NovelAppWhen they got back home, the two of them hit the kitchen together just like old times.
It'd been a hot minute since they last cooked up a storm together, and Theresa must've sensed it, because she was over the moon
seeing them at it again tonight, barging into the kitchen, all thumbs, eager to lend a hand.
Sophia and Brandon didn't put any brakes on her; they gave her seasy-peasy tasks, and the little pumpkin was all in, working
her socks off.
The excitement and joy carried over to dinner, with Theresa gabbing away, trying to juggle eating and chatting at the stime.
She was so much more full of beans than she had been in the past few days. It was clear as day that Theresa was really digging
this family vibe.
Sophia, watching Theresa like this, felt a rollercoaster of emotions. As a mom, seeing her kid happy and chipper was the biggest
win she could ask for.
Her internal scales were already tipping, almost without her realizing it, towards giving Theresa the full family package.
But with this tilt ca pang of regret and a touch of melancholy that she wasn't the main act anymore.
Lost in these feels, she didn't even notice she had stopped fussing with the tableware and was just staring off into space at
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtTheresa, oblivious to Brandon's gaze fixed on her.
From the moment she started watching Theresa, Brandon had his eyes locked on her. He didn't miss the struggle and compromise
in her eyes, nor the subtle shades of regret and sadness.
The weight of those emotions was like a heavy blanket on his chest.
After dinner, they took Theresa for a walk, helped her with her bedtroutine, and tucked her in, just like always.
Once Theresa was asleep, Sophia headed to the stunext door. Brandon didn't follow; they both needed stand space to
ponder.
He planted himself in the study, slumped into the computer chair, leaning back, head tilted up, staring at the ceiling lost in
thought.
His mind replayed all the moments since they met: the first the laid eyes on her as she walked into the high school classroom,
the way she nervously approached her seat under the teacher's direction, the evenings they biked hpast the river, the pride
he felt winning the 5-kilometer at the track meet as everyone crowded around him, expressing “congrats”, while she cheered from
the back with water and a towel, the surprised and moved emotions in her watery eyes when he celebrated her birthday at that
night.
All those youthful memories flipped by like slides in an old projector, through the heart-pounding surprise reunion at the class
gathering, the whirlwind of emotions that led to a night of lost control, to the confusion and uncertainty at the hospital holding the
pregnancy test, and then slowly settling into the tranquil harmony of their two years of marriage.
She was serene and lovely during those years, always quiet and unassuming yet earnest and dedicated, gracefully content, and
self-sufficient.
This version of her allowed him to focus on his career with a sense of security, taking for granted that she would always be there;
whenever he was weary, whenever he remembered to look back, she would be there waiting quietly.
But she wasn't. She could leave, too.
Once she was gone, she was really gone. From start to finish, Sophia never really cback, and perhaps she never would.
Brandon's gaze slowly drifted from the starkly lit ceiling to the pitch-black night outside the window. The deep winter night was
desolate and bleak, mirroring his current state of mind.
Suddenly, his phone on the desk rang, piercing the silence of the night. His eyes slowly moved to the phone on the desk, but he
just looked at it indifferently and didn't pick up.
The phone rang and rang again after a pause, persistent as ever.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBrandon let out a long sigh, leaned forward slightly, and took the phone. It was Daniel calling. He stared at the phone screen for a
moment and then answered the call.
"Where've you been? Why haven't you been picking up?"
As soon as the call connected, Daniel's robust voice cthrough loud and clear.
Maybe it was Sophia's talk with him that had finally let him rest easy, no longer worried that Sophia would stay and hold Brandon
back. Daniel was on the mend at warp speed recently and was getting discharged tomorrow.
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