When Estella opened her eyes and saw Archie and Benny, a blush crept onto her face. Archie held Estella’s hand in consolation as he articulated his question, “Did you dream about
Mommy? What did you dream about?” The girl lowered her gaze. “I… I dreamed about Ms. Jarvis.”
A confused look appeared on the boys’ faces when they heard that. “But you were calling out for your mommy.” Estella timidly looked at them in silence..
She did not know why, but ever since she came to know Roxanne, the mother in her dreams started looking like Roxanne. Moreover, the dreams about her mother became sweet dreams.
The only exception was when Roxanne was sick. This time, she dreamed about the unconscious Roxanne again. In her dream, no matter what she said, Roxanne’s eyes remained closed. That terrified her.
As for Archie and Benny, although they did not hear any reply from Estella, they could guess what was on her mind by studying her expression.
“Essie, you see our mommy as your mommy, too, is that right?” Benny asked. Estella nodded in hesitance. She then carefully asked, “Archie, Benny, you won’t be mad, right?”
Both boys exchanged a bewildered look with each other. “Why would we be mad?”
“Because… I’ll be stealing your mommy from you,” Estella muttered, choking out the last few words as if she was about to burst into tears.
Archie and Benny were flabbergasted. They never knew that was what Estella thought.
Squeezing Estella’s hand, Archie said, “We’re not mad at all. If we do get mad, wouldn’t you be mad too for trying to steal your daddy from you?”
Estella pursed her lips and anxiously shook her head. She desperately wanted to become a family with Archie and Benny, so how could she be angry with them?
Archie then took a piece of tissue and wiped Estella’s tears away. “If you’re not mad, then we’re not mad too!”
Benny then said, “How about this? We’ll call them Daddy and Mommy when we’re alone. We won’t call them Mr. Farwell or Ms. Jarvis anymore. They’re our Daddy and Mommy.”
Archie and Estella immediately nodded in agreement to that. Even though there were still tears on her face, Estella had a wide smile. She looked funny, and the boys could not help but laugh heartily at her.
Lucian naturally had no idea what was happening in the ward next door, let alone about how the three children had sneakily promised to be a family. “Thirsty…”
Roxanne had been unconscious for a whole day. Even though she had been injected with sedatives, she could not sleep for long. Furthermore, the children had been talking earlier, so Roxanne slowly returned to the waking world.
Lucian had a tiring day, and he was about to nod off. But the second he heard her voice, he woke with a start and filled a glass of water for her.
Just as Roxanne was about to sit upright to get the glass, Lucian brought the glass to her lips and shifted her to be in his arms.
Roxanne was groggy from her sleep, and she instinctively felt safe in his arms. Hence, she drank the water with his help before reaching up to push the glass away.
Lucian placed the glass at the side before helping Roxanne lie down on the bed again. Shortly after, Roxanne was asleep again.
Fearing that she would wake once more, Lucian reached out to grab her exposed hand after a moment of hesitance before closing his eyes to nap.
