Once Bitten, Twice Shy

The call was answered after a few beeps of the dial tone, and Alan's warm, mellifluous voice greeted. "Good morning, Sammy."

He seemed to answer within seconds whenever she called him.

Samantha smiled slightly and replied, "Good morning."

"What brings you calling so early today?" Alan then asked concernedly, "Did something happen to Matt? Is he alright?"

Alan truly did fulfill the role of Matthew's biological father. His concern and anxiousness for the boy had never diminished ever since Matthew's birth.

Samantha never noticed or thought about it before, but after paying just a little attention, she realized that Alan had done countless things for her and Matthew.

It was supposed to be the responsibility of her husband, Matthew's biological father.

She was still wondering the previous night if she had been a little selfish, but after thinking about it again, she felt that she was too selfish.

Although she decided to keep Matthew, she never thought about giving him a complete home and always believed that she alone could give Matthew all the love he needed.

However, her thoughts could not be placed onto the child.

She thought about herself again: did she not fantasize about wanting her parents' love even after how terrible her parents were toward her?

'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'

Samantha took a deep breath and suppressed the surging emotions in her heart. She said nonchalantly, "Matt is fine. Don't worry."

"I… I just wanted to ask about what happened yesterday, when you and Matthew met...Timothy at the airport."

Her question was so straightforward that it caught Alan unprepared and left him at a loss for words.

Samantha went on and said, "I can roughly guess what happened. Don't try to lie to me."

A few seconds later, Alan laughed on the other end of the line. "You're too smart for yourself at times, Sammy."

She could detect that something was wrong without the presence of even the slightest clue.

Alan had no choice but to tell the truth. "I didn't hide it from you on purpose. I was simply afraid that you'd be worried. What happened was..."

He recounted what happened the day before.

"Timothy didn't suspect anything, did he?"

Alan replied, "I don't think so. I think his assistant Ronald was a little suspicious, but since Matt called me Daddy, they all thought that Matt was my child."

Samantha finally managed to relax.

Even though Samantha always told Matthew that calling Alan 'daddy' was wrong, Matthew did eventually make the best out of that mistake.

If Timothy did not doubt anything and believed that Matthew was Alan's child, then he would have no interest in Matthew and the boy could successfully evade attention.

That was the best outcome.

"Is that all you wanted to ask? Then you can rest assured," Alan comforted.

"Yeah," Samantha replied softly.

Under normal circumstances, Samantha would finish what she needed to say and avoid bothering Alan anymore. She would bid him goodbye and end the call just like that.

Alan heard her 'yeah', but she did not hang up and continued remaining silent without saying anything else.

He could not help but ask, "Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Sammy?"

Did she have bad news for him?

Samantha pursed her lips lightly before speaking again. "Dr. Sherwood, are you...free tonight? I'd like to treat you to a meal."

"A meal?" Alan chuckled. "And I thought it was something super serious. You made me nervous for a bit there."

"Of course, I am. I'll always be free if it's you!"

He thought about it and said, "I remember seeing this restaurant with delicious-looking children's set meals. It's been given a five-star rating too. How about we go to that one?"

'Children's set meals...'

Whenever he went out to dinner with her, he either placed her preferences or Matthew's first.

Having eaten with him plenty of times, she did not seem to know his preferences because he always accommodated them and seemed fine with anything.

She thought that Alan would be a 'good husband' and a 'good father'.

Although she may not be able to feel any love for him then, she could definitely try her best.

Samantha said, "Don't choose that one. Choose a restaurant that you like."

"But—"

Samantha interrupted him quickly and spat out a few more words, "This meal is just between you and me."

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line.

Samantha heard the other side breathing heavily.

After about ten seconds, Alan seemed to have understood her intentions and his usual calm voice sounded a little buoyant as if he was walking through a sea of flowers. "Okay, then...I'll make reservations! I'll be waiting for you tonight. See you soon!"

When the call ended, Samantha looked up at the sky.

…

Samantha dressed Matthew neatly and went out holding his little hand.

She drove to the hospital and parked her car there, then took Matthew to a ward. She pushed the door open and walked in along with Matthew.

The young man on the hospital bed turned around and had a happy little smile on his pale face when he saw them.

Matthew moved his little short legs and ran over while calling out to the person on the bed, "Uncle! Uncle!"

Corey stretched out his arm to grasp Matthew's little hand and responded, "Matt! Matt!"

Samantha's heart was filled with warmth when she looked at the two kids, one older and one younger.

Corey has been lying on the hospital bed because of his illness and the total number of hours he was in a coma was much longer than when he was awake. Even though he was already 20 years old, he still looked like a child.

Mentally speaking, his age might only be a few years older than Matt.

That was why the two of them hit it off particularly well. They could talk and play together without feeling out of place with each other.

It was also amazing that Corey woke up at the exact time she was risking her life to give birth to Matthew.

Fate worked in mysterious ways.

They had both become the most important aspects of her life, both of whom she treasured deeply.

Corey could have lived with her and Matthew, but he had to stay at the hospital even after waking up because his condition was unstable.

Samantha would bring Matthew to see him every couple of days.

She stepped forward, picked Matthew up, then placed him on the bed. Matthew then took out his toys one by one from his schoolbag and proudly introduced them to Corey. The two boys then enjoyed their time together.

Samantha served tea and water to them, respectively.

Seeing that it was almost time for her to leave, she said to Corey, "I've got a date tonight, so I have to leave Matthew here and pick him up a little later."

Corey looked up at her all of a sudden. "It's rare of you not to bring Matt along. Is it...a very important date?"

Samantha nodded unreservedly. "Yes. A date with Alan."

"So you've finally come around huh, Big Sis!" Corey expressed his unconditional approval. "You have all my blessings for Dr. Sherwood to be my new brother-in-law!"

He seemed a little excited, even. "Go ahead, go ahead! Leave Matt to me. I'll take good care of him! Hopefully, you'll come back here holding Dr. Sherwood's hand later."

Matthew's big round eyes opened and he yelled kittenishly, "Come and pick me up with Daddy, okay…"

She somehow had the feeling that she had been peddled off by her own family.

Samantha waved her hand and got up to leave.

…

Back at the apartment, Samantha dressed herself up carefully and chose to wear the pink dress that Alan gave her on her birthday the year before.

Then, she walked to the bedside table and opened the drawer to get the ring box. She opened the box, took out the diamond ring, and placed it on her finger.

When she put the ring on halfway, her phone rang all of a sudden.

Could Alan have arrived already and was urging her to hurry up?

Samantha put down the ring and picked up her phone to look at it.. Alan was not the one who called her, but rather, someone whose ID was displayed as 'No Caller ID'.