Imperfect Desires

When Xiu didn't manage to get an answer from Francesca, she offered her water, "Okay. Drink some water. Crying this badly is not worthy. You'll ruin your health. So, moisten your throat a bit." Francesca sniffled and held the glass of water with both hands. She took a sip and felt a little better. Meanwhile, Xiu turned her dangerous gaze towards Han Yiheng, "Didn't I warn you? If you made her upset, you're so dead!"

Han Yiheng swallowed when she saw her acting like this. Let him be honest, he was only scared of this girl before him. Even though her fathers were THE real powerful people, he still somehow felt like she was the real deal. Something about her was always making him feel uneasy.

"I didn't do anything," he said in his defense. "Well, actually. I think I have a hand in this situation but I didn't know she'd take it so badly!"

"What did you do?!" glared Xiu angrily.

"I..." Han Yiheng couldn't find the right words right now. Really, what was he supposed to say in this situation? Can he really explain how was he involved in this situation? No way!

Francesca pulled Xiu's hand, "Don't say anything to Heng. It's not his fault."

Xiu looked at Francesca, "Mama, don't try to save him."

"I'm not trying to," retorted Francesca. "I really am not trying to save him. It's not even his fault. Really. Believe me."

"If you won't explain it clearly to me how will I believe what you say?" asked Raelle. "If it's not clear, I can only call him the culprit, and what you say doesn't count. After all, any wife would try to protect her husband."

Francesca looked up at her husband before she turned to look at her son and daughter-in-law. She felt so frustrated. What the hell was this situation? How was she supposed to even say it out loud? 

She lowered her head and said in a small voice, "I'm expecting."

"You're what?" inquired Xiu cluelessly. She really didn't understand what she said because she couldn't hear that small voice. It felt like a bee was buzzing. How was she supposed to hear it?

"She said she is expecting," Darren told Xiu with an odd expression on his face.

"Oh? But what are you expecting?" asked Xiu once again in an oblivious manner.

Francesca gritted her teeth and glared at Xiu. She felt like her daughter-in-law was teasing her right now! How thoughtless! She was never like this before.

"Mama, I think Xiu really didn't get what you're saying," said Darren from the side trying to hold back his smile.

Francesca looked at Xiu's clueless eyes and sighed out. Right, how could her peerless daughter-in-law ever tease her? She was always so thoughtful. "I meant, I'm pregnant."

As her words fell, Xiu's brows raised up in surprise. It took a minute for that to digest. Her brain processed it slowly and while it was processing, her facial expressions kept changing. Francesca nervously rubbed her fingers.

She knew it! How embarrassing it was to get pregnant at this age? Wasn't it enough that she got married in her forties? Why did she have to get pregnant in her forties as well? Does that even make sense? How humiliating it was to tell her son and daughter-in-law who already had a three-year-old son that she was pregnant. And also that their son was about to get an uncle or aunt four years younger than him in near future! 

Xiu jumped to her feet and looked at Darren, "Did I hear that right?"

"I think so," said Darren as he heaved a sigh of relief. He had been so worried since his mother came and started crying. He thought something unforeseen happened. His heart was about to come out of his chest because of worry but in the end, it turned out to be like this. He was soon going to get a brother or a sister. 

Xiu clapped her hand and screamed in excitement, "Oh my gosh! That's such happy news! Why are we sitting like someone is dying?" She patted her chest, "I almost scared myself to death. Good thing, I have a good heart, or else, I'd have fainted with anxiety by now."

Hearing her cheerful voice, the kids ran in and Ava's voice rang in, "Xiu, what happened?"

"Because we have happy news," answered Xiu with a big grin on her face.

"Happy news? Should I pull out my emergency confetti stash?" asked Ava in excitement.

"Yes, you should!" said Xiu.

"Yay!" Ava hurriedly pulled out a handful of confetti from her pocket and threw it around. 

Francesca buried her head in her hands once again but this time she wasn't crying. In fact, she didn't know what she was feeling at all. 

"Should we celebrate it?" asked Asteria. "Since it's happy news, we should share it, right?"

"Of course!" agreed Xiu. This was such huge and explosive news. How could they not celebrate it? She was all ready to make a huge deal out of it! She looked at Han Yiheng and inquired, "What did the doctor say? Is something wrong?"

"No, although her age is not that suitable, they still think with proper care it won't be a problem at all."

Xiu let out the last stroke of worry in her heart, "Then why was Mama crying about it? Even I didn't cry when I found out I was pregnant. And I was someone who..." 'despised kids.' was left unsaid as Xiu looked at the faces of the three kids lingering around her. Oh, right! She was no longer that old self. 

Now, her whole life actually revolved around kids. What progress!

"Momma, can I get cake tonight?" asked Rowan as he happily tugged at Xiu's leg. "Happy news is incomplete without cake."

"Oh, and why is that?" asked Han Yiheng in amusement as he pulled this grandson over.

"Baba said happy news is sweet like momma. So, we should always have something sweet when we are happy," told Rowan innocently.

Darren who was being exposed by his son tried his best to control his expressions. He couldn't let them find out that his words actually had a very different meaning. Because the only thing sweet in his life was actually his Sweets! 

And he was more than happy to 'eat' his 'Sweets' whether he was happy or sad. Did he really need an excuse?