Imperfect Desires

Xiu couldn't dance for long in her condition so Darren made her sit down and asked others to continue with the dancing. Since it was the job of the best man and maid of honor to make sure the party must go on, both Dylan and Nora were hard at it.

Xiao Li was standing with his father as they watched everyone else dance in pairs. Suddenly, Xiao Li felt a tug at his sleeve and looked down. He smiled at the young girl and crouched down before, "Yes, my dear Asteria."

"Daddy, I want to dance too," Asteria made a request.

Xiao Li touched her nose and nodded, "Sure! Do you want to dance with daddy?" Asteria nodded her head in excitement and Xiao Li offered his hand to her, "Then let's go, my little princess."

He pulled Asteria to the dancefloor and danced with her happily making the little girl giggle with every twirl and turn. 

On the other side, Jackie was also being pestered by his little niece who kept following him and even held his hand and pointed at the dance floor. Her meaning was all too clear. But Jackie was choosing to be ignorant.

Getting tired of running around, he faced Ava and said, "Why are you so energetic today? And if you want to dance, go do it alone! Stop pulling me." Ava pouted adorably and tears brimmed up in her eyes, "Oh, keep your act to yourself!" Jackie knew her all too well. "Don't even think I will fall for it. Besides, aren't you too young? How old are you?"

Ava lifted up four fingers just as he had taught her and Jackie smiled proudly, "Good girl. If you're only four, do what four years old do."

"JJ, what do they do?" she asked in a soft milky voice that could melt anyone's heart. Such pity she was facing Jackson Jing, her cruel uncle whose heart was like an iceberg even at this age! 

"Four years old, go to sleep early! Go ahead and sleep now!"

Usually, Ava would listen to everything he says but today, she wasn't doing it. She still held his hand with her smaller ones and refused to let go. 

Jackie took a deep breath and said, "Fine! Just one time!" Ava's face lit up brighter than the lights that surrounded them right now. 

And that's how even Jackie was added to the list of people who were dancing happily. Everyone was following their own pace without any care for the world. 

Seeing her brother, Nora was amused to say the least. She didn't expect Jackie would give in to her daughter. But she clearly underestimated her daughter's stubbornness. However, with Jackie around she was usually reassured about her daughter. Even though Jackie bullied her little daughter but he also took care of her very well. So, she really couldn't complain much regarding this.

"Before she didn't like to leave my side," grumbled Ah-Si.

Nora patted his head, "Don't worry. She still loves you. Now, she just chose a new target to stick to."

Ah-Si smiled softly, "I don't mind. It allows me to spend more time with you."

Nora tsked at him, "Is that something you should say as a father?"

"No, but this is something I should say as your fiance," he retorted.

The dancefloor was quite lively now and Xiu was watching all this from the side.

"Ava is gonna be something once she grows up," said Xiu. "She is already capable of making Jackie dance on her fingers. I wonder what will happen once they grow up."

"I don't know about other things but one thing is for sure," began Darren. "Ava won't be able to date anyone easily with her JJ around."

Xiu laughed out and gave him a nod, "True. That's so true!" She was silent for a moment before saying, "Baobei, let's go somewhere after we are done here."

"Where do you want to go?" asked Darren.

"I have a place in mind," replied Xiu vaguely. "You just follow my lead."

"Oh, I'll be following your lead for the rest of our life. But I should still get some clue, no?"

Xiu put her head on his shoulder to rest, "No. You'll know when we get there."

"But why are we going? You can tell me that, right?"

"I have to get something."

"If you tell me what you want, I can just ask someone to bring it for you."

"No, it's something only I can get myself," replied Xiu resolutely.

Darren didn't continue to probe about it and agreed to take her out. But for now, they couldn't possibly leave everyone here and disappear on their own. 

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you. Did the bouquet really ended up on Mama's lap by mistake?"

Xiu closed her eyes and smiled mysteriously, "Who knows which megnatic force was at play. Don't ask me."

Darren pinched her nose, "But I think it was my Sweets who was at play this time around."

Xiu neither agreed nor refused his words. She continued to rest for a while, allowing the others to dance to their heart's fill.

Since Bo Jiu had no partner for dancing, she again found the drinks corner to keep her company. Besides, even if she had a partner, she'd still be here. After all, it was only at such events that allowed herself to drink. On normal days, she would always keep her distance from alcohol.

All the cocktails here were light and delicious. Bo Jiu just couldn't stop once she started. But since she had found the seat that was a little far, she kept waving her hand to shoo away the mosquitoes that were trying to drink her blood.

Since Bo Jiu was a persistent person, she just couldn't sit still that she wasn't able to kill that mosquitoes that drank her blood! She tried to catch it but ended up stumbling and...

"Ptak!"

Her hand just landed on someone's face.