Charlotte held the phone in her hand. She was dizzy with disappointment.
She tried comforting herself in her heart. Perhaps Zachary feels that since the old man has just woken up, it’ll be better not to rile the latter up too soon…
Charlotte pitifully comforted herself.
…
An elongated Rolls-Royce made its way to the hospital, escorted by two rows of convoys in front and at the back – truly a sight to behold.
The bodyguards deployed were all vigilant, checking and scanning around to spot any untoward surprise ambushes.
Nonetheless, everything went on without a hitch as the journey itself was smooth.
As the cars drove up to the hospital, Zachary led the three children out of their ride. Jamie, whose foot had not fully healed, was sitting on his shoulders. He held the hands of the other two: Robbie and Ellie.
Jamie was feeling elated, with a special sense of superiority seated on his father’s broad shoulders.
Fifi was perched meanwhile on Jamie’s head, its eyes opened wide, gawking around curiously.
“Daddy, I don’t want to hold your hand anymore.” Breaking away from Zachary’s hand, Ellie childishly complained, “You’re too tall. I have to keep raising my hand to hold onto yours. My arm is now tired…”
“Truthfully, I’m tired too.” Looking up to Zachary, Robbie blinked and asked innocently, “I’ll be as tall as Daddy in the future, won’t I?”
“Of course you will.” Bending down, Zachary heaved up both Robbie and Ellie in his arms while carefully making sure Jamie was securely seated on his shoulders. “Hang tight, Jamie.”
“Okie.” Jamie held onto Zachary’s head for fear of falling.
“Yay! I’m high up now too!” Ellie cheered, clapping her little hands together.
“Suddenly I feel like my visual field has expanded,” Robbie mused, smiling.
“I’m higher up than you still.” Jamie raised his brows, proudly showing off.
“I’m higher! I’m higher!” Fifi squawked exuberantly, flapping its wings in response as if it understood the whole childish competition.
“Shush!” Ellie pointed to Fifi with her chubby small hand, pouted her mouth, and playfully scowled, “Fifi, if you squawk again, I’m going to pull off your feathers!”
The intelligent bird quickly covered its mouth with its wings and dared not make any more noises. Its eyes were rolling around, making it looked both funny and adorable.
“Hahaha…” The three children filled the air with their laughter simultaneously.
Zachary could not help but grin. Since these three children had appeared in his life, his world had been filled with nothing but laughter and joy. He had also been slowly changed into a more cheerful person who tended to smile more.
“These kids are so adorable!” Bruce remarked with a satisfied sigh. “Everything has been a little different since Mr. Nacht has become a father. He’s a changed man.”
“Agreed. A change for the better. A more humane person overall,” Ben whispered.
Bruce laughed, “Yeah. Way better.”
As the entourage entered the hospital from the side door, they were greeted by the dean and heads-of-departments all lined up ready and waiting. They lined and led them directly to the special ward.
Spencer, who had been waiting downstairs all the while, was glad to see Zachary. He promptly greeted the latter and informed excitedly, “Mr. Zachary, Mr. Henry has awakened and has been thinking about you.”
“Noted,” Zachary nodded before asking, “You haven’t told him anything, have you?”
“No, definitely not. I’ll leave you to tell him personally, as per your instruction.”
Gazing at the children one by one, Spencer smiled giddily, allowing himself a brief moment to show his true feeling. After that, his face tightened as he hinted meaningfully, “Mr. Zachary, since Mr. Henry has just woken up, please be mindful that he can’t handle any bad stimulus yet!”
The meaning was clear as day: double down on the good news, avoid the bad ones.
Zachary instinctively understood what Spencer meant and assured the latter, “Fret not. I’ll be tactful!”
The whole family soon arrived outside the special ward. Zachary took the children to the decontamination chamber for a change of clothes. Fifi intended to follow but was prevented by Zachary who tapped its beak and ordered, “Stay outside. Don’t cause a ruckus.”
Stopping what it was about to do, Fifi immediately landed on Ben’s shoulder. It looked aggrieved as it shrugged its little head.
“Make sure you don’t poop on my shoulder,” Ben threatened, giving Fifi a vicious look, “Or else I will pluck out your feathers one by one…”
“Daddy, Daddy.”
Before Ben could finish his sentence, Fifi flew over to Zachary and complained, “Pluck feather, pluck feather. Scared. Scared…”
