Xo Novel
Chap 19
“If that’s the case, when does he plan to stay single? Will he wait until he’s forty? Your child is almost three. How come he doesn’t have one yet? It’s fine if he has a child right after marriage, but what if he doesn’t? What if he ends up like your elder brother, having a child after five years of marriage? I might be called by God earlier.” Julie Hampton responded, still annoyed.
“Don’t talk like that. Mom herself told me that fate is already arranged. Why is Mom being pessimistic now? Gladwin might be waiting for the right time to introduce his girlfriend to us.”
“Yeah, if there’s one. What if there isn’t?” Her mother continued to frown. “Yesterday, I tried to set him up with one of my friend’s daughters, but his reaction was flat.”
“Who did you try to match Gladwin with?” Claire asked, but Flavia secretly listened.
“Phoebe. I tried to match him with Phoebe.”
Julie’s words made the two women of different generations in front of her fall silent. “Isn’t Phoebe a widow? And she already has a child? She’s a divorced widow, not a widowed one. Is Mom really trying to set her up with Gladwin?” Claire looked at her mother with disbelief.
Julie just shrugged. “Then what else can I do? He doesn’t want to be set up with a single woman, and he can’t bring his own candidate. So I introduce him to an available woman. Besides, Phoebe already has a child, indicating that her womb is fertile. So if they get married, Gladwin will quickly have a child.”
“Mom…” Claire pleaded.
“Enough, stop discussing Gladwin. What’s certain is that I won’t be contradicted. If Gladwin still doesn’t bring his girlfriend in front of me, whether he likes it or not, he has to accept my choice. Besides, Phoebe, even though she’s a single mother, still looks beautiful. She takes care of herself. Moreover, her profession as a doctor is not disgraceful when I introduce her to family or friends.” Julie spoke again.
Flavia could only smile awkwardly hearing her grandmother’s narration. Yes, her grandmother was right. All the points about Phoebe were indeed correct. Beautiful, well-maintained, a doctor, and able to give offspring. Compared to Flavia, even if she rebelled, she was nothing compared to Phoebe Madsen.
“Mama, why are you talking like that?” Claire looked at her mother with discomfort.
Claire realized that her mother’s words were a subtle jab indirectly aimed at Flavia, and she didn’t want her stepdaughter to be offended by Julie’s words. Unbeknownst to her mother, Claire knew that Flavia secretly liked Gladwin, and Julie Hampton also knew that. So, she subtly ridiculed Flavia’s inadequacy just to ensure that Flavia didn’t have higher expectations for her son. Both of them also knew that Gladwin had the same feelings for Flavia, but they couldn’t express their feelings due to various reasons.
Claire could only pray that God would pave the way for the love between the two people she cared about. “Where are Zio and Francisca?” Flavia shifted the focus away from her stepmother.
“They’re in their room,” Claire replied. Flavia just nodded and gave a faint smile before heading towards her younger siblings.
Flavia went upstairs, placed her bag in her room, and then left it to go to her younger brother’s room. At least, playing with her younger siblings could provide her with some entertainment. And soon, in less than a month, they would have a new playmate in the form of their unborn sibling.
“Hello, little prince, what are you doing?” Flavia asked after knocking on her brother’s room door.
“Via.” Ignazio looked up from his tablet and smiled at Flavia. The glasses perched on his nose only added to his charm. Ignazio inherited his mother’s intelligence. Although their father was also smart, given Claire and Gladwin’s history of participating in acceleration programs, it was clear that Claire’s intelligence genes were more dominant in Ignazio.
“I’m learning the chords of a new song. Want to sing?” It wasn’t a question but a request, judging by the pleading expression on Ignazio’s face.
“Singing? I want to too.” Flavia was surprised when she saw her younger sister, who had been reading a book while lying on the carpet and obstructed by the high bed, suddenly appear from the other side of Ignazio’s room. Apparently, Francisca had been reading the book since earlier. “I want to be the one to sing.” The little girl requested, and Ignazio immediately shook his head. “Ah, Zio…” Francisca complained in frustration.
“Later, you can sing children’s songs. Via and I will sing adult songs first.” Ignazio reasoned, although he actually refused because of Francisca’s shrill and unpleasant voice.
“Eww.” Francisca whined again.
“Let’s do it this way. We’ll shoot a video. I’ll be the musician, Via will sing, and you’ll be the camera girl. Okay?” Ignazio offered with a mischievous smile. Ignazio seemed to have absorbed a lot of energy from Uncle Altezza and Uncle Gian. His mischievous nature was different from their father’s calm demeanor.
“Okay. I’ll be the camera girl.” Francisca formed the letter ‘O’ by joining her index finger and thumb.
Ignazio took out an acoustic guitar from his bag. The boy had been learning to play music from Erhan since he was six years old. Amazingly, their father supported him, and now his playing was very skilled, even though Ignazio didn’t take any official music courses. He preferred to learn from streaming videos.
“What song do you want me to sing?” Flavia, who was already sitting on Ignazio’s bed, asked, watching her brother tuning the notes.
“That one, the song you sang that time.” Ignazio then plucked a note, and Flavia smiled.
Francisca set up the tablet with the camera aimed at Ignazio and Flavia. Ignazio started playing the intro, and Flavia began to sing, while Francisca ran and chose to sit on Flavia’s lap.
I once fell so in love with you
I fell so deep with all my heart
I thought no matter what I do
I will give anything for you
Don’t ever miss me anymore
You gave up on us when you closed that door
I wish you all the best
Thought you were my last
Just please can you let me pretend.. to forget
~Mahen – Pretend to forget~
The sound of applause made the three people who had their backs to the door turn around simultaneously. Antony stood at the doorway, smiling at his three beloved children. “Should I become your producer? How could I not realize that your voice is that good?” Antony said with a feigned look of surprise.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Flavia, feeling embarrassed, felt her face heat up. Meanwhile, Ignazio casually turned off the video on his tablet. Without Flavia knowing, the boy actually had a social media account with many followers. Just wait and see, when this video is uploaded, there will be a lot of thumbs up he’ll receive.