The Substitute Bride

"Sher, Clark is such a good boy. He helped me a lot!" Joan praised him with a smile.

"Well, that's Mom's fault. Mom is so lazy that I have learned to do a lot of work around the house all by myself." Sheryl made a pitiable expression, as she looked apologetically toward her son.

"Come on, Mom! Don't be like this. No one believes you! It's time to call Shirley to get up. Or else we are going to be late!" Clark reminded his mom.

As he spoke, he sounded like a responsible grown-up. It was a little embarrassing for Sheryl to be treated like a kid by her son. Yet she could not help being so happy to have raised such a sensible son. In response, she gave Clark a shrug.

"Hurry up, Mom!" Seeing Sheryl standing still and staring at him, Clark shouted and pushed Sheryl. At that moment, Sheryl saw a flash of Charles in Clark's eyes. Clark's stern pupils were just as sharp and piercing as Charles.

"Okay, my little king. I am going now!" Sheryl teased, as she headed straight to Shirley's bedroom.

She knew Shirley must be sound asleep at the moment. However, Sheryl was aware of the ill effects of indulging kids with a bad sleeping habit. Hence she planned to wake her up for inculcating the habits of a disciplined life in her little girl.

"Shirley, it's time for you to get up!" Sheryl called out, once she entered the bedroom. She gently tossed off the quilt and planted a kiss on Shirley's forehead.

In a daze, Shirley opened her bleary eyes. When she saw Sheryl's face, she let out a happy smile. Wow! What a beautiful start to the day. Sheryl felt elated to see such a bright smile on Sheryl's face. Silently, she counted her blessings. How much joy and love had been brought into her life because of these little cherubs. Tears welled up in her eyes. She thought in her heart, 'Everything has been so wonderful, living with the Lu family, and the future will be as promising as the old days.'

"Mom, allow me to sleep some more! I still feel so sleepy!" Shirley begged. She covered her eyes with her little hands and shook her head.

But Sheryl remained firm and refrained from indulging her daughter.

Realizing that she had no other option than following her mother's instructions, Shirley slowly sat up. Despite a trace of displeasure on her little round face, Shirley didn't complain or refuse to obey her mother.

"Mom, where is Clark?" Shirley asked as she averted her eyes aside, intending to check and wake her brother, but she didn't see Clark.

"Clark is already up! He is in the kitchen helping the cook. So Shirley is a little bit late to get up this morning! Come on now, wake up and freshen up," Sheryl said as she stepped aside to give space to Shirley to dress up by herself.

As far as Sheryl was concerned, it was important for her that her kids learned the basic skills in life by themselves. She had stopped helping the kids with changing clothes a long time back. Now Shirley and Clark had grown rather independent in so many ways, just as Sheryl had expected.

A soon as Shirley learned that Clark was helping the cook in the kitchen, Shirley couldn't wait to get ready and rush into the kitchen to see what was happe

essage. The remaining time Cassie had for her duty seemed to proceed in a very sluggish manner.

The head nurse had helped a patient change his infusion and came back to the ward which Cassie had taken over. She found out Cassie was staring at her watch. Being an experienced senior, the woman was wise enough to read Cassie's mind. She teased, "Well, Cassie, are you eager to go on a date after work?"

Cassie got rather embarrassed and didn't know how to respond. Bashful, she tried to deny, "Matron, what are you talking about? I was just about to…"

"To do what? By the way, to be honest about Nick, I kind of like that guy! However, many girls have their eyes on good men. So if you really love him, you should take prompt action. Do not miss the opportunity!" The head nurse stared into Cassie's eyes, with a meaningful look. Her expression exuded sheer sincerity and earnestness.

"Thanks, I will!" Cassie's face turned crimson just like a ripe red apple.

Then the head nurse checked the time. She reminded Cassie, "Go to Bed No. 16 and check the patient. If his conditions are fine, then change his infusion. Then you can get off duty!"

"Really?" It was beyond Cassie's expectation that the head nurse would allow her to leave so early tonight.

Noticing Cassie's startled face, the old lady smirked, "What? Just five minutes earlier. Don't you want to get off earlier? Fine, let's work according to the usual timetable then!"

On purpose, she stopped talking and was ready to leave the ward.

"Matron, please don't be like this. Of course, I want to get off work early tonight. I am going to change the infusion right away!" It was a rare occasion for nurses to get off duty on time. So it was rather normal for Cassie to be surprised when the head nurse told her to get off work so early.

Cassie trotted to the sickroom the head nurse had asked her to go to. Watching Cassie's back, the old lady smiled and nodded her head.

Cassie was happy that she was finally about to get off work. In the changing room, she studied herself in the mirror, checking her make-up as well as her attire.