Chapter 44: The Child Was Born

"Dad, Mom, I..." Just as I spoke out, Ian knocked urgently on the door, "Jacqueline, what's wrong with you?" "My water broke." Ian promptly took me to the hospital. "Her water has broken. She's lost too much water and needs to go into labor right away." Ian grabbed my hand tightly, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." I wasn't really in pain yet, but I could feel the water flowing out. Perhaps it was the unknown of the birth that scared me so much that I took his hand and asked, "Where are my parents?" "I have informed them." "Okay." A few hours later, I delivered without incident. Shortly after hearing a loud cry, the nurse congratulated me with my baby in her arms, "It's a boy." I had just finished giving birth and was extremely tired, so I took one look at him and drifted off to sleep. Before I fell asleep, I vaguely heard them say, "Show the baby to his father." His father? His father was nowhere to be found at the moment. The next day, I felt much better because I had a normal delivery and my baby was brought to me. Looking at the red, small, wrinkled baby, I couldn't believe that this was the child I had given birth to after 10 months of pregnancy? Why did it look so much like... a monkey? "He's so ugly." I couldn't help but blurt out. When my parents heard me say this, they blamed me, "Who else would say their baby is ugly? Newborns are all like this. They change rapidly from day to day at this stage. He will be so pretty that you will be speechless in a few months." "Really?" I didn't quite believe it. Ian gently touched my baby's hand and smiled, "Just listen to what Auntie says." I stayed in the hospital for three days after the birth and then went home. I had not wanted to burden my parents and wanted to go straight to a confinement care center and spend money to save myself the trouble. But my parents insisted on taking care of me themselves, saying that they didn't trust their daughter and grandson to others. Even so, I hired two nannies as helpers. My parents were right when they said that the child would change from day to day. It was amazing to watch him change a little bit every day. Did a baby have any thoughts? It was also at this point that I wondered what would have happened if Elias was there. He loved Susie so much and he would have loved his own child, right? I said silently in my mind, "Elias, where the hell have you been?" By now, my parents had stopped talking about Elias and even pretended that Elias had "disappeared from the world". Instead, they had grown fond of Ian, who had been coming to our house frequently. When I was taking a break from breastfeeding, my mom came over and stared straight at me. "Jackie, what are you going to do now?" "What?" "You're still playing dumb with me. The baby is born. Do you just want to be alone forever?" I raised my eyebrows, "Mom, say it straight." She hesitated before saying, "I think Ian is a good man. He is careful, conscientious, and handsome. Moreover, you two were lovers from the beginning and know each other well. Anyway, now that…" I interrupted my mom's ceaseless chattering, "Mom, Elias and I aren't divorced yet." My mom stopped talking. Although Elias had disappeared, I wasn't divorced from him. Legally, he was still my husband and the father of my baby. "But how can a living person just disappear and have no news at all? It's really strange." My mother shook her head repeatedly, "I hate myself for what happened to you now. If I hadn't taken matters into my own hands, you wouldn't be in this situation today." I laughed bitterly. "Mom, it's not your fault. I was the one who was bent on marrying him in the first place. I'll be honest with you, when I decided to marry him, I did it to reassure you and Dad, but I really fell in love with him afterwards." "He treated me really well, but why would such a nice person be so heartless in the end?" "Let bygones be bygones. Life goes on." My mother held my hand tightly, "Your father and I will be there for you and the baby, don't worry." "Thank you, Mom." I thought that I would be sad about losing Elias. But no. I did still miss his voice, his arms, and everything about him when it was late at night. It seemed that his smile, his anger, and his happiness were all in front of me, but suddenly they were so far away. Iggy knew I had a baby and sent me a great gift. I was speechless when I saw her gift, "Iggy, you're being dramatic?" "Not at all. I want the kid to win at the starting line." I joked, "Your godson's mother is not an ordinary person either. He's going to be a winner in life." Iggy raised an eyebrow, "I've known you're an able woman in business for a long time." She hugged my baby, played with it for a while, and sighed, "I used to think that your life options would never include marriage and kids, but you've done it all in a short time." I bowed my head in silence. Iggy pondered for a moment and patted me on the shoulder, "Jacqueline, you are not an ordinary woman. You can afford to take it, and you also need to let it go. Since Elias is so desperate, you don't need to keep him in your mind. If you hate him or feel aggrieved, just treat him as a fart and let go. Men will only slow down our pace of making money." I knew she was trying to comfort me. But one could not just let go of love. During my pregnancy, I had wished countless times that the doorbell would ring and Elias would appear in front of me, hold me, and say that he had been willful, that he had been mean, and that he shouldn't have left me. But time and time again, all I had gotten in return was endless sadness and disappointment. "Elias, tell me, where the hell have you been? Tell me, are your feelings for me dispensable? Tell me, why have you disappeared from my world? If you don't appear in front of me soon, I'll forget you completely one day." When I was a child, adults always said that time flew. However, I never felt that time passed quickly whether in my studies or at work. But with a child, I felt that I always had not enough time. "Mommy, guess who I am?" A soft little hand covered my eyes. I cooperated by saying, "I don't know." "I'm the big bad wolf and I'm going to blow down the thatched roof you just built." "Oh, I'm so scared." Neil, who was far away across the ocean, coughed lightly, "Sis, the meeting is almost over today... you can play with Nicholas." "Hi, Nicholas, uncle will be back soon and will bring you your favorite transformers, okay?" "Yay! Thank you, Uncle Neil!"