A knuckle then landed on Liu Hai's head next.
"What do you mean by unlimited food?" Liu Chunhua's eyes narrowed. "It's unlimited food for everybody minus you."
He burst into a fountain of tears. "B-But isn't it a special event today, dear?"
"Health comes first no matter the event," she glared.
"Just a little bit…" he pitifully mumbled and sniffled.
She knew all too well that he was acting but her heart couldn't help but get swayed just a tiny bit.
"Just a little bit more than usual then. Just a little bit!"
He beamed. "My wife's the best!"
"Nooo! Pastry aunt will play games with us!" Ailun's nostrils flared, joined by his minion gang.
Liu Hai's gaze darkened. "You welcome your family with food, brat, not games!"
Alix froze at the mention of the family. Her gaze was still glued to the floor, unable to look everybody in the eye. Instead of feeling a sense of belonging, a distant and prickly feeling enveloped in her chest.
This isn't supposed to go like this.
Why wasn't anybody asking about this sudden marriage? Granted that Jin would have already explained the circumstances but her welcome felt too good to be true. No matter what dire situation the Ren family faced, Jin had no business getting married to the woman everybody hated the most. They knew who she was but none was bringing it up. As if it didn't even matter.
But it did.
Liu Hai, Ai and the kids' chirpiness wasn't loud enough to drown the deafening silence held by some family members, including but not limited to Jun and the twins. The air of discomfort remained behind Liu Hai's booming laughter.
Where is that piece of shit now? She gritted her teeth and cursed Jin.
She wanted to run away. The immense awkwardness and forced laughter was only making her more miserable than welcomed.
But amidst the surge of cold passing through her fingertips, a pair of warm hands held them. The skin was slightly wrinkly and the fingers gently pressing upon her were soft to touch.
"You must feel very tired, don't you?"
Her eyelashes quivered a bit upon recognizing Nana's voice. It was so tranquil that Alix felt the blossoming of spring in the villa. She had a feeling that her eyes and smile would be just as warm and gentle but Alix didn't find the strength in her to look at her. Just like when she couldn't face her in the hospital either. She didn't answer her question, not that her voice was in her favor today anyway.
"Before jumping onto any games or feast, you should take a good rest first. Dealing with the crisis must have left you exhausted."
Which was partly true.
"Booooooo!" Liu Hai booed with displeasure only to get hit by his wife's knuckle a second time.
Nana smiled at the kids. "Why don't you show her the way to Jin's room?"
The kids happily flail their arms up. "Yes!"
Aang asked with sparkling eyes. "Will we get a cookie, Grandma?"
"You will get lots of cookies."
"Yay!" They exclaimed their joy in unison.
Ailun held her hand and since Alix was already looking down, she could clearly see the innocent golden shine on his face.
"Follow me, pastry aunt!"
—
It wasn't like Alix was unaware of where Jin's room was located, yet she felt an incredible sense of relief for the kids to escort her. She didn't know why.
But the lodged up breaths in her throat finally got their way to freedom the moment she found herself alone again, away from the family and the silent pressure it held. She could barely hold herself from collapsing onto the bed.
"This is Uncle Jin's room!"
Ailun's zealous voice snapped her daze and she looked at the kids. The four were huddled up around her in a neat semicircle with shines and sparkles in their eyes.
Alix bent on her knees and stared at them for a long moment. Then she grabbed their little bodies and pressed them against her chest.
"It's cold."
I guess kids being bundles of joy and warmth is true, she thought.
And true as in literally true. She felt her cold nerves and muscles relax as their warmth seeped in.
"Pastry aunt's chest is bouncy like Mom's," Taio seriously commented, whose forehead was pressed against her left breast.
That earned him a smack from his elder brother, Aang. "Shush. Dad would beat us up if he heard it. Only he can call Mom's chest bouncy and plump."
Alix's lips pressed into a thin line, imagining Jian teaching them this nonsense with a no-nonsense expression.
Yina said, her little face perfectly fitting in her valley, "Uncle Jin will be super happy."
Ailun nodded. "But don't worry, Aunt. Uncle will love you lots even if it wasn't bouncy. We don't judge. Dad says to look at the heart inside, not the chest outside."
Her brow twitched heavily. But at least she agreed with Jun's assessment which was much better than Jian's.
"But there is no harm looking at it once in a while if it happens to be bouncy, is what he also says."
"..."
Are the screws loose in these men?
*Meow*
The cat versions of Jun and Ai hopped to her side, much to her shock.
"Where were these two all this time?"
Aang pointed up at one of the royal seats mounted at the wall. "There."
It was then she realized that Jin's room was quite cat friendly. It almost looked like a cat cafe in its own right with every source of entertainment present for the cats to rule their kingdom.
The cats looked at her with their earnest eyes and pressed their furry bodies against her body. Though Jun-kun wasn't so expressive, Ai-chan was evidently very happy by her presence.
Alix alternated her gaze between the kids and the cats.
I guess I can live in this house as long as it's only the kids and the cats I have to see, she gave it a serious thought.
Taio then looked up. "Pastry aunt, let's play games?"
Ailun dropped a second smack on his head. "Grandma just said for pastry aunt to rest."
Alix shrugged. "I am cool with games."
Their faces shone. "Really!? But rest…"
"Doing nothing will only make me more anxious."
The kids hugged her and pouted. "Aunt no anx…an…ansious when we are here!"
Her heart skipped a beat.
What was that?
She shrugged and ignored that tiny butterfly feeling in her chest. "Let's play games then."
Outside, Jin was quietly peering at her from a distance. It was small and almost unnoticeable but Alix's first smile came to be in the Liu villa.
Well my dearest niece and nephews and Jun-kun and Ai-chan, you are my little knights in shining armors. So do your best in becoming the bridge between us.