Chapter 3
1211 Words
Teddy tilted his head and gazed at Alex, blinking his eyes, “Are you an uncle?”
The face was familiar, like he had seen it somewhere.
Sophie said gently, “Teddy, this is your dad ah, look at the picture.”
“When you were little, you hugged your dad’s photo and cried and cried for your dad all the time.”
She deliberately revealed some details and secretly observed Alex’s reaction.
Teddy stared at Alex and scratched his little head, “It’s daddy?”
Alex froze.
The little blob in front of him that looked seven or eight times like him was his child?
The two men stared at each other, wide-eyed, and an awkward atmosphere filled the air.
Teddy frowned in thought for a few seconds.
“But the dad in the picture is white and this uncle is black.”
At that, Alex’s mouth twitched.
He was dark because he had gotten a tan from fishing at sea some time ago.
Sophie stroked his head and gently explained, “Daddy is tanned, and after a while he will become white, exactly like the photo.”
“Really?”.
“Of course.”
“Then why don’t astronauts get tanned in space?”
Sophie froze momentarily, looking incredulously at the three-and-a-half-year-old blob.
Could even a child that young take the bull by the horns?
“Baby, why do you think astronauts don’t get tanned in space?”
Teddy’s proud face, “I watched TV, the astronauts are wearing thick clothes, so they definitely won’t get tanned.”
Sophie didn’t know how to answer for a moment.
She had underestimated the intelligence of the little group.It was also true that she graduated from a prestigious school, and the child’s father had a superb IQ, so how could their child be so easy to fool.
With a twinkle in her eye, she decided to throw the dilemma to the kid’s dad, “Honey, you explain?”
Alex stared at her for two seconds and helplessly crouched down to be level with the little group.
“You’re right, I am indeed your father.” His tone was slightly hard.
Still, it wasn’t exactly a lie.
Sophie was helpless and was about to continue rounding out the lie.
“Dad!” Teddy suddenly unfolded his arms and leaned towards Alex, “Daddy, hug~”
Alex looked at the little group with two pearls stored in their eyes, a strange feeling surged up from the bottom of his heart.
After a moment of hesitation, he slowly raised his arms and gently wrapped the little one into his arms.
“Daddy, miss you.” In an instant, his tone became choked.
The three and a half year old baby was gently held, soft in his arms and smelling of milk.
“Oooooooo~”
Teddy’s hands circled his daddy’s neck tightly, crouching at the nape of his neck.
It went from a small sob to a gradual bawl.
Alex hadn’t been around children this young and was a little overwhelmed for a moment.
He looked helpfully at Sophie, who stood quietly wiping tears from her eyes, and blinked at her.
What should we do now?
Sophie took two steps forward and took his hand, placing it on the little group’s back, signaling him to gently soothe it.
Alex patted the child’s back, awkwardly soothing, “No more crying, Daddy’s here.”
After a few minutes, Teddy’s crying subsided, but his little hands still clutched his daddy’s shirt tightly, fearing that he had disappeared again.
“Why is Daddy coming back now?” Teddy’s face was buried in the crook of his dad’s neck, his voice muffled.Alex’s arms tightened a bit and his neck was moist, but he couldn’t bear to push the little one in his arms away.
“I’m sorry, Daddy didn’t mean to be absent from your growing up.”
“Then why?”
Alex didn’t hide it and told the truth.
“A while back, Daddy accidentally fell overboard while out fishing, and it took a long time to find his way back.”
Teddy jerked his little face up and rounded his eyes in horror, “Daddy fell overboard?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s more dangerous than going to space.”
“This ......”
“Ahem ahem!” Sophie reminded with a light cough.
Couldn’t this guy just go along with her lies? He had to break her down in front of the kids.
It did seem like the whole memory loss thing had completely changed his personality.
Alex paused and said, “Whatever the reason, Daddy’s back anyway.”
“So Daddy won’t leave again?”
“No.”
“Pull the hook!” The little guy broke into a smile, “I have a daddy!”
Alex’s eyes grew tender as he looked at the little one in his arms.
Suddenly having a little clump of people didn’t seem so bad.
In the study.
Alex flipped through the photo albums looking for traces of his existence.
He looked at the pictures of himself with various celebrities in the glass display case, but he felt incredibly unfamiliar.
The self in each photo was unfamiliar to him.
“Knock knock knock!”
A soft knock sounded on the door.Sophie peeked halfway out and softly asked, “Alex, may I come in?”
Alex looked around at the sound.
The woman in front of him had already changed into a silk robe, and her hair was loosely pulled back, revealing a slender, snow-white neck.
Sophie smiled lightly, that gentle, flirtatious femininity that seduced with every knit of her brows.
He wasn’t sure it was the type he’d ever liked.
“Alex~” Sophie called softly, “May I come in?”
Alex, momentarily in a trance, nodded slightly, “Uh, yes.”
Sophie’s eyes lit up and she walked over to him with a photo album in her arms.
“Alex, this is your old favorite group photo, want to see it?”
Those brimming, moving eyes twinkled with hope.
Alex looked at her and finally reached out to take the album she handed him and turned it over page by page.
The first photo was a playful snapshot, slightly out of focus but full of warmth.
Sophie covered her mouth to block the camera, and he took the opportunity to poke his head in and steal a kiss on her cheek.
The second is in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office, with the neon nightscape behind.
He rests his chin on Sophie’s shoulder, and the two of them look very happy as they smile face-to-face for the camera.
Scrolling back is a third, fourth, all similar group photos.
The two looked intimate in each photo.
There weren’t many photos, just seven or eight, but they were intimate enough to look like a couple in a hot relationship.
Most of them were at work, or in offices he couldn’t remember, and fit perfectly into her fabricated office romance setup.
She went to great lengths to convince Mr. and Mrs.Whitmore that she was Alex’s girlfriend.
Not only did she prepare all kinds of intimate photos with Alex, but she also made up all the details of their relationship.
- Writer
