By the time Decker finished bathing and walked out of his bedroom, Debbie had already come back to the apartment with Evelyn.
Decker scooped up the little girl. He wanted to take her out to have some fun, but Ramona called out to stop him. "Decker, dinner is ready. You can play with her after dinner."
Annoyed, he was about to retort, but Ramona spoke again. "Come on, all of you. Enjoy your dinner. I have something else to do now. I'll leave soon."
As she moved the dishes from the kitchen to the dinner table, she said again, "I know that Debbie has a huge appetite, so I cooked a few more dishes. I'm not confident about my cooking skills. Please don't mind."
The siblings stood in the living room, watching their mother dart back and forth around the kitchen. When the last dish was served on the table, Ramona untied the apron, hung it on the kitchen hanger and said, "Eat before the food gets cold." After washing her hands, she grabbed her coat and walked up to Evelyn. Caressing the little girl's cheek, she muttered, "What a lovely girl you are!" 'When will I hear you call me Grandma?' she thought sadly.
Debbie silently watched her walk towards the door. She opened her mouth and wanted to ask, "Aren't you having dinner with us?" But while she hesitated, Ramona changed into her shoes and left the apartment.
Decker and Debbie stood in a daze for a moment.
At the dinner table, Debbie grabbed her chopsticks and looked at her brother. Decker didn't move a finger. Sensing her gaze, he stared back at her.
Evelyn sat quietly, her eyes darting between the two adults. She waited for them to start eating.
Finally, Decker grabbed his chopsticks and picked a slice of celery into Evelyn's bowl. "Eat, baby."
"Thank you," Evelyn replied politely. She scooped the food up with her spoon and put it into her little mouth.
Letting out a sigh, Debbie also began to help Piggy with the food. "I bet she hasn't eaten anything yet. She left with an empty stomach. I feel bad, Decker," she said, sounding remorseful.
Decker already knew that, but he said stubbornly, "She… She has something else to do."
"She isn't working anymore, and she doesn't have many friends. What does she have to do?" Debbie was a mother now. She felt a dull pain in her heart when she thought of how Ramona was trying everything to make her children forgive her.
A dash of unreadable emotion flashed in Decker's eyes. But he remained indifferent. "It has nothing to do with me."
Debbie was angered by his cold words. "It has nothing to do with you? Then why are you eating the food she cooked?"
"I didn't force her to cook for us. She volunteered to do it."
Debbie thrust out her chopsticks to stop him from picking up more food from his plate. Frowning, she rebuked, "Yes, you didn't force her to cook. But you can choose not to eat!"
He was already annoyed by Ramona's sudden appearance, and now his anger grew even more because of Debbie's tantrum. "Fine, who cares?" He slammed the chopsticks on the table as he shot to his feet. Then he grabbed his coat and made his way to the door.
"Stop!" Debbie tried not to be too loud. She didn't want to scare her daughter.
Casually draping his coat over his shoulders, Decker asked impatiently without turning around, "What now?"
"Don't you think you're being unfair? She tried her best to make all this food for us, but we didn't even invite her to the table. We were wrong to treat her that way, and now, you want to waste all this food? Decker Lu, get back to your seat right now! She didn't mean to abandon us back then; she was forced to. What are you angry at now?" Debbie considered herself a childish woman, but she realized that her brother was more childish than her.
"She's a Lu family member. I hate that entire family!"
"Your surname is Lu too! Do you hate yourself as well?"
Decker turned around and sneered, "Thanks for the reminder. I wasn't able to change my surname before, but things are different now. I'll go change it right away. I'll pick any last name—Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: True Love Waits