Ice and Fire novel Chapter 419

"I'm here, Auntie, " replied Joe. He knew that Jean must have something to tell him.

"It's because I have done something incorrect, and I received a swift retribution. I can never have a child of my own, " explained Jean. She didn't want to hide the truth from Joe.

Now it was Joe's turn to be surprised. As he looked at Jean, Joe quickly understood the real reason why Jean had treated him so well and had given him all of her affection. It was because she treated him as her own son, because she wasn't able to have a child of her own.

"Auntie, " called Joe in a small voice.

But Jean ignored him, and continued to say, "Joe, do you know that I made an error before you were born, an error which destroyed my marriage and irritated your Daddy and Mommy a great deal, especially your Mommy."

Jean felt guilty when she recalled of her sister five years ago. At that time, she had always thought that she had never done any wrong, but now she began to realize how foolish she had really been to do all of those bad things to her sister, Cherry.

Joe remembered that his Mommy had also told him about all of these things. He quickly thought about some of the events that had happened before he had been born, and wondered 'Was it the accident?'

"Is it about my sworn mother's accident?" said Joe.

"Sworn mother?" Jean echoed his words and then turned around to look at him.

"Her name was Emily. Mommy said that she had used to be her best friend, " answered Joe. He had always kept this name in his heart, and although he had never met his sworn mother Emily, he still loved her. He knew that his sworn mother held a very important place in Mommy's heart, even though she had never told him about this. What had happened to his sworn mother that year had hurt his Mommy very much, and the event had scarred her memory forever.

Jean nodded. She had never thought that Joe would know about so many things.

"Yes, that accident wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for me." After she finished her words, Jean looked out into the distance again, and continued to say, "Now that I recall all of these thing, I feel that what I've done now is just a result of what I did before. God is fair to everyone, no doubt about it."

"Auntie, were you holding a grudge against my Daddy and Mommy at that time?" asked Joe.

Jean shook her head, and replied, "No, everything started when we were small children."

Jean didn't give Joe a detailed explanation. She just looked at him, and seriously said, "If I had the chance to choose again, I would prefer not to be your Auntie or Cherry's sister."

Joe then noticed a tear trickling down from the corner of her eye on her cheek.

Jean stared blankly ahead and continued to say, "If I had another chance, I would choose to protect my family, protect my parents, John, and... Cherr."

After a while, Jean gradually composed herself. She looked at Joe, and said, "Joe, I'm sorry that I couldn't control myself very well. Did I frighten you?"

Joe then suddenly held Jean in his little arms, and said in a soft voice, "Auntie, I want to hug you, is that okay?"

Joe really wanted to comfort his Auntie Jean, because his heart had ached when he had seen the sadness on her face. From her words and expression, he could see that his Auntie Jean didn't hate his Daddy or his Mommy anymore.

Jean tightly embraced Joe and her heart filled with happiness. How wonderful would it be if Joe was her boy, to take care of him and love him with all of her heart?

"Auntie, I know that my Mommy's nickname is Cherr. Daddy often calls her baby, because he loves her so much, but Grandmother calls her Cherr sometimes. Personally, I like Cherr better, " said Joe.

"Yes, " said Jean, "I like Cherr better too."