After Matthew carried Damian into the car, Clarissa got in after them.
That day, Kyle, the chauffeur, met Damian for the very first time.
Yet, there was nothing awkward about it since Damian was the type of child who looked cute to outsiders.
Moreover, Damian had called him “Mister” very cutely, causing Kyle to almost lose focus while driving.
Before getting into the car, Clarissa had noticed that it was not Matthew’s usual car. Instead, it was an MPV that was more suitable for their family and the nanny to ride along in.
She was not surprised about it, since he had already considered and planned everything in detail previously.
She then turned to look at Damian. He was sitting on the child car seat as he looked at his father, whom he had not seen in a long time. Just a while ago, he had called him “Daddy” without a hint of unfamiliarity. However, he was looking curiously at his father then.
He stared at Matthew, who had turned behind to look at him. Meanwhile, Matthew did not respond and simply let him do so.
After watching him for a long time, Damian suddenly asked, “Daddy, why do you want to look at me?”
“If you’re not looking at me, how do you know I’m looking at you?”
Unexpectedly, the question was turned back to him. However, he was a smart boy. If he did not understand something, he would just change the topic.
“Daddy, is this D City?”
Ever since Matthew saw both the mother and his son, the smile had not left his face. He looked as if he was satisfied with everything in the world and had a fulfilling life.
The smile was always there even while he answered his son’s questions in a gentle tone.
He was a significant figure in the business world but had become a gentle, soft man in front of his son. Although he looked like a strict father, it was all just an illusion.
At that moment, Matthew still had a smile on him as he answered his son’s various questions.
In the meantime, Clarissa called Catherine to report their safe landing. Even though she did not mention Matthew during the call, Catherine would still know.
It was tacit knowledge.
As soon as she hung up, she heard Damian say, “Daddy, Mommy said you would buy many toys for me. Just as many as I have back in W City.”
Yet, before Matthew could even agree, Clarissa crushed her son’s dreams.
“When did I say that? I only said I’d buy you toys, not that I’d buy you as many as you have in W City. Damian Quigley, don’t change my words.”
He then smiled cutely and asked, “Mommy, what does that mean?”
Rolling her eyes at him, she squeezed his soft cheeks. “Damian, stop acting cute! Also, don’t give me that crap. I’m talking about your toys. You can have them, but not too many. Do you understand?”
Pretending not to understand, he smiled at her.
There were only two situations in which Damian showed such a smile—either he was pretending that he did not understand anything or after knowing that he had caused some trouble.
Knowing that side of him too well, she then looked over at Matthew, her gaze seemingly saying, “Look at your son. He’s so sneaky.”
However, Matthew was, in fact, feeling rather proud. Consequently, Clarissa could not help but feel helpless looking at his prideful and joyful gaze.
Nevertheless, he had not interacted with Damian for a long time. Thus, she wanted to see if he would still look at his son so proudly sometime later.
Soon, they reached Zen Highlands. Once he got off the car, Damian began to put on his exaggerated performance.
“Wow… Daddy’s house is so big… Mommy, I really like this place…”
Clarissa rolled her eyes at that. He was clearly taking it as a performance.
On the other hand, Matthew was happy. He picked his son up and said, “This isn’t Daddy’s house. It’s Daddy’s, Mommy’s, and Damian’s. It’s our home.”
“Really? Our home?” he said with widened eyes. The innocence and surprise he exuded was a pleasant sight to see.
After entering the house and greeting the maid, he then started his surprised exclamations again.
“Wow… I really like it here. The color is so pretty…”
When he noticed his new toys, he exclaimed, “Wow! Thank you for buying me toys, Daddy. Are all these for me? I really, really like it…”
“You’re really great, Daddy! I really love you…”
Despite his exaggerated words, everyone was still delighted to hear him speak, for his words were glorified by his smiley eyes and the fact that he was speaking so enthusiastically.
Ultimately, children were more expressive, so Damian was no exception.
Clarissa could not be bothered with her child’s actions to show his excitement, Clarissa tidied his room and his many toys before calling her office to inform them that she had returned to D City.
After that, she helped Julia prepare some food. Although Julia had already prepared a meal that children would enjoy, Clarissa knew her son’s preferences.
Thus, she made him his favorite dish, pasta with minced beef.
Most of the time, Damian liked to eat meat but rarely would eat vegetables. Resultantly, Clarissa had attempted a variety of methods to prepare foods so that he would eat more vegetables.
As Julia helped her, she said with a smile, “Mrs. Tyson, when you were here previously, you rarely cooked and even said that you were lazy.”
Clarissa smiled and replied, “Yeah, only after having a child did I realize that I was basically forced to be diligent. I had to do it. If I didn’t do it well, then he wouldn’t eat and I would feel upset.”
“That’s why they say that being a mother isn’t easy.”
Just then, Damian ran in and hugged Clarissa. “Mommy, did you make something delicious for me? I’m so hungry! I can eat a lot now!”
Looking toward the door, she asked, “You’re done playing?”
With his messy hair, Matthew was leaning against the kitchen door at that moment. He was still wearing the same shirt and pants, but his pants had become wrinkled, and his shirt was stained. Despite that, there was a satisfied and carefree vibe to him. The cold stiffness on his face was gone, and his gaze had softened too.
“Yeah, we’re both really sweaty now. I wanted to carry him to take a shower, but he didn’t let me.”
Clarissa smiled and looked down at her giggling son, then said bluntly, “This kid hates bathing the most.”
Matthew raised his eyebrows, but Damian denied it. “No, Mommy’s wrong. It’s not like that.”
“Go take a shower with Daddy then.”
Feeling a little shy, he cupped his cheeks and asked, “Take a shower with Daddy?”
Clarissa nodded, then washed and wiped her hands dry before squatting to pat her son on his head. Sure enough, his hair was full of sweat.
“Go and shower with Daddy, Darling. You’re both boys, and he’s strong enough to carry you. Daddy will bathe you from now on, okay?”
Damian cocked his head at Matthew, then stretched his arm out and smiled.
“Daddy, carry me…”
Immediately, Matthew walked over and picked his son up, then headed for the bathroom.
All settled!
Clarissa always had to think of various ideas to get her son to take a shower. Furthermore, once he finally got in the bath, he would be reluctant to stop afterward. Essentially, getting him to take a bath was the most tiring thing she had ever done.
Now that she had completely handed the job over to Matthew, she would not have to deal with such a thing anymore.
Sometime later, both father and son came out of the bath with messy hair. There was a large bath towel around Matthew’s waist, while Damian was wrapped in a small one.
Clarissa had already prepared clothes for them, but the pair were still laughing as they played around. Eventually, they got dressed and went downstairs to eat.
Perhaps they were too excited and had played too hard because Damian ate quite a lot that day. She did not even have to force him to eat as she usually did. His mouth was soon dirtied by the food.
After the meal, Clarissa and Matthew each sat on one end of the sofa in the living room, while Damian sat in the middle, constantly asking questions.
“Mommy, there’s a big pool in our house. It’s really, really big. Daddy said that he will teach me how to swim…”
Sometime later, he continued, “Mommy, can I drive a big car and play in the yard? I mean the one that’s even bigger than Jackie’s car.”
“Daddy, can you play with me every day?”
“Mommy, when will I grow up?”
“Mommy, will my peepee grow bigger and look as ugly as Daddy’s?”
There was silence after that question.
How on earth do I answer this question?
Although Clarissa felt very embarrassed, she also could not stop but laugh at how funny the question was.
Looking at his mother, Damian did not understand why she was laughing so hard but laughed along anyway.
She then shot Matthew a look. “It’s your son’s question. You solve it. It’s a guy’s issue.”
Laughing, Matthew pulled Damian onto his lap and prepared to answer his question seriously.
Looking at the scene, Clarissa broke into a smile. In reality, she usually educated her son about such matters. However, she felt embarrassed hearing Matthew’s explanation at that moment and hurriedly left.
She knew that a lot of kids were violated nowadays. Therefore, she placed importance on such education and paid great attention to it.
However, she had never spoken as directly as Matthew did.
Yet, after considering everything, she concluded that it was better for Damian’s father to educate him on that.
When she returned a while later, they were already sitting on the carpet and playing with something else.
Clarissa sat down and watched her son, who was climbing over his father again and again. However, Matthew seemed to be having no difficulty keeping up with such a tough game.
She could not help but sigh internally as she watched the scene.
In the end, it’s definitely better or perfect to have a father around. Luckily, it isn’t too late.
Subsequently, she moved closer to the pair, and the family of three began to play together. The sounds of cheerful waves of laughter rang throughout Zen Highlands that day.
