Imperfect Desires

*Ding-Dong!*

Hearing the doorbell, Xiu was surprised, "Huh? It isn't time for Regan to come back from work. And I'm not expecting anyone today either. Who might it be?"

The maid opened the door and soon brought the guest inside. 

Seeing the man, Xiu raised her brows, "Father-in-law, what a surprise!"

Zhou Xichen smiled at Xiu gently and told her, "I was in the city for a meeting and decided to meet my grandson. Is that alright?"

Xiu nodded instantly, "Why wouldn't it be alright?"

Zhou Xichen looked at Francesca, "Weren't you in Italy?"

"I just came back," answered Francesca in a small voice. Usually, she kept a fierce appearance before Zhou Xichen but today, she was quite soft. She wasn't fierce because she hated him or anything. 

But it was just her way to protect her son from the people that had surrounded Zhou Xichen's life. The people who destroyed his marriage. She didn't want any of them to affect her son's life as well.

Zhou Xichen at first didn't notice the change in Francesca. He took his grandson from her hands and played with him. He looked so happy holding his grandson. He never got to hold both his sons. What a joke life played with him that he didn't know about the birth of both his sons at first. 

Although he learned about Zhou Jinhai early on when he was a kid, because of who was the mother of Zhou Jinhai, he kept his distance from his own son. It was after Zhou Jinhai grew up a little that he started paying him attention and realized that he couldn't blame a child for his mother's deeds.

As for Darren, he learned about him when he was old enough to understand way too much. By that time, he had already missed out on a whole lot of things. So, the feeling of holding a baby was really foreign to him but he loved it.

And seeing him like that, Francesca was lost in her own thoughts. She was going through different inexplicable emotions right now. She was thinking if... If her sister had trusted in Zhou Xichen or her love was a little stronger, wouldn't life had been different right now? 

Suddenly, the crying of the little baby pulled her out of her thoughts. Zhou Xichen was also surprised that his grandson who was just laughing, suddenly started crying for no reason. He looked at Xiu helplessly who smiled at his adorable expression.

"Give him to me, he is hungry." 

Zhou Xichen hurriedly passed him to Xiu who cradled her son in her arms and said, "You both talk, I'll come back in a while."

"It's alright, take your time," said both Zhou Xichen and Francesca almost simultaneously. 

Xiu instructed the maids to serve them some snacks while she went upstairs. After feeding her son, she had to put him to sleep. After all, this little master always loved his nap after his meals. And Xiu couldn't blame him for that. The sleep was sweeter with a full stomach and she knew it best!

Downstairs, Zhou Xichen and Francesca were sitting in silence for a while. Both didn't know what to talk about. But Zhou Xichen had finally noticed the change in Francesca who had been sneaking glances at him.

"Do you have something on your mind, France?" asked Zhou Xichen.

Francesca bit her lips and hesitated for a minute before deciding to tell him, "I met Florence."

Zhou Xichen froze for a second and the glass of water in his hand shook a little. He put it down in case he dropped it because of how shocked he was right now to hear that. That was really something he hadn't expected to hear from Francesca and neither did he think she'd say it so straightforwardly.

His old and weak heart needed some preparation to digest this information. How long had it been since he even last heard that name. Florence. Once upon a time, that name had been the closest to him and now, it was so distant and unfamiliar.

Francesca was closely observing the changes in him. She had noted down all his expressions without missing anything at all. 

It took him a long while to come around and the only thing he asked was, "How was she?" Francesca was so shocked by his question. She always thought somewhere deep in his heart, he must have resented Florence. But she was really overthinking it. She finally could understand Xiu. Only fools could really love. And he was also one of those fools!

"That's all you want to know?" questioned Francesca.

"What else?" retorted Zhou Xichen.

"Did you really love her that much?" asked Francesca. "Even now? Even after she broke you apart? Left you and never looked back?"

Zhou Xichen smiled self-deprecatingly, "Why should I blame her for anything? Maybe my love wasn't strong enough to hold her back. I can't blame her for that."

Francesca looked at him strangely, "Even I'm mad at what she did, why are you so relaxed?"

"Do you know how many years it has been?" asked Zhou Xichen. "30. It's three decades, France. If I keep being mad for all these years, I'd really go crazy."

"I'm so speechless that I don't even know what to call you right now," said Francesca honestly. 

"You didn't answer me. Is she okay? Is she healthy?"

"Why are you so curious?" 

Zhou Xichen sighed out, "Do you know all these years not knowing where she was, I had a fear in my heart that perhaps, something untoward happened to her. Now, knowing that she is alive has put me at ease."

Francesca was still frowning at him at him not knowing what to say to him. But she still told him, "She looked healthy to me. In fact, she looked quite happy with her life as well."

"Thank goodness," he said. "That's all I needed to know."

Francesca looked at him as if she was seeing a lunatic before her eyes and it was really an eye-opener!