Chapter 378 - 358: I Am Her Dad

But it was only when she tried on the new clothes she’d just bought and found them constricting that she realized she’d truly gained weight.

Georgia Thorne couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. Men would never understand a woman’s desire to lose weight.

After resting for a while, they went home.

"You go take a shower first!" Georgia Thorne said, grabbing his cold hand and pushing him into the bathroom, handing him his pajamas at the same time.

The room was warm. Georgia Thorne had just sat down for a moment when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

Miles opened the door and came in. Seeing that only Georgia Thorne was in the room, his dark eyes darted back and forth, searching for Elliot Sheridan.

He had deliberately knocked only after seeing Elliot Sheridan and Georgia Thorne go inside.

"What can I do for you?" Georgia Thorne asked, looking up from the book in her hands.

Miles stepped out from behind the door, clasping his small hands firmly behind his back as if trying to hide something.

She glanced over. It looked like he was hiding a pen.

"I’m here to see my dad," Miles said in a small voice.

Compared to before, Miles’s attitude toward her had improved, but there was still a hint of resistance.

Georgia Thorne smiled. "Your dad’s in the shower. If you need anything, I can help you too."

Miles let out an "oh" and lowered his little head, so Georgia Thorne couldn’t see his expression clearly.

She patted his hair. "How was school today? Did you get along well with the other kids?"

Miles hummed softly in response. He wanted to tell her that his teacher had praised him at school, but then he looked up and saw Georgia Thorne’s face.

The bright smile froze on his rosy cheeks. When Georgia Thorne had patted his head just now, he had almost mistaken the person before him for his mother.

"Nothing at all?" With her big belly, Georgia Thorne couldn’t squat down. She took Miles’s hand and led him to the edge of the bed. "I heard the little girl next door got a red apple, one the teacher gave her herself!"

"I have one too," Miles said in a very small voice. Georgia Thorne chuckled. ’Kids really do like to one-up each other, huh?’

She paused for a moment, then put on a blank expression. "What did you say? I didn’t hear you!"

"I have a red apple too! It’s in my room!"

He shouted it out in a fit of pique. After he’d spoken, he saw the wide smile on Georgia Thorne’s face and instantly felt as if he had fallen into a trap.

His fair, soft cheeks flushed instantly. He didn’t dare look up at Georgia Thorne’s bright smile, and the palm of the hand she held grew intensely hot.

’His mom had never smiled at him so brightly before. She was like an angel, just like his teacher talked about.’

"Oh, I see. Is that your homework in your hand?" Georgia Thorne changed the subject, waiting for Miles to hand her the papers voluntarily.

Miles lifted his gaze to look at her, then quickly glanced away and nodded lightly. "There’s some I can’t do."

"Let me teach you!" Georgia Thorne took the homework from his hand. They were simple math problems.

One look told her they couldn’t be simpler.

Miles hesitated. It felt strange to be alone with Georgia Thorne. However, her next words made him agree. "Your dad was busy at the office all day. Let’s let him get some rest!"

’Okay, Dad really is busy.’

Miles had his own room. Georgia Thorne moved a chair to sit beside him. "You can ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand."

Miles pointed to a blank question on the page, and Georgia Thorne’s gentle voice sounded in his ear.

’Ms. Thorne’s voice was very pleasant, soft and gentle, a bit like his mom’s.’

’He had seen Ms. Thorne in the art studio before, teaching other children how to draw. Her voice was light and sweet, like cotton candy, and very soothing.’

Miles couldn’t help but look up at her, his thoughts drifting. His own mother was very busy, working from morning till night, and rarely had time to spend with him.

Most of the time, his mother needed to work and earn money, not spend time with him.

’Ms. Thorne was different. Ms. Thorne was a very nice person, not wicked like in the shows on TV, and she was very good to him, too.’

Miles was so lost in thought that when Georgia Thorne asked him a question, he could only look at her with a blank expression.

He then felt deeply embarrassed, his little face turning hot and red as he stared down at his notebook.

After a moment of silence in the room, Georgia Thorne’s voice sounded again. "It’s actually very simple. I’ll just go over it with you one more time."

Miles scratched his hair and didn’t dare to look up at Georgia Thorne again for the rest of the session.

Day by day, Miles’s attitude toward Georgia Thorne was changing, and the two of them were growing closer, little by little.

After helping the boy with his homework, Georgia Thorne returned to her room to find her husband still working.

She walked over, leaned on his shoulder, and let out a big yawn. "It’s so late. Why are you still working!"

"You weren’t here, so I had nothing to do," Elliot Sheridan said, closing the file in his hands. He wrapped an arm around Georgia Thorne’s shoulders and pulled her onto his lap. "Very sleepy?"

Georgia Thorne blinked, trying to look wide awake. "Not sleepy!"

"Liar!" Elliot Sheridan abruptly stood up from the chair and carried Georgia Thorne to the bed. "The baby is sleepy!"

"Tch, the baby is in my belly. How would you know if she’s sleepy or not!"

"I’m her father!" Elliot Sheridan replied with a perfectly straight face after a long moment of thought.

Georgia Thorne burst out laughing, and she laughed for a long time.

"Well, I’m her mother!"

Georgia Thorne grew increasingly nervous, especially in the week before her due date.

She was too nervous to sleep at night. The intense mental pressure took its toll, leaving thick, dark circles under her eyes.

"I can’t seem to sleep."

Elliot Sheridan had just turned off the lights when Georgia Thorne, huddled under the covers, pulled the blanket back to stare up at the dark ceiling.

"Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just clear your mind, and you’ll fall asleep before you know it," he coaxed.

Georgia Thorne angrily thumped his shoulder. "Easy for you to say! You’re not the one giving birth!"

During the day these past two days, with nothing else to do, she had watched some videos showing the process of childbirth.

After watching them, she realized she was just torturing herself. She had only wanted to prepare herself mentally, but the videos just made her even more frightened.

Georgia Thorne was afraid of pain, and hearing the women’s bloodcurdling screams was terrifying.

"Honey, what if it’s a boy? What will we do?" Georgia Thorne asked, resting her head on Elliot Sheridan’s shoulder.

Perhaps because they already had Miles, they were both hoping for a daughter.

’A daughter would be so great. Just looking at Elliot Sheridan’s face, you could tell their daughter would definitely be beautiful.’

"Boy or girl, I’ll love them either way," Elliot Sheridan said, holding her.

"Then tell me, how would you raise him if we have a son? And what about if we have a daughter?"

Elliot Sheridan said nothing.

The room was silent. After waiting for a few minutes without a response, Georgia Thorne said, "Well? Say something!"

"...Go to sleep!" After holding back for a moment, Elliot Sheridan managed to get out three words.

"I already told you I can’t sleep!"

And just like that, they were back to square one.

Georgia Thorne’s delivery ended up being five days later than her due date.

Georgia Thorne had checked into the hospital on her due date.

Just the thought that she was about to give birth at any moment made Georgia Thorne’s heart pound with anxiety, her mind hazy with nerves.

However, the baby in her belly seemed to be in no hurry at all. Georgia Thorne felt no signs that labor was beginning.

After five days, there was still no sign that the baby wanted to come out.

The doctor’s opinion was that they couldn’t delay any longer. The baby had to be delivered soon, and they could use an injection to induce labor.

’If they had to induce, then they had to induce,’ Georgia Thorne thought. But she needed to mentally prepare herself first.

As it turned out, before she was even ready, a sudden pain shot through her belly.

The moment Georgia Thorne cried out, Elliot Sheridan rushed in from outside and took her in his arms. "What’s wrong?"

"My belly hurts!"

At this critical moment, both soon-to-be parents were so flustered they lost their heads, completely forgetting that this was labor.

Elliot Sheridan was even about to go call a doctor when, as luck would have it, Sharon Ennis arrived from home. Hearing that Georgia Thorne’s belly hurt, she asked if the pain was coming in waves.

Georgia Thorne nodded, and Sharon Ennis’s face lit up with joy. "She’s going into labor!"

She turned around. "What are you standing there staring for? Go tell the doctors she’s about to give birth!"

Elliot Sheridan really was a bit dazed. Spurred on by his mother, he acted on impulse and dashed off like a frantic teenager to get a doctor.

Georgia Thorne was in excruciating pain, and Elliot Sheridan went in to stay with her.

Seeing her drenched in sweat, her face pale, his own heart was seized with panic.

"It hurts!"

Elliot Sheridan was speechless. At that moment, all words seemed to lose their meaning. He simply squeezed her hand tightly in return, trying to give her courage.

Georgia Thorne truly was in too much pain to speak, and the doctor was telling her to conserve her strength for the final push.

’Georgia Thorne really wanted to curse someone out. She had no strength left; how was she supposed to conserve any?’

’And this was nothing like the videos she’d watched. Experiencing it firsthand was far more terrifying.’

Georgia Thorne had a relatively quick labor. After two hours, the baby was born.

It was a girl. Her features were all wrinkly, and she looked quite ugly.

When Elliot Sheridan took the baby from the nurse’s arms and looked at her features, he felt a surge of affection.

’This was their daughter!’

Mother and daughter were both safe and sound. That was the best possible news.

Everyone waiting outside the delivery room breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.

After the delivery, Georgia Thorne was completely exhausted. She took one look at her daughter in the delivery room before falling asleep from sheer exhaustion.

When she woke up, she heard a voice above her say, "Gently!"

Georgia Thorne looked at her now-flat belly. "Where’s the baby!"

"Mom’s holding her!"

"I want to see the baby!"