Imperfect Desires

Behind them, Darren walked over and picked his son off from his wife's back saying, "How many times I have to tell you to stop hoarding my wife?"

Rowan squirmed around in his arms, "Baba, I'm your son."

"I know," said Darren. "Why are you reminding me that?"

"Because you always need a reminder when my mommy pays a little bit extra attention to me. You always need a reminder!"

"Then stop hanging around my wife," warned Darren.

"That's my mother!" reminded Rowan.

"First, she is my wife. Then she is your mother," said Darren. "And according to this rule, I come first in her life. I should be the priority."

"Aiyo, when are you both gonna end this?" questioned Xiu getting a bit impatient with these two. Was she supposed to cut herself into half and half between these two? Why did they always have to argue about this?

"Sweets, what were you both talking about?" asked Darren.

Xiu looked at her husband and said, "When we go back home, start building a rack for trophies dedicated to my son."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because our son is gonna bring a lot of acting awards in the future," said Xiu proudly and as a matter-of-factly as well. She had full faith in her son. 

Darren looked at his son, "Rowan, you want to be an actor?"

Rowan nodded his head, "I do. Mommy also agreed that I can."

"Who is becoming an actor?" asked Xiao Li as he came over to help Xiu with cooking. 

"My son," replied Darren.

"Huh? Our little tiger wants to be an actor?" questioned Nora. 

"That came as a surprise," stated Dylan.

"Why the sudden interest in being an actor though?" asked Cali.

"It must be his Uncle Bobo who influenced him," said Ah-Si.

"No, he didn't," answered Rowan decisively. "I want to be an actor like Chen Xiu."

Xiu was so shocked by his words that she lost her focus and almost got her hand burned. If it wasn't for Darren whose attention was solely on her, she would have burned her hand for sure. But it couldn't be blamed on her. She was honestly shocked beyond words when she heard her son say that he wanted to be an actor like Chen Xiu.

But she wasn't the only one with an odd expression there. Most of them knew about the link between Xiu and Chen Xiu. So, almost all of them looked surprised.

Cali looked over at Darren, "Did you pass on your craze for Chen Xiu to your son?"

Darren glared at her, "I have nothing to do with this."

Xiu looked at her son and asked, "My baby tiger, Chen Xiu doesn't appear on tv anymore. Where did you learn about her?"

"Oh, doesn't Baba have all of her works in his study room? I took the DVDs to watch," answered Rowan honestly. "There were movies, shows, even commercials, and variety shows. I watched it all. I am a huge fan. I'm gonna be an actor and meet her one day."

"You can't meet a dead person though," said Cali thoughtlessly.

"Cali!" Dylan called her out under his breath.

"Ha? What?" she questioned Dylan, not understanding what he meant. At least not until she saw the look on Rowan's face.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Rowan. He turned to his mother, "Mommy, my favorite actor is no more?"

Xiu clenched her fists. She never thought bringing up this name again would hurt this much. She had become pretty immune to it. But telling her own son that his favorite actor was dead, was actually hurting her a lot more. It's not like she could tell him the truth. She had no problem with saying it out loud but she didn't think her son was ready to hear about her crazy story.

Darren patted Xiu's hands and offered her a comforting smile before he picked up his son and said, "Come with me. I'll tell you all about it."

Rowan nodded his head but his face still showed that he was extremely sad right now.

"Did the father's first love really get inherited by his own son?" asked Cali.

"I think you should stop already, Cali," said Nora. 

Cali knocked on her own head, "You're right. I shouldn't have brought that topic up before Rowan. He must be feeling really sad, right? I remember when I first learned that my aunt was dead, right when I thought I found her, I was really sad as well." She was fretting now, "What should I do now?"

"Do nothing," said Dylan. "Dazi can manage it on his own."

"I hope so," said Cali. "I don't want to scar Rowan's childhood with my one moment of thoughtlessness."

Xiu stood up to pat her shoulder, "You don't have to overthink it. Rowan isn't a baby. He is growing up. He can understand that nothing can last forever. He might be hurt now but he'll be fine once he accepts it. Don't beat yourself over this. You merely stated a truth."

"You saying it like this is making me feel even guiltier," said Cali. 

"Are you okay?" asked Xiao Li as he silently came to stand behind Xiu. 

"I'm okay," answered Xiu with a smile to him. "It doesn't even matter now." She patted his back saying, "Now, help me with these ingredients. I can't depend on anyone else here. They all only know how to create disasters."

"Hey! I'm not that bad at it," said Nora in her defense.

"You aren't that useful in the kitchen either," retorted Xiu playfully.

Xiao Li could tell that Xiu was trying to distract herself by being playful but he didn't try to say anything else to her. There was actually nothing to say. He knew that his sister had moved on. It was just that today she was caught off guard by her own son. And that left her shaken for a moment. There was nothing else to it.

She didn't even remember when was the last time she had recalled her past time in these years.. She hardly had any time for that.