HER CUTE NEPHEW (TWO)

"What do you think about her?"

Nickson had just come out of the bathroom when Rebecca suddenly asked him a strange question.

"Who?"

"My sister."

"She seems like a nice woman."

An annoyed snort escaped Rebecca's lips. "Come on Nick, she is indeed a good woman. Can you be a little friendly to her? I saw that she was very nervous when she faced you.”

"I've been trying to do that."

Nickson seemed unconcerned. He was busy drying his hair with a towel, then walked back to the bathroom to hang the towel.

"Why don't you wait at the dining table?"

"They're still playing. Arthur loves playing with his aunt."

“Yeah, he finally has an aunt who hasn't shown up for years. She didn't even come to our wedding," Nickson snorted. He still doesn't forget the attitude of his sister-in-law, who doesn't care about Rebecca all this time, while Rebecca always praises Blakely's achievements in front of him.

“Nick, I think we've discussed this before. Blakely was busy with her studies at the time.”

“Has college made her forget her family? You even told me that Blakely didn't stay at home any longer after your parents died."

“Father and mother died suddenly on a sunny and cheerful summer. I guess Blakely decided to leave because she couldn't stand her grief. Please don't judge her like that."

"I still don't agree with her attitude. Never mind Rebecca, don't force me to like your sister so soon. I need to see how she behaves to give the next assessment.”

"Tsk, you always judge others like you're judging your employees in the office." Rebecca snorted, but she approached her husband and wrapped her arms around Nickson's sturdy neck.

"I love you, Nickson," Rebecca whispered in her husband's ear while leaning her head on Nickson's shoulder.

“The thing I've always been grateful for so far is knowing you and having you in my life. Thank you for making me the luckiest woman in the world.”

Nickson was silent as Rebecca cuddled in his arms while occasionally fiddling with the buttons of his polo shirt in a seductive motion. Lately, Rebecca might be too sensitive to her feelings. His wife often expresses her love in front of him while being spoiled like a cat.

"When are we going to eat?" asked Nickson as she let go of Rebecca's arms.

Without seeing the disappointed look on Rebecca's face, Nickson immediately walked towards the door and left without saying anything else to Rebecca.

The door closed with a bang. Rebecca was still standing where Nickson had left her. Looks sad and also disappointed. It wasn't the first. There were dozens of rejections this month that Rebecca couldn't understand. Maybe she had made a mistake that caused Nickson to be like that. As a woman, Rebecca felt sick seeing Nickson's cold attitude toward her. She had indeed made mistakes in the past, but she felt she deserved an apology from Nickson because she did it on purpose. But since that incident, Nickson's attitude towards her slowly turned colder. Nickson had already said that he was okay with it, but her little heart kept denying that Nickson hadn't forgiven her.

-00-

Blakely couldn't stop laughing at the adorable Arthur. When the little man demonstrates the movements of a chicken while eating, his little mouth cutely forms a cone and he moves like a chicken pecking at food on the ground.

"When did you see James' chicken?"

"One week ago. James got a pair of chickens from his grandfather who owned the farm.”

“Wow, that's great. Too bad I don't have a farm." Blakely stroked the top of Arthur's head gently, then sat the little man on her lap.

"But I have a restaurant with lots of plants. Maybe you'll like it if you go there."

"Restaurant? Does there have pastry?” Arthur asked innocently.

Blakely wanted to kiss Arthur's adorable face while pinching his cheeks, which were similar to a fluffy bun, a kind of Chinese bread.

"Um-hum. There are a lot of cakes. I can make some delicious cakes for you.”

"Is that true? Wow... I love chocolate cake. Mom sometimes bakes a chocolate cake when she's not tired. I want to go to your restaurant.”

"Sure. I'll teach you how to make cakes later."

“Arthur...”

The deep voice startled Blakely instantly. She had not anticipated the presence of Nickson, who for some time had been standing in the doorway staring at her with a piercing gaze.

"It's time for dinner. Come on Arthur, don't starve your aunt."

"Daddy..." Arthur sulked and showed a sullen face to his father. "I still want to play with Aunt Blake."

"Didn't you see your aunt's pale face? She's starving."

Arthur's reflexes turned to Blakely while trying to find Blakely's pale face like what his father had said.

Meanwhile, Blakely looked confused about acting in front of Arthur because she also still wanted to play there longer. She wasn't too hungry right now because she had eaten the muffin she made with Tiffany. But seeing Nickson's serious face that seemed to want to end her togetherness with Arthur right now and Nickson's steady steps towards her, she suddenly became nervous again.

"Do you remember what Daddy said?"

“Hmm… I have to be a good boy and not trouble other people.”

"Now then, you must be a good boy to your aunt."

Nickson crouched in front of Arthur's tiny body and then looked into Blakely's eyes for a few seconds before she finally stood up and took Arthur's hand down to the dining room.

"Sorry if Arthur troubled you a bit."

"Absolutely not. Arthur's a sweet boy."

Blakely followed Nickson in silence. Her mouth had been locked tightly since earlier, but her heart was busy cursing Nickson for his very annoying cold attitude. If the man had not been her brother-in-law, she would have scolded him for his behavior.

"Now then, dinner is ready."

Rebecca greeted them with a cheerfulness that was in stark contrast to the stiffness on both Nickson's and Blakely's faces. The two adults immediately put themselves in their respective places—which, as God had destined for the two of them.

Nickson took the chair at the end of the table as head of the family. Meanwhile, Blakely chose to sit next to Arthur, who was sitting just to the left of his father's chair. Then Rebecca took her place on the empty chair on the right side of Nickson.

“You prepared all of these dishes to perfection.”

Rebecca clapped proudly at her cooking. She was very touched to hear Blakely's sincere compliment, even though she knew that her cooking skills were not at all comparable to Blakely's.

“I wanted to make steak at first, but I know you're very good at it and I'd only embarrass myself if I dared serve it at the dinner table. So I made a king salmon fillet, lobster gnocchi because that's Arthur's favorite, and a shrimp salad. Everything is seafood.” Rebecca chuckled, seeing the dish she prepared on the table. While cooking, she didn't think at all that all of her dishes would turn out to be very thick sea-themed dishes.

"It looks good. I want to try the lobster gnocchi.”

Maybe this will be Blakely's first experience with Rebecca's cooking. She had always known that Rebecca was not good at cooking. Even Rebecca is rarely seen in the kitchen helping her mother. Rebecca's interest since childhood has been mostly related to fashion. Rebecca used to major in design, but for some reason now she chooses to be a house-wife.

She observed Nickson's serious face as she ate the king salmon fillet that Rebecca had just served in front of her. The man seemed to be seriously eating his food and showed no sign of praising his wife's cooking. In fact, from the gleam of happiness that Blakely caught on Rebecca's face, she could tell that her older sister wanted a compliment.

“I think you've worked hard so far. You cooked the salmon right. The lobster gnocchi is good too.”

“Really? Oh, thank goodness. I did work hard after marrying Nickson. He's not an easy guy when it comes to food. I had to take courses for six months to be able to cook properly.”

“I think the salmon tasted bad. You need to add a little more salt.”

Blakely and Rebecca stared at each other as they heard Nickson's sharp criticism. According to her, Nickson is too harsh in criticizing Rebecca's cooking, as he is a food critic who has come to the restaurant where she works several times to criticize her food.

"I'm afraid to put a lot of salt on the salmon."

"If you're afraid it's going to be too salty, you can get creative with the sauce."

“Ah, let me try the king salmon fillet. From the outside, it looks beautiful. The level of doneness of the fish is perfect.”

Blakely pretended not to see Nickson's piercing gaze that was directed straight at her. The man looked annoyed that she was trying to save her sister's self-esteem, which was almost crushed by his outrageous, scathing criticism.

“Try it, Blake. I'm sure you can judge more accurately since you're very good at this."

Blakely immediately stabbed the salmon meat on her plate and put it in her mouth with a bright, cheerful face. She must be able to raise the confidence of her sister who had just been destroyed by her husband. And after she ate the salmon fillet, she felt what Nickson said was true. The taste of the salmon is a little bland, while the sauce made by her sister is not enough to help remove the bland taste of the salmon she made. But she didn't think it was too bad. However, the taste of her sister's grilled salmon is still delicious, even though it's a little less salty.

"Nice. It's a little less salt, but I don't think that's a big deal. Some people may find this salmon taste just right because they don't like salty food or for those who are on a salt diet.”

"You're right, I don't like salty food. I prefer sweet dishes with strong spices.”

"Next time I'll teach you how to make a delicious grilled rib eye steak with spices and sweetness."

“I can't wait to do it. When will your restaurant open?” While putting a spoonful of lobster in her mouth, Rebecca asked Blake who was also eating her dinner deliciously.

"According to the plan, it must be next week. I still have some ceramics to buy for the tableware. Do you want to come buy them with me?”

Rebecca's eyes immediately lit up with joy. "Of course, I will. It must be so much fun picking out plates and bowls with you. I used to buy everything myself without Nick. He's too busy." Rebecca snorted at her husband, but the man didn't care at all about his wife's snorting.

Blakely cursed Nickson for being too cold towards his wife. Even at the dining table, the man was as silent as a statue.

"What did Nickson do?"    

The question surprised Nickson. He didn't expect to get a sudden question from Blakely, who didn't seem to have any interest in him.

"Design interior. Most of these houses are his handiwork. I only occasionally give ideas for trivial things.” Rebecca answered excitedly for Nickson.

“Wow, then I can ask your help with my restaurant design.”

“I mostly do designs for homes and offices. Restaurants are not my area of ​​expertise.”

“Ah… he's just being modest. You can do anything, honey. Not only office and home.” Rebecca passionately kissed her husband's cheek who looked as stiff as a statue.

The rigidity that Nickson showed did not escape Blakely's eyes at all. She was surprised at her sister who seemed to love Nickson so much, but the man was the opposite.

“But I think Blakely already has her architect. There's no way the restaurant that will open next week doesn't have any interior design yet.”

The man glared at her as if she was mocking her in the rigidity of his face. Even though Blakely intended to make small talk with her brother-in-law, she did not expect that her joke would be taken seriously by Nickson.

“That… I did design my restaurant a few months ago.”

“What concept did you use for your restaurant?” Sipping her red wine, Nickson asked Blakely, who had just folded her arms on the table.

“I designed it with a garden kitchen concept. Almost every corner of my restaurant contains plants that are fresh and green. Stop by my restaurant, I'll take you and little Arthur to see my restaurant."

Blakely exasperatedly kissed Arthur's left cheek and ruffled the little man's hair a few times.

“By the way, thanks for the wonderful dinner, Rebecca. I love being here and getting to know your family.”

"You're welcome. Honestly, I was so touched when I found out you were moving here to be closer to me and my family. It's like... well... a godsend for me. How I always wanted to be close to my family since the first. But you know that our family—”

Rebecca was unable to continue her words because tears had already welled up in her eyes. The woman became so emotional that it was difficult to continue her words which were quite long to say.

"Sorry that I haven't been around you all this time." Blakely held Rebecca's hand tightly while expressing a very sincere apology from the bottom of her heart.

“There have been a lot of things that have happened during this time, but we shouldn't have to remember those bad things anymore. What we need to do now is look to the future and be happy.”

"I agree with you," Rebecca answered hoarsely while wiping her tears roughly. She didn't want Arthur to know that she had just cried. The boy would be sad too if he saw his mother sad.

Meanwhile, Blakely tried to contain her own emotions that felt very suffocating in her chest. She also wanted to cry with Rebecca, but she felt uncomfortable with Nickson's presence among them who had been watching her interactions with Rebecca without a word. It was obvious that he was worried, but as far as Blakely could see, he didn't take the initiative to calm Rebecca's cries or comfort her.