It'll Come Naturally

"Why are you back early?" Daisy asked while continuing down the stairs slowly, her face blushing a little.

"We couldn't wait to get back here and see you when we heard the news!" Cynthia chuckled. Before Daisy finished the last few steps, she came up and stretched out her hands to help her.

"Yeah! And grandma's been champing at the bit to see you!" Justin echoed. After the initial excitement wore off, Justin no longer clung to his mother. Instead, he stood by her like a steady young man, and looked at her belly with curious eyes. He was amazed that his mother's tummy contained another life, and was surprised by the magic power of the Creator's hands.

"Who started carrying on first, imp?" Cynthia pretended to be angry. After living together with Justin all these years, she got to know just how tricky this little guy could be. Like father, like son. You couldn't expect him to be a normal, obedient child when Edward was such a mischievous man.

"Grandma's going to spank me! Grandpa! Help!" Justin begged. He wouldn't back down so easily in front of others, but when it came to his grandparents...

"Behave, Justin," Daisy said sternly, scowling. She had no idea whether Justin was respectful 24/7, because she wasn't always home. But she was a bit angry to hear what he said just now.

"Just ignore them. You hungry? Need something to eat?" Cynthia asked with a look of pleasant expectancy. It was now clear that she was really giddy. She couldn't cook to save her life, but she forgot that in all the excitement.

"Save it, mom. If I wanted to be poisoned I'd find some chemical in the cupboards." Just then, Edward's voice came from behind Daisy. They looked up and saw him walking down unhurriedly. Though he was complaining, he could feel a gust of happiness sweep through him when seeing them talking and laughing. There was nothing better than a happy family.

"You're home?" Cynthia asked in surprise. She wasn't too happy about his joke. But honestly, he reminded her of her bad cooking, which she was too happy to remember just now. She felt a bit down when she thought about it. Because no matter how hard she tried to learn, she just couldn't assemble raw ingredients into delicious meals.

"What's so strange about me being home?" Edward responded, but it was Jonathan's expression that he was studying. Normally, this cold man would protect his wife and fend off Edward's jibes. He squinted at his father defiantly.

There were, of course, always exceptions. This time, Jonathan simply ignored his son. Instead, he walked to the sofa and sank comfortably into it, like Edward wasn't even around.

"You should be in a bar right now with Uncle Rain and Uncle Duke, and all of them. That's what usually happens," Justin chimed in. He just couldn't get enough of teasing his father about this, so he'd bring it up once in a while even though that was practically a different life.

"Hey. You know we haven't seen Spencer in a bit," Edward said, stroking his chin. It was typical of him to touch others' sore spots when he was attacked. He was such a crafty man after all.

"O-okay, Daddy. I'm sorry. I take back what I said." Justin flinched. Spencer's name alone sent a shiver down his spine. He would do everything he could to avoid that clingy little demon. Edward sneered when he heard this. 'You're still too young to challenge me,' he thought.

He never lost his wicked streak, but he did change a lot after Daisy got pregnant. He had become more careful, thoughtful and patient. He not only treated others nicely, but he catered to Daisy's every whim. Obviously, he enjoyed being an expectant father, and had done his job as a father wholeheartedly.

Everyone celebrated Daisy's pregnancy, except Kevin. His brows furrowed when he heard about it. Like Daisy, he thought that the baby came at the wrong time. So when he bumped into her in the army base, he felt complicated and hardly knew what to say.

"You know, I'm not sure whether to feel happy or sad," he said, shrugging. Of course he should congratulate her on her pregnancy, but he still thought it was sad that she'd have to give up her promotion.

"Happy. I know I am," Daisy replied with a smile. "I'll have that new rank before you know it," she said. She knew what Kevin meant, and that she had missed the boat. But she also knew that there was no going back since she had decided to keep the baby after much thought and consideration."

"You're right. Congratulations, Senior Colonel," Kevin finally said, giving a soft smile. As long as she herself thought it was worth it, he should take it as good news.

"Thanks. By the way, I heard that Claire'll be back in a few days, right?" Daisy changed the subject, turning around and looking into the distance. There was a fleeting hint of disappointment on her face. To tell the truth, she had regrets. But she knew very well in her heart that between power and family, the latter was more important to her.

"Yeah. Leena told me about that. Dad keeps refusing to let them marry. He can't accept that his son-in-law is a foreigner. So..." Kevin paused. He'd been worried about his sister. He knew the only reason she came back was that they had a kid, so they thought they'd try their luck and see whether Nathan would accept his grandkid, once he saw them.

"Actually, I get it. You see, he's a high profile official. And if he does something people don't like, then he could easily lose his job," Daisy responded. In any case, Nathan was a commissar, so his unwillingness to accept a foreigner as his family had deep ideological roots. She wasn't surprised that he took a tough stand in this matter.

"You said it. So to help Claire be happy, Leena went all-out," Kevin said, allowing himself a wry smile. Speaking of which, it was just amazing that Leena and Claire had become close friends who could tell each other anything and everything, when before that, Claire gave her a hard time. Apparently, they had gone through a lot together.

"Seems that Claire has a lot to thank her for," Daisy chuckled. She had met Claire several times before, and thought that she had a sweet, lively personality. She wondered how the girl had been doing lately. Would she be so different after living abroad for all those years? "Yeah. Oh, I nearly forgot! The commander's looking for you," said Kevin, remembering suddenly. No prize for guessing why the commander would summon her, Kevin thought.

"The commander? Did he say why?" Daisy asked with surprise.

"Maybe it's about Justin's little brother or sister in your tummy!" Kevin said and shrugged, hinting that he wasn't sure about it.

"Don't tell me you told him." Daisy raised her voice and looked him in the eye. But come to think of it, she didn't think he had a big mouth. He wasn't one to spread rumors. "No, ma'am! I thought you'd have told him yourself," Kevin said. Daisy was right about him, he minded his own business.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.