsh with her, is she?"

Xiao Li didn't reply to her immediately. Instead, he continued to stare at her face for a while trying to figure out something.

"What are you looking at?" asked Xiu.

"I'm wondering whether you're concerned about her or being sarcastic?" 

Xiu snorted, "It's so hard to show your genuine concern in this society. No one is willing to believe you."

Xiao Li patted her head, "You're the last person who should be concerned about her right now." He leaned down to come at her level as he added, "What goes on outside of his room is none of your concern. You shouldn't be wasting time on that either."

"It's about me but I shouldn't be concerned about it?" retorted Xiu in amusement.

"Yes," replied Xiao Li straightforwardly. "We can handle everything for you. No one wants you to get involved in it."

"Okay, I won't ask about that," agreed Xiu. 

"Good," said Xiao Li. "Enjoy your cupcakes, I'm gonna take my leave now. Press that button if you need anything."

"Okay."

Xiu waved at him and watched him leave before she continued to eat her cupcakes. 

"What have you been up to now?" questioned Darren as he continued to look at her face. Seeing her eating messily, he shook his head and chuckled softly before he lifted his hand and wiped the cream off of her lips. "Eat slowly. No one is gonna steal it from you."

Before he could take his hand back, she held it and licked the cream off of his thumb saying, "I've been up to a lot of things." After licking his thumb, she licked her lips and winked at him playfully.

"Sweets, my hands weren't even clean."

"Oh, you mean I ate the germs that dared to stick with your body?" she laughed out. "Good thing. Only I can stick to you. If anyone else dares to do the same, I'd just eat it!"

"Sweets, are you alright?"

Xiu eyed him, "You're wondering if I'm mentally alright. After all this time? Isn't it a little too late for that question, my dear husband?" She patted his shoulder as she added, "Because even if I am bonkers, you can't do anything about that now. It's already too late. Now, you're stuck with me for life."

"I don't mind a crazy wife," replied Darren. "I'm just worried about our kid. What would you do if he also thought you're crazy?"

"It's alright," replied Xiu. "He won't do it."

"You're so certain because?" 

Xiu grinned at him, "Because I'll definitely make him as crazy as I am. Then he won't be able to know the difference."

Darren closed his eyes and bit his lips before saying, "Sweets, once I am able to move, let's take some parenting classes. You really need it."

"I'll do as you say," agreed Xiu readily. "Although I don't think I need to take those classes, I would still go for the fun."

"People don't go to parenting classes for fun," he pointed out.

"That's people's problem, certainly not mine."