Serenity smiled and said, “That’s how kids are. Childhood is the happiest and most carefree time in a person's life. When they grow older and start schooling, and face academic pressures, they won’t be as carefree as they are now.”Jane agreed. “Yes, I sometimes wish I could return to my childhood. Being a little kid was the happiest time.”As a child, she was the family’s little darling. She was pampered by everyone and was even more carefree than her adopted son Laurence. After all, Laurence had to study medicine and self-defense. Before she started elementary school, her time was purely spent playing.Serenity said, “Keep your voice down—don’t let Ben hear you. Otherwise, he might think you’re unhappy with him and start wracking his brain to figure out how to make you happy.”Jane instinctively turned to look at Ben. As if sensing her gaze, Ben looked up and smiled at her. Jane smiled back. Turning her head, she affectionately linked arms with Serenity.“I’ve always been happy.
Sonny, feeling satisfied, said, “I’m so cute. I just knew everyone would miss me.”“This kid’s becoming more shameless by the day,” Serenity commented about her nephew’s growing arrogance.Jane laughed as she took Connor from Antonia's arms. “Sonny is speaking the truth. He’s as adorable as my Laurence.”This was a double entendre. Both kids were clever and cute, but they were also becoming quite thick-skinned, especially Laurence. Jane felt that her adopted son had grown up a lot in his recent time away. He was very perceptive. With a few unconventional old-timers around raising him, they could not judge Laurence by conventional standards.“I’m good friends with Laurence—we’re like brothers. My uncle says that Laurence and I have been playing together since we were little, so we’ll be childhood friends, and that we’ll always be best buddies.”Sonny and Laurence were sitting on either side of Lilian, who was still holding Chloe. The adults in the room laughed. It would be delightf
Lilian was “scolded” by Doc and was only left off the hook after she promised to never bite Oliver again. When baby Oliver returned to Lilian’s arms, he still gave her a huge smile that melted her heart. No wonder her master loved the baby so dearly. Oliver was truly adorable.The Johnson family had breakfast prepared. Everyone took their seats and together they had breakfast at the dining table. After eating, Jane and Lilian accompanied Serenity on a stroll in the garden. Serenity often felt too full after a meal and needed to move around. However, she would get hungry as soon as everything was digested. Jane smiled. “The fetus is growing rapidly at this stage. It needs a lot of nutrients. That’s why you get hungry quickly. Most pregnant women eat small but frequent meals.“I used to eat more than you when I was pregnant. My appetite returned to normal after I gave birth.”Jane had twins. Naturally, more nutrients were required for two fetuses.She felt herself stuff
After two years, Liberty had become a better version of herself. Her style was also more similar to Aunt Audrey’s.Jane did not know what to say. Serenity turned to look at Lilian. She asked, “When are you going to Wiltspoon, Lilian? Is it tonight or tomorrow?”Lilian replied openly, “Tonight. Mr. Patrick is eager to return to Jensburg. He’s been waiting for this day for decades. It has been the sole motivation that’s been keeping him going.”After speaking, she smiled. “How did you know I’d be going over?”“Doc is back, and he can’t possibly leave so soon. Mr. Patrick is old and is plagued by many ailments. He needs a doctor at all times. If your teacher won’t be with him, then it must be you. It’s easy to guess.“The masters will most likely leave tomorrow. Going home was an excuse. They are simply taking a detour to go to Jensburg.”No one had revealed anything to Serenity. She had guessed and analyzed everything herself. Lilian praised, “You’re clever, Serenity. You also
Wiltspoon’s hot weather in October was a killer. Still, the mornings and evenings were eased by the late autumn breeze. Serenity Hunt got up first thing in the morning to make breakfast for her sister’s family of three. She then grabbed her birth certificate and slipped away in the silence. “We’re going Dutch from now on, and I’m talking about everything—the living expenses, the mortgage, and auto loans! Your sister should be splitting the cost since she’s staying at our place. Sure, she pays two thousand bucks a month, but it doesn’t stretch very far. She’s basically mooching off us.” Serenity overheard her brother-in-law’s comment during the couple’s argument last night. She had to move out of her sister’s place. However, there was only one way to put her sister’s mind to rest, and that was to get married. Since Serenity wanted to tie the knot on short notice without ever having had a boyfriend, she decided to take up on Grandma May’s offer. Serenity had saved the old lad
“I won’t back out on a promise.” It took Serenity a few days to consider before reaching a decision. Now that she had made up her mind, she was not going to go back on her word. There was nothing more Zachary could say at that point. He took out his document and placed it in front of the officer. Serenity did the same. The pair swiftly went through the formalities in less than ten minutes. Once the officer issued the marriage license, Zachary fished out a bunch of keys from his pocket and gave them to Serenity. He said, “The house I bought is in Brynfield. Nana told me that you own a bookshop near Wiltspoon School. My place isn’t too far from your workplace. It’ll take around ten minutes by bus.“Do you have a driver’s license? If you do, you can get a car. I can help with the down payment while you will be responsible for the monthly payment. It’ll be easier for you to commute to work.“I can get very busy at work, so you won’t see me much. There will be business trips too
“I will, Nana,” Serenity casually responded. Although Grandma May was nice to her, Zachary was her blood relative while Serenity was only related to the family by marriage. Serenity found it hard to believe that the Yorks would stand by Serenity during a conflict between her and Zachary.Such was the case with her sister’s parents-in-law. Before marriage, the in-laws were nothing but good to Liberty to the point their birth daughter was jealous. It was a different story after the wedding. Every time Liberty got into a disagreement with her husband, Hank, her mother-in-law would get on Liberty’s case about being a bad wife. In short, the son was always family while the daughter-in-law remained as an outsider. “You must be heading to work, so I should get out of your hair. I’ll get Zack to get you home for dinner tonight.” “Nana, I’m closing the shop pretty late at night. I probably won’t be able to make it. Can we reschedule for the weekend?” The school was off on weekend
“You said it yourself, Liberty. It’s his prenuptial property. It doesn’t make sense to add my name to the title deed since I didn’t pay a penny for the house. I think we should forget about it.” Zachary did Serenity a huge favor by handing her the keys to the house the moment they got married. She could move in right away, solving her housing predicament. Serenity was not going to request that of Zachary. Of course, she would not refuse if Zachary added her name on his own accord. Now that they were husband and wife, Serenity made up her mind to spend the rest of her life with him. It was just a passing mention by Liberty, but knowing her sister who was self-reliant and not driven by greed, Liberty did not dwell on the matter. After a series of interrogations, Serenity successfully moved out of her sister’s place. Liberty wanted to drop her off at Brynfield, but Sonny happened to wake up. The little guy was crying for his mama the moment he opened his eyes. “You should atte