Mandy was overjoyed. Lisa was still willing to talk to her! But what was more endearing was the way she called her "Mom"—it was so sweet and pure that she felt that her heart was starting to melt.
Right after they spoke, she hurried down to the hospital. She called Serge while on her way and asked him to pick up Adrian later and to bring him to his grandparents' house. Since it was almost sure that she and Lisa would hang out until late that evening, she wanted to make sure that Adrian was taken care of.
She also wanted to tell Nathan that she would be seeing Lisa, but after checking what time it was, she realized that he probably was busy as he was still at work. Because of that, she just decided to postpone telling him about the trip until later that evening.
After hanging up the phone, Lisa ran to the bed and leapt on it. "Dad!" she squealed gleefully. "Mom is coming! She really is coming!"
A soft smile appeared on Colin's lips. "That's good to hear, darling. I bet you're excited," he said sweetly. As he stared at his daughter's face, he suddenly felt guilt swelling up in his guts. He didn't want to do what he just did, but he had no other choice: the only way he would be able to see Mandy again was if he took advantage of her love for their daughter.
Ever since Mandy started consistently neglecting him and his feelings, he started to see himself as despicable. He felt like there were two entities living inside him: one had already told him to give up on Mandy because she would never love him back. 'And besides, ' it said. 'Even if you manage to get her, she will never truly fall in love with you.' But then, the other voice told him otherwise: 'Why not try?' it said, hopeful. 'You never know. Maybe she'll love you back.'
When Mandy arrived at the hospital, Lisa was still fast asleep on the bed while Colin was quietly sitting next to her, keeping her company while reading a book. 'What a heartwarming scene—Colin acting like a loving father, ' she immediately thought.
In the past few days, Lisa had been resting well and recovering fast. Whenever she was tired, she would just sleep. But aside from that, she would sleep whenever she felt excited about seeing Mandy again. She hated waiting, and by sleeping, she didn't have to.
Colin quickly noticed that Mandy had already arrived. He, however, decided not to wake Lisa up as she just fell asleep. "Is she asleep?" Mandy asked in a low voice as she walked towards the bed.
"Yes," Colin answered, smiling softly. "She had a lot of energy a while ago, but she got tired fast and just fell asleep. This is the first time's she's had an afternoon nap this week, so I was surprised as well," he explained. When he saw a smile form on Mandy's lips, he immediately felt better. It was as if she was his personal energy drink—everything she did invigorated his soul.
Mandy carefully sat on the edge of Lisa's bed and stretched out her arm to caress her daughter's cheek. The moment her finger touched Lisa's cheek, Lisa's eyes fluttered open, as if she had been waiting for this moment all this time.
"Mom?" Lisa asked, her voice soft and childish. With her sleepy eyes, she looked incredibly adorable.
"Hello, my baby," Mandy replied, her eyes full of love for the child in front of her. "How are you? Do you want to sleep some more? You can go back to sleep if you want, I'll just be here beside you." Mandy's eyes were full of love for the little girl in front of her. While she really wanted to play with Lisa at that moment, she decided against it, thinking that the kid might need more sleep. With that, she began to tuck the quilt in once again.
Lisa, however, practically jumped up and threw herself into Mandy's arms. "Mommy!" she said, wrapping her arms around Mandy's neck tightly. "I swear I'm not sleepy! Let's play now! I miss you so, so much!"
"Okay, baby girl," Mandy said, a bright smile appearing on her lips. She hugged Lisa back and asked softly, "Where do you want to go today?"
Upon hearing that, Lisa couldn't help but squeal. She let go of Mandy and said excitedly, "I want to go to the amusement park today, Mom!"
"Okay, then!" Mandy responded as excitedly. "To the amusement park we go!" Mandy was eager to do whatever Lisa wanted to do. At that moment, no one was more important to her than her beautiful daughter.
Ever since she could remember, she had always wanted to have a daughter. Back when she was pregnant, she would always pray at night that the child she was carrying inside her tummy would be a girl. But then it had always been said what you wish for wasn't always what you would be getting. So, the more she wanted a daughter, the less likely she would have one. And it actually came true—she had Adrian.
To be honest, at first, she was disappointed that that happened. However, she quickly got over that, and now, Adrian was her whole world, and she would do anything for him. After all, he was the result of her and Nathan's love.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Meeting You Was Fate