The Substitute Bride

Charlie was unusually calm when he heard the news. And his adorable face was devoid of any emotion. Sheryl stood motionless as she looked at him intently and gave his little face a thorough scanning. She was earnestly hoping to read his facial expression that was held barely discernible. She felt a little uneasy. Then she approached Charlie anxiously and in a trembling voice asked him, "Charlie, you heard that?"

"Yeah," Charlie answered in a small but affirmative voice. "I heard it."

"Then you..." Sheryl began to say something. But she suddenly felt at a loss that her voice trailed off. Sheryl swallowed hard and burrowed into her head, hoping to come up with appropriate words to say. Initially, she was so worried about how to tell Charlie the truth, but now that he happened to hear everything, the heaviness she felt in her chest was finally relieved.

The thing now that made Sheryl worried about most was how Charlie felt.

Charles, who was observing the whole scene, also felt to be on tenterhooks. Though he had faith with Charlie, he was still worried that Charlie wouldn't be able to take it, so he walked up to his son as well to prompt him, "Charlie, now that you have known everything. We're not going to hide anything from you. From now on, there'll be no more secrets. Can you tell us how you feel about it?"

Charles found himself looking attentively at Charlie. A surge of anxiety crawled within him as he waited on for Charlie to speak his mind. But Charles did not receive any response, so he continued to talk to his son, "Charlie, I understand that it is going to be very hard for you to accept it. And I know it will take a little while, but you should have the ability to differentiate the good from the bad. You should be aware who truly cares for you..."

"Charlie..." Shirley chimed in. She was a little scared of seeing Charles in a solemn expression.

Seeing her daughter feeling frightened of the tense atmosphere, Sheryl decided not to let Shirley stay further, so she asked Chris to take care of Shirley. "Chris, can you do me a favor? Please take Shirley out for a while. I need to talk to Charlie."

"No problem," said Chris. Chris gave her a slight nod and left the room with Shirley. On their way out, Shirley's worried eyes kept darting to look back at Charlie.

Even though Charlie was still a small kid, Chris knew that he was highly sensitive when it came to his feelings. She was afraid that acceptance would be too hard for Charlie.

After Chris and Shirley left, Sheryl squatted down and held both Charlie's hands tightly. The

he second 'Mom' was way easier for Charlie. He murmured that in a blush, and quickly turned his eyes away.

"Good boy..." Sheryl could hardly contain her excitement. She took a closer look at Charlie again and tightly embraced him, as if trying to prevent anyone from taking him away. And she couldn't seem to let go.

A simple hug spoke a thousand words.

"Alright, alright. Stop crying. We are all good now." Charles wanted to stop Sheryl's tears. He was worried that if Sheryl continued to cry nonstop, her body would not be able to sustain. After all, she had just gone through so much hardship and needed some good rest.

He held Sheryl's hands and said, "Now, Charlie has accepted you being his mother. I know it is worth celebrating. But why are you celebrating with your tears?"

"I am just so happy! These are tears of joy," Sheryl replied with her eyes wet with tears.

"Charlie, get some tissue for Mom," Charles said to Charlie. As Charlie was about to turn to get some, Sheryl stopped him right away and complained to Charles, "How can you be such an irresponsible father? Don't you see that Charlie is still injured? Do you want him to get hurt again? How can you request him to do that?"

Sheryl glared at Charles with displeasure. Then she held Charlie's hand and said in a motherly tone, "Just ignore him. The most important thing right now is to take care of yourself. Get well soon from the bone fracture. It is our top priority. Forget about his order."

"I am fine. It is not painful at all. Besides, the doctor also said that it wouldn't matter a lot," replied Charlie. He focused his gaze at his mother's tear-streaked face. Then he heaved out a deep sigh and said, "Mom. Stop crying..."