Chapter 1983 Blood Is Thicker Than Water
"rk, Shirley, Grandma bought these presents just for you. Come and take a look!" Melissa eyed her
grandchildren anxiously as they stood in front of her. Nervous as she was, she was hoping for a
positive response.
rk and Shirley''s ears perked at the mention of presents, and they immediately jumped at the sight of
the wrapped toys. Their eyes brightened, hands pping together as they hovered around her to get a
better look at the gifts.
"Thank you, Granny!" rk was quick to thank his grandmother as he rushed to grab a handful of toys
under his arm, fingers grazing on their stic material. Shirley followed suit, copying her brother as
they raced into their bedroom.
However, the two children didn''t y with them immediately. Instead, they stashed them carefully with
the other toys they had received beside their beds. Then they headed back into the living room.
During that time, Sheryl was walking Melissa around the apartment they were living in, pointing at
where everything was. Though there wasn''t much to walk around, Melissa had to admit that the ce
was really well put together.
"Though the apartment isn''t big, it is very cozy," Melissa admitted. The elderly woman smiled, feeling
imaginary needles pinching her cheeks as she forcefully did so. After parting from the children for so
long, it felt as if she was unfamiliar with them, and she couldn''t help but be embarrassed by it.
"It is. I was searching for a ce for so long. If it weren''t for I, I wouldn''t have found this ce!"
Sheryl shook her head, and a chuckle slipped from her lips as she told the story. Once they returned to
the living room, she motioned to the couch. "Where are my manners? Take a seat, Aunt Melissa. You
must be tired." Sheryl offered her hand and led her to the couch. Melissa satfortably, ncing at
the picture frames that were propped up on the desk beside her. It didn''t take long before rk and
Shirley joined them.
"Mom! You would not believe what happened at school today!" Without giving anyone a chance to butt
in, the young boy quickly chattered on about how he had helped a girl from his kindergarten ss,
puffing his chest in pride as he threw his hands up in the air animatedly.
"Really? rk, I''m so proud of you!
A true gentleman." Sheryl couldn''t help but praise him, ruffling his hair and ignoring his protests as she
did so.
"Mom," Shirley butted in. "I did a great job too, you know. I was cheering for him." She held her two
hands up in the air to do a cheerleader pose. It was one that amused all of them. The girl beamed,
hoping to receive the same level of praise that her mother was giving to rk.
"I''m proud of you too, sweetie." Sheryl ran her hand down the strands of her daughter''s hair, bringing
the two children closer to her. They allughed, leaning in together as if they were about to take a
candid picture.
At their embrace, Melissa couldn''t help but feel left out from the mother-and-children bonding. Her
fingers twisted the stray fabric from her shirt, suddenly taking an interest in the lint on her pants.
''If I had just treated them better, maybe we wouldn''t have ended up this way, '' Melissa thought bitterly.
''No use thinking of it now. It''s not as if I could change the past.''
"Well? rk? If you''re such a gentleman," Sheryl said, tapping his nose. "Don''t you have something to
tell Grandma? She did buy you guys all those presents." Feeling the growing tension in the air, Sheryl
couldn''t help but withdraw from her kid''s embrace and stare pointedly at her son.
Melissa flushed, immediately cut from her thoughts. Noticing the awkwardness in the air, she brought
her gaze back to the family, as she sent a grateful smile in Sheryl''s way for her efforts in breaking it.
rk stared at her for a long time before uttering his next words. "I haven''t seen you and Daddy for so
long."
Melissa flinched, but she wasn''t surprised that the blunt words came out of the boy''s mouth. She
leaned forward, away from thefort of the couch, taking a good look at her grandson before
speaking. "I know, rk, I''m sorry," she said slowly. "It''s my fault, but I promise to visit you more often
now. Is that okay?" She felt her vision blur, but she steadied herself. She wasn''t going to cry in front of
the kids.
"You promise, okay, Grandma? You shouldn''t break it!" Shirley repeated seriously. The smile was gone
from the young girl''s face as her eyes stared her grandmother down at the word ''promise.''
Melissa nodded repeatedly. "Yes, it''s a promise."
The moment she had said those words, it felt as if the weight around the room finally lifted. Soon the
seriousness was wiped from the young kids'' faces as they neared their grandmother with animated
actions. Melissaughed and chuckled as they told her stories of their days and what they were doing.
They didn''t even notice the time till they realized that they had homework to do. With that, the two
retreated back to their room, leaving Melissa behind.
With the kids'' absence, Melissa and Sheryl continued to talk.
"So Sheryl, how are they doing? Are they drinking enough water? Have you been giving them
vitamins? I''ve heard a lot of people nowadays are getting the flu." Melissa was worried, and she started
to ramble on and on of how to prevent the disease from entering a household.
"They''re doing well. I''m giving them vitamins every day, extra now, given the flu season. Don''t worry
about it." Sheryl shook her head, smiling.
They continued talking, with Melissa doing all the asking, and Sheryl doing all the answering. In such a
way, it felt like the two''s bond was growing stronger because of the kids. Theyughed and exchanged
stories of the kids, and it felt as if Melissa was there–raising them herself. At that point, she couldn''t
help but be grateful to Sheryl for doing that.
ncing at the clock, Sheryl paused. "It''s time for the kids to go to bed." She slowly stood up before
motioning for Melissa to follow her to their room.
At the sight of their grandmother entering the room, the kids quickly huddled around her. There was
less stiffness in their actions, and the awkwardness that had wafted across the living room was now
nonexistent. Melissa bent down to hug them. "I''ll see you soon, kids."
"Grandma, please visit us often!" said rk as his pudgy hands reached up to hug his grandmother.
"You''lle back, right?" They reached out to hold her hands for thest time.
And as they both swung their arms, with the kids protesting her leaving, Sheryl couldn''t help but smile
at the sight. ''Blood is truly thicker than water, '' she realized.
"I promise" Finally deciding it was time, Melissa said her thanks to Sheryl before leaving the apartment.
Somehow, she felt lighter than when she had arrived.
And as she stood outside the building, peering up at the lights that gleamed in Sheryl''s apartment, she
couldn''t help but sigh in relief.
This visit was a fulfilling one. That was for sure.
As Sheryl closed the door, she finally made her way back to the bedroom. It turned out that her children
weren''t ready to go to bed, with rk fiddling with the toys that Melissa had left behind, and Shirley
ying with the dolls that were always tucked in her bed. Sheryl held back augh as she ced her
hands on her hips, leaning against the door frame.
"Shirley, rk, if you two don''t get back to bed, then I''ll have to wake you up extra early tomorrow," she
said in a mockingly stern voice. "You guys have school tomorrow. You know you shouldn''t be ying
with toys at this time in the night." She faked a strict expression.
The kids saw through her act and neared her. rk was the first one to voice his thoughts, sitting on
the edge of his bed. "Mom," he said. "Why does Grandma seem...different now?"
"That''s true, Mom! She wasn''t nice to us before, and she never bought us gifts..."
The more words that they uttered, the more uneasy Sheryl had felt. She sat between her children as
she thought of the next words that she was about to say. "Look, Grandma...she was sick. She wasn''t in
the best of state these past few years." She pushed herself to smile. "Now that she''s a lot better, she
decided it was time to bond with you two."
"She really does love you," Sheryl repeated, feeling as if this was something that was hard for them to
grasp. "Grandma was just sick during those years. That''s why she wasn''t able to visit or to buy gifts for
you."
rk and Shirley looked pleased with the answer. Shirley bobbed her head, holding a penguin plush
toy close to her chest. "I get it, Mama," she murmured, her eyes fluttering slightly. Sheryl cracked a
smile. It was evident that they were already sleepy.
"Can you go to sleep now?" she asked. "You guys still have a big day tomorrow." Sheryl stood,
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crossing her arms as she waited for them to respond, knowing full well what they were going to say.
"Yes!" Shirley was the first one to bounce to her bed, tucking herself inside with all the plush animals.
"Good night, Mommy!" rk alsoy down, both of them getting ready to sleep.
"Goodnight, sweetie." Sheryl smiled before turning to rk. Her eyebrows furrowed when she noticed
that he wasn''t ready to go to bed, and his eyes were wide open as he looked up at her, seeming deep
in thought.
"rk," she called his attention. "Aren''t you sleepy?" Sheryl frowned in concern. She thought they had
both already agreed to sleep, but it turned out that rk still had so much on his mind.
He shrugged, ncing at his sister, who was already tucked under sheets. "Mom," he whispered. "Can
we talk outside?" He didn''t want Shirley to hear what they were going to talk about.
Sheryl always felt like rk was a bit more mature than the children of his age. Some might say he
was more empathetic to the things that were happening around him. In that sense, a part of her had a
feeling that he still wasn''t done with what he was trying to say earlier.
"What''s wrong, rk?" Sheryl had already brought rk out of the bedroom, pulling him aside so they
could talk seriously.
"Mom, I know you were lying," rk said tantly. "But that''s okay. I forgave Grandma already."
"What are you talking about?" Sheryl couldn''t help but think about the exchange she had had with her
children. Was there anything that had sparked their attention? Anything that had made them doubt
what she said? All the questions faded to the back of her mind when rk started to respond.
"Grandma treated us badly, not because of her illness, but because she doesn''t like us." rk
continued, his voiceced with understanding, "But Grandma has be nicer, and she cares for you
too..." He gave a toothy grin. "That''s why I forgive her."
''He''s so observant...and so kindhearted, '' Sheryl thought, feeling her lips quiver at the thought. He
really was more mature than his age.
She forced her lips to stop shaking, and she mouthed the next words as steadily as she could. "I''m
really proud of you today, son." She smiled softly, putting a hand on his cheek.
He beamed. "I''ll be going to bed now, for real this time," he added at her pointed look. "You should get
some rest too. Goodnight." Standing on his toes, rk kissed her on the cheek before making his way
back to his bedroom, without saying anything more.
Sheryl couldn''t help but sigh.
''rk is definitely like Charles while Shirley is thepleteposite, '' she thought fondly before
shaking her head.
Though his maturity was definitely something to be proud of, she hoped that rk would also learn to
have fun and not just worry all the time. Then again, she couldn''t help but be proud of the both of
them–proud of what they''d be and how much that they''d grown.
"Ms. Xia! It''ste! What are you doing still up?" Joan was a night owl, usually wandering around the
apartment at night. She was surprised to see Sheryl still awake, given that by this time, she and the
kids were usually asleep.
"Don''t worry about me, Joan. I''ll sleep soon." Sheryl made her way up to her room with a smile. "You
should get some rest too." Though she still wasn''t sleepy, Sheryl shut the door behind her, not wanting
to worry Joan.