"Daddy, Mommy, hurry up." Nia waved at the both of them.Josiah grabbed Meredith's hand in his, smiled at her, and said, "Put on a smile. If not, Nia is going to cry again."For the sake of not wanting Nia to overthink, Meredith immediately pulled into a smile.At the sight of her parents holding their hands and wearing a smile on their faces, Nia too pulled into a wide grin."Come on, let's buy you some new clothes." Josiah pulled her into his arms and said, "The weather is getting colder, we should get you some new ones.""I don't need them.""If you don't want to choose them yourself, I will have Alfred custom-make them for you. After that, don't complain that you don't like the design then," Josiah said."Josiah Shelby, we are not…" She glimpsed at Nia then lowered her voice, "we're not husband and wife anymore. You don't have to buy me clothes and I don't need you to buy them for me too.""But you're the mother of my daughter.""And it has nothing to do with you," Meredit
"It's fine…""Stop acting tough. You'd still need to spend on groceries and other miscellaneous stuff, right? Even if you don't need them, Nia does."Meredith looked at Nia who was looking right back at her with her bright eyes. "Mommy, just accept Daddy's gift."Meredith tapped Nia's nose and asked, "Do you even know what this is?""You should accept whatever gifts that Daddy gives you." Seeing how Meredith was still hesitant, Nia took the card from Josiah and said, "If you don't want to take it, I'll accept the gift in your stead.""Let me keep it then." Meredith was worried to leave such an important item under Nia's care.Meredith kept the card in her purse.While she was doing so, Josiah and Nia gave each other a high-five.Josiah also gave a thumbs-up to Nia.He thought that having Nia around actually made a lot of things easier.Meredith tried on two more sets of outfits. As always, Josiah and Nia showered her with compliments.Meredith rolled her eyes at the both of
"Um…" Nia did not know what to say so she simply pointed to a few spots on the sweater. "Here, here, and here. I think you should get the one that Daddy suggested.""You mean this one?" Meredith grabbed the sweater that Josiah had suggested and put it on her body while checking herself in the mirror."Yeah, this one. I think this one looks much better on you.""Okay then. Let me try this one." Meredith then walked back into the changing room.Josiah pulled into a satisfied smile. Indeed, only Nia was able to persuade her.Nia tugged at Josiah's shirt, lowered her voice, and whispered, "Daddy, why don't you want Mommy to get that sweater?""Because I don't think it looks good on her.""But I think it looks good," Nia then asked, "why do you think it doesn't look good on Mommy?""Um…" Josiah was suddenly at loss for words.He could not possibly tell Nia that the reason was that he thought that the collar was too deep and loose and that he was worried that Meredith would unintent
Meredith however, replied to him with sarcasm again, "I think it's better that you wear tailor-made outfits, it suits your status more."She then held Nia's hands in hers and walked into the lift. "Let's go get you some new clothes, darling."Feeling speechless, Josiah let out a long sigh and walked into the lift with them.After getting several outfits for Nia, and getting some new toys, they decided to head home.Shaking Meredith's hands, Nia asked, "Mommy, we got new clothes for ourselves but why aren't we getting new clothes for Daddy?"This time, Nia was not cued by Josiah. She was simply curious.Feeling rather relieved, Josiah patted Nia's head and said, "Seems like I can only rely on my daughter to think of me, unlike someone else."Meredith ignored him and explained to Nia, "Because your father has loads of clothes at home. So, we don't have to buy new ones for him.""Then did Mommy buy those clothes for Daddy?" Nia asked."Um…""No," Josiah replied in Meredith's ste
"It's not always the case. There's a pink shirt in the men's outfit shop, right? This proves that guys can wear pink too." Meredith scanned the shirt in her hand and added, "I really think that pink is a nice color.""Well…" Nia turned to look at Josiah and asked, "do you like the pink color, Daddy?"Josiah was well aware that Meredith did it on purpose but still, he pulled into a smile and replied, "I like it as long as it's chosen by your mom.""Go and try it on then." Meredith handed the pink shirt to Josiah.Josiah was always dressed in dark-colored suits with a white tee beneath. And on casual occasions, he would usually wear black or blue colored t-shirts. He had never tried warm-color-toned t-shirts.Meredith did not believe that Josiah would accept a pink colored tee shirt.Just when she was pleased with herself, Josiah walked out of the fitting room.To her surprise, the pink t-shirt fit him perfectly and he was exuding a different kind of vibe.Josiah who was usually
"Because girls are naturally born to be adored and taken care of by men."Agreeing with her, Josiah added, "That is right. When Nia grows up later, you'd have to marry someone as good as your father, okay? If not, we'd choose for you to stay unmarried."Without fully understanding his words, Nia nodded her head.Meredith though quickly said, "No, Nia. You should never marry someone like your father."Nia looked at Josiah, then at Meredith, and finally sighed, "Sigh, here we go again."But to their surprise, Josiah actually agreed with Meredith. "Your mom is right, Nia. Don't find someone like me, you should find someone that is better than me."Nia simply nodded.When in fact, she had no clue as to what Josiah and Meredith were talking about.By the time they finished shopping, the sun had already set when they arrived home.Nia had fallen asleep in the car.Josiah carried Nia in his arms and tucked her into bed before coming downstairs.After putting away the stuff that the
For the sake of pleasing Nia, Josiah took lessons just to learn how to braid Nia's hair.Josiah leaned into her ears and replied, "If you're feeling jealous, I can ask Yoseph to introduce the hair stylist to you.""There is no need for that!"Very quickly, Josiah tied Nia's hair into two pretty and perfect braids.Meredith finally understood why Nia wanted Josiah to braid her hair instead.Looking at the perfectly braided hair, Meredith felt a gush of warmth in her heart.Even though she was told by Josiah that he was sneaky, she actually felt rather relieved by his efforts.After all, Meredith had been hoping that Nia would be loved and cared for by her father.Nia could finally go to kindergarten like all the other kids. She was so excited that she did not even sleep well last night. While leaving the house, she asked, "Dad, Mom, is it fun? Going to kindergarten? Will the kids there not like me?""You'll know once you're there," Josiah bent over and lifted Nia into his arms
Nia pulled into a sweet smile at Caden.Caden too was happy to make a new friend. Nodding his head, he said, "I will take good care of Nia.""That is really nice of you, honey. Thank you."Meredith was, of course, happy to know that Nia was able to make friends on the first day of her school."Alright now, let's get the kids into the class," Josiah reminded."Ah, yes. Caden, why don't you show Nia the way into the classroom?" Jane said."Okay!" Caden reached out his hand to Nia and said, "Come on, Nia, let's go in together."Nia put her hand in Caden's and they skipped happily into the class.As soon as the kids went into the classroom, Jane said to them, "Your daughter is really pretty."She then pointed toward the door and said, "I'll get going now. It's lovely to see you both.""Same to you, Jane. See you around."It was Nia's first day of school so Meredith could not help but be worried. While meeting the homeroom teacher, Meredith kept repeating the things that the teac