As a mother, I was happy to a certain extent. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong at the sight of my child being so at peace and unruffled.
“Hmm…” Audrey clamped her tiny mouth shut as her bright eyes started looking around mischievously. Clearly, she was up to no good once again.
Ashton straightened up and frowned slightly. “Do you still have to think about it?”
“Yep!” Audrey yelled out happily. She was obviously in a much better mood now. With a bright smile, she held onto her father’s fingertips with her own small hands as she whined, “Daddy, let’s take Shaun home with us. We can’t just leave him here alone! Pretty please?”
“Why didn’t you call for help?” Ashton asked.
It was more than heartbreaking to hear such words coming out of a six-year-old child’s mouth. He was so young, and yet he already knew how fickle relationships could be.
Behind every nonchalant expression lay layers upon layers of pain and bitterness.
No matter how suspicious he had been in the past, I knew this came straight from Shaun’s heart. It was probably because I could resonate with him, having been left behind myself.
I suddenly found myself warming up to Audrey’s suggestion.
After those words left his mouth, the remaining life in him seemed to drain out of his body and left him even weaker than when we first found him. He now seemed like a sack of mere skin and bones. I knew that any consolation would pale in comparison to the pain that he was feeling on the inside. After all, we had no idea what he had experienced. All we could do was sit there quietly and let him know we were there for him.
Ashton finally broke the silence after a long time. “From now on, you will be part of the Fuller family. Mrs. Fuller will be your mother, and our children will be your siblings. Are you willing to accept that?”
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