The Apple of My Eye

Melissa didn't expect Charles to speak up. Hence, she trembled out of surprise when she heard him speak.

As their eyes met, Melissa quickly stole her glance away from Charles. She was a little scared to look into his eyes, so she lowered her head.

"Mom, what happened?"

"Ah? No-nothing at all. Why?" Melissa blankly stared at Charles as she threw the question back to make him feel that he was being unnecessarily speculative.

Since Melissa seemed unwilling to tell him what happened, Charles decided to give up.

"Well, I shouldn't interrupt your work. But I just came here to say that it's getting late now. Don't stay up too late tonight. Go to bed earlier and take some rest, okay?" Melissa reminded Charles with motherly

concern.

Charles smiled and nodded at Melissa as he marked the strictness in her eyes.

"I should leave now, good night." Melissa took a last look at Charles before she left his room.

After Melissa closed the door to Charles' study behind her, she felt repentant for not having spoken to Charles. It was such a wonderful chance, but she just closed the door on it. She could not gather enough courage to bring up the topic of Sheryl with Charles. How could she tell Charles that she was worried about his relationship with Sheryl?

This worry was killing her from the inside. The more she thought about it, the more upset Melissa became. The mere thought of Sheryl being chasing after by another man was enough to scare Melissa to death. She was worried that Sheryl might be impressed by that man and accept him. And then? What would happen to Charles? Needless to say, her son would be out of the game.

The more she tried to keep these thoughts out of her mind, the more they seemed to be overpowering her mind. It was said that when you were trying not to think about something, it could often make those intrusive thoughts more difficult to ignore. That was the case with Melissa.

As much as she wanted to clear her mind of such uncalled-for worries, she just couldn't help but get more and more worried that Charles and Sheryl would never get back together.

Melissa's insecurity regarding Charles and Sheryl's relationship kept her awake and tossing restlessly all night. She could not sit idle and watch her son's life fall apart in this way. She had to do something about it. But what could she do? She wracked her brain to come up with an idea to fix her son's relationship.

She spent the entire night tossing and turning on her bed until, at the break of the dawn, she finally hit upon an idea.

"Charles, this is the only thing your mom can do for you. Hopefully, this can give you a good start," Melissa said to herself.

The next day at Sheryl's apartment

Sheryl got up very early since it was going to be a tough day at work. She wasn't planning to wake up her children yet. However, to her surprise, Clark got up even earlier than her.

Sheryl asked Clark, who was sitting on the sofa and packing his schoolbag, "Clark, why are you up so early?!"

"Good morning, Mom. Grandma stopped by yesterday. Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that. And today we are going camping for school, so I got up a little bit earlier," Clark explained to Sheryl. "Where will you go camping and how long will it last?" Sheryl was a little bit worried at hearing about this impromptu plan.

Clark seemed to be a little annoyed by Sheryl's question. He pouted and complained, "Mom, we have a stay over for one night. By the time you come back from work, you will find me and Shirley back home as well."

"Oh, ho! Someone seems to be disappointed by me." Sheryl was amused by Clark's clever remarks. She decided not to leave home so early that morning. She called up Phoebe to inform her of this and helped Clark to pack his schoolbag.

Soon, Shirley came out of her room rubbing her sleepy eyes. She snuggled close to her mum and leaned on her arm. She pouted and complained, "Mom, I don't want to go camping."

"And, why is it that my little girl does not want to go there?" Sheryl squatted to look into Shirley's eyes as she asked.

"Mom, I feel sleepy."

"But you've woken up already. I'm sure you will have so much fun with Clark if you go." Sheryl stroked Shirley's small head and cajoled her to go camping with her brother and their other school friends. "Shirley, stop acting like a baby. Everybody in the class is going. What will you do at school if you're not coming with us?" Clark spoke to Shirley in a stern voice.

Shirley found that there was not much of a choice for her other than to agree to follow her brother's diktat.

Joan gave a smile as she witnessed the early morning shenanigans of the two kids with their mother and then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Sheryl stayed in the living room to play with the kids. In the meanwhile, Melissa also got up in the Dream Garden.

She hurried downstairs and woke Nancy up. Nancy was rather surprised to find Melissa up so early.

"Nancy, do you know what kind of porridge Sheryl and the children like to have for breakfast?" This was the first thing Melissa asked as soon as Nancy opened her door.

"Yes, Ma'am. But why do you want to know that?"

"Great! Hurry up and come to the kitchen, Nancy." Melissa turned around and headed towards the kitchen as soon as she finished speaking.

Nancy was left flabbergasted at seeing Melissa so full of energy so early in the morning. However, she followed Melissa's instructions and followed her in the kitchen.

It took them three hours to finish.

Nancy was moved by Melissa's gesture. It was indeed the first time since Melissa had come back to Dream Garden that Nancy had seen her be so devoted towards Sheryl and the kids. She noted how devoted Melissa was when she was cooking some congee. 'Melissa was a changed person now. I hope she stays like this always, ' Nancy thought to herself.

"Nancy, you stay here and help Charles when he comes down for breakfast. I'm going to see Sheryl now. And please, don't tell Charles about it," Melissa reminded Nancy before she hurriedly set off. "Yes, Ma'am, don't worry." Nancy heaved a sigh of relief as she saw Melissa off.

Soon, Melissa reached Sheryl's apartment.

Melissa stood in front of the door and heaved a sigh before knocking on the door. Soon, Joan opened the door for her with Sheryl close behind.

Sheryl was taken aback to see Melissa at her doorway.

"Why are you here?" Since Sheryl and Charles had already gotten a divorce, Sheryl felt a little embarrassed to call Melissa "Mom." However, she didn't want to call her "Aunt" either.

"I cooked congee for you and the children. Have you had your breakfast yet?" Melissa said with a loving smile as she opened the lid of the thermos bottle.

The whiff of her favorite congee reached Sheryl's senses, and she couldn't help but feel warmed by Melissa's gesture. And she also knew it took a lot of time and effort to cook this.

"Oh! Did you get up early to make this?" Sheryl raised her eyebrows and asked Melissa in disbelief.

"Not exactly. I'm not so good at cooking. Nancy helped me with that." Melissa was a little embarrassed. Being Sheryl's mother-in-law and the kids' grandmother for so long, she had barely ever cooked anything for them when they lived in Dream Garden.

"Thank you. That is indeed so nice of you. I really appreciate it." Sheryl was moved.

"Where are the kids?" Melissa looked around to search for her grandchildren. She knew that it was not time for them to leave for their school as yet.

"They're in the bathroom."

"Mom, who is it?" Clark asked as he walked out of the bathroom. Before Sheryl could answer him, Shirley exclaimed as she ran to welcome Melissa.

"Grandma!"

Clark and Shirley greeted Melissa politely.

Melissa was excited to see her grandchildren. She missed them so much.

"Clark and Shirley, good morning. Here is the congee Grandma cooked for you. Come and have a try to see whether you like it or not!" Melissa gestured for the kids to come to the dining room. Clark lifted his head and looked at Sheryl to ask for her permission.

"Go and have a try. Grandma has put in a lot of effort to cook the congee for us," Sheryl said as she smiled at Clark. After all, Melissa was their grandmother. She couldn't deprive Melissa of her rights to care about her grandchildren.

Clark and Shirley ran to the dining room once they received a nod from Sheryl. The congee was their favorite. They smiled at Melissa and said, "Thank you, Grandma."

"You're most welcome!" Melissa watched them have breakfast while Sheryl went to the bathroom to wash her face.

Once Sheryl was ready for work, she smiled at Melissa and said, "I'm going to drive the kids to school. Will you..." "Sher, can I come with you?" Melissa asked Sheryl hopefully.

Sheryl knew she couldn't decline Melissa.

"Well, of course, if you really want to, why not?" Sheryl answered, feeling a little embarrassed.