272\u2013Finally Knowing The Truth\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeline:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s prepare the food. When they wake up, they will smell the food and feel happy,\u201d Baxter replied, stirring the pot and letting the steam rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he placed another pan beside it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened a jar of beans and added them in. The scent of the food began to spread across the kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this point, I almost forgot how most of the food tasted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We finished cooking together in silence. The rice and bean curry were ready.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The smell was good. We set the table with plates and cups we found in the cupboards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The storm outside kept pounding at the windows, but inside the cabin it was warmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We even started a fire in the fireplace because it seemed like they had collected wood and everything was already\u00a0<\/p>\n
set.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, we heard footsteps and saw our children walk out of the bedroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their hair was messy and their eyes were still heavy with sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could tell they only woke up from the smell of the food.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had not had a proper sleep in a long time. Bodhi dragged his blanket with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elara blinked and gave us a weak smile, while Gina rubbed her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCome here,\u201d I told them, pulling out chairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baxter helped them climb onto their seats. He sat beside them and I took the chair across so I could sit close too..\u00a0<\/p>\n
We fed them spoonfuls of rice and beans. I noticed how Bodhi ate in small bites and smiled after every bite like it was a treasure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUmm,\u201d Gina hummed with approval and kicked her feet under the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is so good,\u201d Elara leaned her head on Baxter\u2019s arm between bites. She was still sleepy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they finished, Baxter wiped their mouths gently with a cloth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rain does not seem to stop,\u201d he remarked. The kids were already getting sleepy again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d I replied with a low breath. \u201cI think it is okay if we sleep here. The kids will sleep in the main room. I will stay in the room with them on the couch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I suggested it, and Baxter nodded his head, itching the skin of his temple as if thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will sleep on the couch outside in the living room. I do not think it will be a good idea for all of us to be in the bedroom,\u201d he responded, and I nodded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a fair plan. We did not know what made the other family run away from such a perfect home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After eating, the children were already tired, so we took them to the bed and tucked them in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
272 Finally knowing the hum\u00a0<\/p>\n
425 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once Baxter left to sit in the living room, I pulled the blankets over them and stepped back. I watched how Bodhi curled against the pillow and let out a small sigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then Gina wrapped her arms around the blanket and moved closer to her brother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elara rested near the edge but held my wrist until her breathing slowed and she fell asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was the first time my kids did not object to getting close to each other. Usually, they needed their own space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked out of the room and noticed Baxter had already taken a shower. His hair was damp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked over with the blanket and placed it next to him. He watched me and then smiled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew he wanted to sleep, but I needed to have a talk with him first. I sat on the couch, and he raised his brow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I do not mind having a session,\u201d he commented playfully, making me roll my eyes and gently slap his chest. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to talk about what you said earlier,\u201d I replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baxter turned to me, ran his hand over the backrest of the couch, and focused on my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you came back. What does that mean?\u201d I asked him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands were stretched out on my knees while I took steady breaths in front of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is true. I only left that night because I wanted to make your morning special. I was going to come back and ask you to be my girlfriend. I bought a car, roses, jewelry, everything for you,\u201d Baxter explained, speaking as if it was nothing, even though his words made my heart stop in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at his face with my jaw hanging low. It seemed like I had forgotten to blink, and he noticed because he let out a deep sigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that is not true. You did not come,\u201d I asked him in confusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nodded his head, almost to himself, before he uttered, \u201cI did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He replied, and I frowned once again because I remembered that if he had come that day, I would have met him. I knew that and he had blocked me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u65e5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
272\u2013Finally Knowing The Truth\u00a0 Madeline:\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s prepare the food. When they wake up, they will smell the food and feel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-daddy-novel-by-novelnozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19641,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19473\/revisions\/19641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}