Chapter 585 Finale
“All right. I’ll go wait for you at home then. Don’t work too late, okay?” Preoccupied with how he wanted to care for the daughter that was forthcoming, Michael was too distracted to listen to anything that I was saying.
“Okay. I’ll be home early tonight.” Michael smiled in assent. Looking at him now, he might have accompanied me home right away had he not been tied down by so much work on his hands.
Josephine was already waiting for me when I got back to the Shaw residence. She approached immediately the minute I stepped in and regarded me with jovial anticipation.
“What comes of the test results, Anna? Are you pregnant?” Josephine looked at me excitedly as though she already had the answer. “Your intuition was simply spot-on, Mom.” I smiled broadly.
“Oh my. This is simply wonderful. Now our little Amaury is going to have himself a little brother or sister.” She was all smiles, and the joy was also palpable in her eyes.
I shook my head in disapproval. Being the one who was pregnant, I thought that I ought to be the one who was happiest about it. Yet, it would seem that the members of the Shaw family were even more over the moon than I was.
“I’m tired, Mom. I think I would like to head upstairs to rest.”
After I cast a smile at Josephine, I went on to make my way upstairs as I was genuinely in some degree of discomfort.
“Go on ahead then. I’d have the housekeeper prepare something nutritious for you later.”
Owing to my status, Josephine did not mind my manners. On the contrary, she eagerly went on to get the housekeeper to make something nice for me.
I was not sure whether it was because of my pregnancy that Michael came home very early this day. He even walked in clutching a huge bouquet of roses in his hands. Thinking back, it had been a while since he had gotten any flowers for me.
“Are those for me, or for that lover from your past life?” I purposefully projected a stern demeanor as I looked him in the eye.
“Both. I’m presenting this to the both of you.” Michael wore a playful expression on his face when he heard what I said.
Speechless, I rolled my eyes at him. For us both? Hmph.
When this news reached the ears of the rest of the Shaw family, all of them treated me preciously and refused to even allow me to return to the office.
In my own esteem, I thought that it was not necessary for them to coddle me like that. However, since all of them were unanimous in that decision, I had no choice but to put my own career on hold. I applied for maternity leave with my boss and would wait until the baby had been delivered before returning to work.
As my boss had business contacts with Michael, he readily approved of my request when I tabled it.
At first, I thought it might have been a difficult ask but seeing how understanding he was much improved my esteem of him.
That was. Until I found out later that Michael had already called on him beforehand, and also placed a huge order with him.
Things were getting increasingly tough for us at our company for a while now, but with Michael’s help, we were quickly able to get back on our feet.
The benefit of getting in Michael’s good graces had been an unquestionably good return for granting one year of maternity leave.
Thus far, my time with the Shaw family had seen its fair share of trials and tribulations, but now, the family had me on a pedestal and would not allow me to do anything. Whether it be wanting to do a bit of exercise or just some simple cleaning up, they would be sure to get in ahead of me.
I could very well be considered the biggest bum within the Shaw residence. As I had never received this manner of treatment before, it took some getting used to.
Alicia was also delighted to learn of my pregnancy, and she visited the Shaw residence, bearing many gifts.
“Why do you need to bring me so much stuff for a casual visit, Mom?”
The sight of the maternity supplements my mother had prepared for me made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Even though I had vehemently resented her previously, through our interactions over this past period, I had already forgiven her since.
After all, blood is thicker than water. No matter what happened in the past, we were still family. Over this past period, I, too, had only grown more appreciative of the love she had for me.
“Anna, y-you’re finally willing to call me Mom…”
Alicia’s tear ducts burst like a dam and her eyes were filled with jubilation when she heard me address her as such.
Seeing her so emotional made me feel terrible and even remorseful at having said such mean things to her before. I bet that she would never in her life expect that I would ever change the way I addressed her.
“I was wrong, Mom. I shouldn’t have said such hurtful things to you before. I’m so sorry.”
As I regarded her, my own eyes too, puffed up.
In the next second, Alicia threw her arms around me and her tears flowed ceaselessly. I understood then that she only said what she said to me because she cared.
Janette arrived alongside Alicia, but it was for the first time that she did not regard me with scorn when she saw me and waited till Alicia and I settled ourselves before she came over.
“I was wrong to treat you the way I did previously, Anna, and am here expressly to apologize to you. Thank you for having done so much for me, and also, I hope that you’d be able to forgive me,” said Janette in earnest when she came before me.
I was surprised by the change in her attitude. Never had I expected for a willful scion like her to humble herself before anyone. Is this the Janette Campbell that I used to know? I was starting to wonder whether my own ears were playing tricks on me. To think that she would apologize to me?
“It’s okay, as it’s all water under the bridge, so long as you do not have Mom constantly worrying so much for you.”
Since Janette took the initiative to offer an olive branch, I could not continue to be petty with her, as in my eyes, she was but an immature child.
Janette smiled at me, and gone was the antagonism she had for me in the past. At this moment, I felt that she could still be a very lovable girl if she could keep her own imperious ways in check.
With everything going so swimmingly in my life, it would seem that only good things could happen to me. Basking in the reconciliations with both Alicia and Janette and adoration from the Shaw family made me feel like I was the luckiest woman in the world.
A few months later, the second child that I conceived with Michael was born, and she really turned out to be a girl. For a moment I thought Michael was just making a wild guess, but his prediction turned out to be unexpectedly accurate.
After the birth of our daughter, Michael had turned into such a doting father toward her. He would unfailingly smother her with kisses every single night after he got home, so much so that it sometimes made Amaury green with envy.
Though our lives might still be littered with sporadic doses of bickering from time to time, most of our days together would be spent in sheer blissfulness.
Hence, I believe that our happiness would continue forever and ever…
