Departure with a Belly (Alaric and Victoria) novel Chapter 584

Chapter 584 Nowhere to Sleep 

Honestly, Victoria was tired after shopping around for about an hour. Plus, the bags only got heavier as time passed, but before she could say anything, Alaric interjected, “Let’s catch a break.” 

Then, he pushed the shopping cart toward the elevators. There was a lounge upstairs and a mall, where Mary and Sasha were having a look around. 

“I wonder how they’re doing,” she mumbled while strolling. 

“You mean Mom and Sasha? Don’t worry. They’re probably having a great time with their shopping spree.” 

Alaric pushed the shopping cart to the checkout area and sent someone to bring the bags out after leading them to the closest restaurant. On the way back to the restaurant, he received a call from Mary. 

“You guys should return home without us. We won’t be joining you,” Mary sounded a little indignant on the 

other end of the line. There was a tinge of disgruntlement in her tone. 

He couldn’t help but feel astonished as he asked, “Why aren’t you joining us? Do you have other plans?” 

“Yeah, we booked a facial appointment and will be back in the evening. You guys… should just do whatever you want.” 

When Alaric heard that they were going for a facial, he answered, “Okay.” 

He was about to hang up when Mary couldn’t help but complain, “You’re glad, aren’t you?” 

“Huh?” he blurted before he could press the end call button. 

“Nobody is fighting over the children with you, and you can finally have them to yourselves.” When Alaric was still trying to find his bearings, she continued, “Isn’t that precisely what you were thinking when you suddenly took Nicole and Nathan away in the morning?” 

He couldn’t help but sigh helplessly upon hearing her complaints. “Mom, we’ve only spent about one hour with the children in the past few days. Otherwise, they were either eating or sleeping. If they weren’t, they were always with you and Dad.” 

Everything was fine in Mary’s world until he just had to bring this up. The instant he did so, Mary had nothing. left in her arsenal to justify her frustrations. It was just as he said–the kids had been accompanying them throughout their visit, and it had only been one hour since Alaric took the children away. 

It was just one hour… 

She just parted with her grandchildren for barely an hour, and she was already finding it utterly unbearable. What about Alaric and Victoria, then? Could they handle such a thing? The moment she put herself in their shoes, she couldn’t help but think that she was being a cranky harpy. “I got it. They’ll stay with you while I’m. going for a facial with Sasha. I’ll be home later.” 

“Okay.” This time, Alaric hung up without any feelings of remorse. 

Mary sat in the same spot in a daze after ending the call. Sasha, who had been in a corner while she was making the call, approached her. “What’s wrong?” 

Mary turned her attention to Sasha as she recalled the things Alaric said earlier and divulged, “Do you think I’ve been hogging their kids for too long recently?” 

Her question caught Sasha by surprise. As there was a distance between her and Victoria since she wasn’t Victoria’s birth mother, she didn’t dare to regard Victoria as her own. That was because there was a nagging thought in her mind that would keep reminding her that she didn’t have the right to do so. 

Hence, she wasn’t that close with Victoria and didn’t dare to help babysit her kids. In the past five years, Victoria had been taking care of her kids herself. Furthermore, when Sasha married Tony, the kids were no longer babies, and she didn’t have the guts like Mary to forcibly hog the kids‘ attention. 

When she saw how Mary was spending time with the children, she was full of envy and truly wanted a relationship like theirs. Still, it never occurred to her that Mary would be in distress over something like this. 

“Why would you think that? Nicole and Nathan are still young and need someone to watch over them. You’re not just purely hanging around them.” 

“But… The kids aren’t the only ones that need attention. Even the parents would long for their company as well.” A weary sigh escaped Mary’s lips. “If Alaric hadn’t brought this up to me, I might have continued with my blunder. Just because I adored the kids, I kept them by my side all the time and didn’t consider their emotions.” 

At the mention of this, Mary sighed a few more times and said that she wouldn’t keep the kids by her side all the time anymore, no matter how deeply she loved them. 

The moment Sasha saw Mary so desolate, Sasha could only offer her some consolation but couldn’t say anything else since Victoria wasn’t her daughter. Instead, they chatted in the same spot for about fifteen minutes before heading toward the beauty salon. 

While they were having their facials in the same room, Sasha almost fell asleep on the beauty bed with her 

eyes closed when she heard Mary sighing and speaking about Nicole and Nathan again. 

So, she comforted Mary once more and when they were about to finish their session, Mary couldn’t help but bring up the same issue again. In the end, while comforting Mary, it suddenly dawned upon Sasha that having a close bond with others could also be a burden for both parties. 

I have to learn from this and not do the same as her once I have grandchildren. Otherwise, I’ll be worrying every 

day until I grow old, she thought. 

So, before they left the beauty salon, Sasha said something that made a huge impact on Mary. “You shouldn’t brood over it anymore. Sometimes there are just things in life that you can’t control, and you have to let it run its natural course. Besides, the more you think about it, the more it makes you worry. Furthermore, you’ll grow old very quickly if you keep brooding over things.” 

Mary honestly didn’t think anything of her words until she heard the very last sentence, and her face fell. “Grow 

old?” 

“Yeah. You’ll have more wrinkles if you keep worrying your head over something you can’t control.”