Chapter 341 Uncle or brother
Chapter 341 Uncle or brother
"squeak"
Along with the clumsy sound of the rusty door hinges turning, the small door in the corner of the wall was slowly pushed open. A tall, beautiful woman with fair skin and delicate features bent down slightly, walked through the door, and stepped into the half-abandoned garden.
However, even though it is in a semi-abandoned state, this vast garden still exudes an elegant atmosphere. A large number of plain stone slabs engraved with peony patterns form several petal-shaped secluded paths around the dried-up marble fountain in the center of the garden.
These paths, covered with gravel and fallen leaves, looked utterly neglected. They crisscrossed each other and meandered outward, passing through collapsed stone pillars and abandoned sculptures, past the exquisite greenhouse whose glass had long been shattered, and past the courtyard wall with peeling paint, all the way to the very corner of the garden, next to the only wooden house that was still maintained.
"Ellie."
After walking along the path to the door of the cabin, Emma, who was carrying a large bag of things, knocked gently on the door of the cabin with the back of her hand that was not emerald, and called softly in a gentle voice:
"I'm back, are you home?"
"..."
As soon as Emma finished speaking, the door of the cabin was opened, and a little girl with two light chestnut braids, each tied with a ribbon, stepped lightly out of the door and fell into Emma's arms like a butterfly.
"Sorry for making you worry again."
After gently stroking her daughter's head, Emma said softly with a very gentle look:
"Don't worry, Mom won't die no matter what. As long as you stay home and wait for me, even if I really die one day, I will come back little by little and will never let you become a lonely person again."
"..."
The little girl with the ribbon still didn't speak, but just nodded slightly. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she loosened her arms around Emma's waist and raised her slightly clenched right hand in front of Emma.
"Hmm? What do you want to show me?"
After placing the things in her hands on the cabinet by the door, Emma squatted down, smiled and stretched out her hand to the little girl, and the cute little girl, with a serious face, placed her right hand on Emma's palm, and then slightly opened it...
"Did you catch this in the garden?"
Looking at the pink and blue butterfly flapping its wings in her palm, Emma couldn't help but smile in surprise, and then asked with a guilty look in her eyes:
"So beautiful...Ellie, thank you for your gift. Mom likes it very much. But you...how are you doing these days? Are you feeling a little lonely staying at home alone?"
"..."
After hearing Emma's words, the little girl with twin ponytails first nodded slightly, then shook her head vigorously and gave her a big smile.
I may feel a little lonely, but now that you are back, mom, I am no longer lonely.
After understanding her nodding and then shaking her head, Emma bit her lip slightly. Just as she was about to say something, she found that the little butterfly suddenly flew up. It turned out that the little girl loosened her hand that was gently holding the butterfly and instead grabbed her bandaged right hand.
"?"
After looking at the little bit of green showing through the gap in the bandage, the little girl's big black and white eyes blinked twice, then she raised her hand worriedly and pointed at Emma's right hand.
"It's okay, just a minor injury."
After kissing the little girl's forehead affectionately, Emma smiled and explained:
"Mom did run into some trouble this time when she went out, but it's all resolved now. It will take at most half a week for these minor injuries to heal, don't worry!"
"..."
After hearing Emma's assurance, the worry on the little girl's face slowly faded away, and she became happy again. She let go of Emma's hand, ran back to the room with the pink wooden sign, took out a piece of drawing paper with two colorful little people on it, and handed it to Emma who was changing her shoes like a treasure.
Was this... drawn for my birthday last year?
I took the wrinkled drawing paper and unfolded it, then identified the two colorful figures, one big and one small, sitting around the table and clapping their hands happily.
Looking at the round object on the table that was probably in the shape of a cake, and the small crown on the head of the little man in the middle, Emma hesitated for a moment, then squatted down with the painting in her hand and asked seriously:
"Ellie... do you still remember that mom once told you that on your birthday the day after tomorrow, a big... uncle will come over?"
"?"
After hearing Emma's question, the little girl blinked in surprise.
Uncle? Isn't he the older brother?
"There's actually quite a big age gap between you two, and he's mom's colleague, so... so you should just call him uncle."
After understanding the confusion in her daughter's eyes, Emma blushed and explained a few words, then quietly clenched her fists and asked softly with a slight fever in her ears:
"Ellie, would you like to have more...um...do you like it to be more lively at home?"
Emma felt a little embarrassed by her daughter's eyes that seemed to understand something, so she hurriedly changed the subject and said,
“I want to say, on your birthday the day after tomorrow, in addition to Uncle Leon, his sister and two children who are about the same age as you will also come over. Everyone will celebrate your birthday together. Are you happy?”
"Friends?"
"Yes, my friend!"
Seeing her daughter's look of surprise and anticipation, but also a hint of timidity, Emma understood that she longed for a friend who could talk, but was also a little worried about getting along with them. So she reached out and held the little girl in her arms, and comforted her softly:
"Don't worry. I've learned a little about them in advance. Although they are a little bit lively, they are all very good children. They will definitely have a lot of fun playing with you."
After hearing Emma's assurance, the little girl couldn't help but let out a long sigh, and a cute expression of excitement and anticipation appeared on her delicate little face.
"That...that's good..."
Although her voice was as clear and pleasant as the wind chimes under the eaves, the little girl seemed to seldom communicate with others, which resulted in her speaking speed being a little slow and her pronunciation being a little unclear.
But because friends of the same age were coming to celebrate her birthday, she, who was not very talkative, still blinked her eyes and tried to speak with anticipation:
"Do they... like flowers? I planted some in the little greenhouse... and butterflies... and birds..."
"..."
After recalling what she saw in Leon's memory, the flocks of crows that kept throwing shit on the windowsill, Emma's mouth twitched slightly.
Compared to the cute little birds, Leon's extremely lively brother and sister probably prefer to climb up the tree to take bird eggs... Well... we really have to be careful about this and not let them take out the nests of Ellie's favorite birds.
"Those two kids... they probably like birds, right?"
After telling a half-hearted lie, Emma changed into loose indoor shoes, took the little girl's hand and walked into the house. Just as she was about to ask what had happened in the past two days, she saw a large piece of flattened land at the back of the garden through the window of the cabin.
Has anyone been here in the past two days?!
(End of this chapter)