Chapter 397 You Need Only Ask
Amelia took Tony into the house and turned to Oscar. She said, “Oscar, I’ll take Tony to his room. You can go ahead and chat with Derrick on the first floor.”
Oscar shot a look over before nodding.
After Amelia walked up the stairs, she went into the bedroom and set Tony down on the floor. She stared at Tony’s face and thought about how he looked like a miniature version of Oscar. That prompted her to suppress her emotions and ask, “Tony, do you not like your father?”
Tony tilted his tiny head to the side and looked like he was deep in thoughts. In his baby voice, he answered, “Mommy, I don’t actually hate that Big Meanie. It’s just… I’m worried that he’ll take you away. I want you and Daddy to be together.”
Amelia placed her hands on each of Tony’s shoulders and said, “Kurt is your godfather, Tony. He and I will never be together. I understand that you like him, but I only see him as a friend.”
“But the two of you have been living together this entire time. It’s like how they show it on the television. Only a husband and a wife will live under the same roof, so why are you and Daddy merely friends? Daddy is the one who is always there as I grow up,” replied Tony. His big, round eyes shone with innocence and confusion as he spoke.
His words rendered Amelia speechless. She didn’t know how to explain the complicated nature of love, and how both parties had to be in love to be together. Indeed, she had lived with Kurt for two years, but nothing ever happened between them, and she only ever saw him as a friend. Anything beyond that never even crossed her mind.
Amelia never imagined that her son would be an obstacle to her relationship with Oscar, but that seemed to be the exact situation.
“Listen to me, Tony. Oscar is your father, and he and I are destined to be together,” said Amelia with a heavy heart. Tony was a smart kid. Although he was only two years old, his intelligence inspired his mother to explain things to him as though he were an adult. Instead of spanking him and forcing him to behave, Amelia was teaching Tony patiently and hoped that he would understand.
Unfortunately, Tony still couldn’t understand what she was saying. He pointed out, “But Mommy, that Big Meanie has never lived with us, so why would you want to be with him? Hasn’t Daddy treated us well all these years?”
By then, Amelia was a little exasperated. She crouched down to be on the same level as Tony. In a sweet voice, she explained, “Listen to me, Tony. When you were a baby, your father and I had a misunderstanding, so I took you away. I know you don’t understand what that really means, but all I ask is that you treat your father a little nicer. Don’t be that hostile toward him, okay?”
“But he hit Daddy!” complained Tony angrily.
Amelia’s gaze flickered, and she eventually said, “Tony, you misread the situation. Your father was just training your godfather. Kurt works for your father, so the latter was training the former. That’s great, isn’t it? Don’t you want your godfather to become stronger?”
“Really? He can become stronger?”
Amelia nodded.
Tony bought that. He asked, “If Daddy becomes stronger, will he be able to toss me up even higher?”
Amelia frowned. She tried to negotiate by asking, “Tony, you should start calling Kurt your godfather. Don’t address him as Daddy from now on, okay?”
“But why? I’ve always called him Daddy.”
“Tony, are you a good boy who listens to his mommy?”
“Yes! I am a good boy and will only listen to you and Daddy.”
“If so, you must promise me that you’ll stop calling Kurt Daddy. Instead, call him Godpa. You will also be nicer to your father, who loves you very much. Please don’t make things difficult for me, okay?”
“But I don’t want to call that Big Meanie my father.”
Amelia felt defeated.
She had no choice but to remind herself to take things slow. She couldn’t be too eager because Tony and Oscar were separated for two long years. Oscar might be the boy’s biological father, but at the end of the day, the two of them had only spent little to no time together. Hence, it was only natural that they would see each other as strangers.
“I won’t force you to call him your father, then. Just promise me that you won’t see him as a villain.”
“Mommy, what’s a villain?”
Amelia sighed. She suddenly felt exhausted.
She reached out to stroke Tony’s silky hair and reassured herself by thinking about how Tony was still just a kid. He doesn’t know what it means to have a biological dad. I’m sure he’ll grow fond of Oscar after they spend more time together.
“Come on. Let’s get out of the room,” said Amelia as she picked Tony up.
They exited the bedroom and walked down the stairs. Oscar rushed over as soon as he saw them.
Tony instantly acted like a hunched-up cat and glared evilly at Oscar. He wrapped his short arms around Amelia’s neck and spoke as though he was marking his territory. “You are not allowed to get close to my mommy, you Big Meanie! You hit Daddy, so you are a bad person.”
The helplessness in Amelia’s heart grew.
“Tony is just a kid, Oscar, and Kurt practically raised him, so please don’t mind Tony’s words,” said Amelia apologetically while looking at Oscar.
“I actually think that my son is incredible. He may be young, but he already knows to fight against his old man. That just proves that he is much stronger than I ever was. Still, Tony, you can’t just scream about like a shrew. If you want to defeat me, you must work hard to grow up and become stronger. You will only be an expert if you can defeat me in every single way and in every field,” replied Oscar. He was looking at Tony at the time and seemed genuine when giving that advice.
Tony blinked. He listened to every single word, but he didn’t quite understand most of it.
Amelia was so annoyed that she was speechless for a moment there. She asked, “Oscar, are you talking nonsense because Tony got you too angry? He’s too young to understand what you said earlier.”
Oscar reached out and took Tony over to his side. The former was firm when he said, “Tony, stop complaining. It’s fine if you don’t like me, and it’s okay if you want to chase me away, but you must become stronger before you do anything. I will have to obey you once you grow to be so strong that you are a match against me. For now, however, I am still your old man, and your mom is my wife. Understand?”
Oscar’s overwhelming aura shut Tony right up. The toddler stared at Oscar without even blinking.
“We good?”
Tony didn’t respond. He was still staring without saying a word.
Oscar kissed Tony’s cheek after that. To everyone’s surprise, Tony was displeased with the kiss. The boy wiped his chubby face in distaste, pouted, and complained, “You Big Meanie! Don’t kiss me without my permission or I will be really, really angry at you.”
Amelia couldn’t help giggling aloud when she heard that.
“Okay, okay, I’ll take note of it.”
Tony proudly harrumphed and demanded, “Now put me down! I haven’t forgiven you just yet. You hit Daddy, so I won’t play with you unless you apologize to him, you Big Meanie!”
Oscar’s jovial expression dimmed a little at that.
Amelia stepped forward and picked Tony up before saying, “Let’s eat, Oscar. Tony is just a kid, so please don’t take his words to heart.”
Oscar grinned upon hearing that. In a voice brimming with confidence, he promised, “Don’t worry, Honey. I am certain that I will win this battle against my son. Hah, I’ve dealt with so many experienced business tycoons and politicians, after all. There is no way I won’t be able to beat a kid.”
Amelia’s lips parted. She looked like she had something to share, but she ended up keeping her words to herself.
After that short break, everyone sat at the table. Even Hugo and Kurt were allowed to join them.
Everyone was about to eat up when Oscar’s phone rang.
Oscar took his phone out and checked the screen. The content made his eyes glow a little differently, and he turned to the crowd. “Sorry, I have to take this. You guys eat up,” he said before he got off his seat and headed out.
Amelia didn’t look away until Oscar was already out of sight.
Tiffany shot a look over at Amelia. The former wanted to ease the tension in the room, so she said, “All right, then let’s eat up. Mr. Clinton can join us after his call concluded.”
Amelia ate away, but her mind was on Oscar the entire time. She was certain the call from earlier wasn’t work-related because Oscar wouldn’t need to head out to answer a call from work. They had been apart for two years, and that meant they hadn’t seen each other in over seven hundred days. Amelia didn’t even know if Oscar had met another girl during that period or if he had a secret he couldn’t tell her.
Truth was, Amelia didn’t want to suspect Oscar of infidelity, but she still couldn’t help being bothered about the sudden call.
Tiffany got some food and place it on Amelia’s plate before saying, “Amelia, try this. I made this just for you. See if you like how it tastes.”
Amelia pushed her feelings down and shifted her gaze to her plate. Smiling, she said, “I’m sure your cooking tastes great.”
Tiffany got closer and whispered, “Don’t worry. You can just ask Oscar about that phone call if you’re that curious about it.”
Amelia smiled and replied, “Okay.”
“Let’s eat up. The food will get cold if we don’t.”
Amelia started eating, but she wasn’t enjoying her meal at all.
