My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 208

Rachel stopped and grinned at Celia. "What a coincidence! What brings you here?"

Seeing that Celia wasn't wearing her nurse uniform, Rachel thought that she wasn't working here. After all, she hadn't even finished school. Celia pouted. "I came here with my cousin for her prenatal checkup."

When Rachel finally looked around, she found that they were in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

She blinked wearily, shocked that she had walked all the way here.

"Your cousin?" Rachel slowly asked.

"Yeah."

"I see. How long has she been pregnant?"

There was a short pause before Celine answered, "35 weeks." 'Another troublemaker's about to come out to the world,'

she thought with a sigh.

"Congratulations! You're going to have a niece or nephew," Rachel teased.

Celia pouted. She might be a few years younger than Rachel, but she still looked like a child.

"Ugh! I'm not happy at all. It's going to be another troublemaker," she groaned.

Hearing her words, Rachel suddenly thought of Mendes whom she hadn't seen for a long time. She raised her head. "What about Mendes? Where is he?" "Don't even bother mentioning him." Celia snorted, pursing her lips.

When their father was abroad, she and Mendes only had each other to rely on. But things had taken a turn when their father returned.

The man used to be so distant and cold towards his own children, but when he returned, he told them how he wanted to be a better father.

Celia didn't believe him at first. In fact, she laughed and mocked him secretly. She had thought that he wouldn't be able to survive in his role for long.

But to her surprise, her father stayed. No matter how much troubling it had gotten, he remained patient.

She didn't know what had gotten to the man.

That was why Celia had grown increasingly bored inside their home. She always felt as if she was left out from the father-and-son duo.

Celia was already a grown-up. She wasn't like Mendes, who could easily be coaxed.

However, in her heart, there was a little girl who was still so eager to earn her father's love, but she made sure to guard herself so much that it prevented her father from getting close to her. Her father wanted to compensate for all the time that he had lost. Unfortunately, Celia wasn't a

kid anymore. She couldn't be persuaded by a candy or a piece of toy. She could never forget her father's faults for betraying her and her mom.

She gritted her teeth at the thought of her brother being a little fool. Whenever her father tried to please him, he would jump up and call the man "Daddy."

It seemed that Mendes had forgotten that their father had abandoned him for more than half a year.

However, no matter how many words she had said to Mendes about his father, their bond became better and better by each day.

Their father was happy with the progress he had made, but Celia was bitter.

But it was not like she could do anything. She was already in her twenties. It wouldn't be right for her to bully the little boy.

So she could only vent her anger on their father.

"Mendes1 mother is dead," he tried to explain.

"He only has me now, and I can't..."

Hearing his harsh words, Celia lost her temper. She smashed everything in the house before moving to live with her cousin. She would just live in the school dorm once the semester began. "I just don't get it, you know?" Celia snapped after she told Rachel what had happened.

"He didn't even call to make sure I was okay after I ran away from home.

Can you believe him?"

Rachel sighed. She shook her head, knowing fully well that she couldn't persuade Celia to do anything. After all, every family had its own problems. And every family had its own coping mechanism. Although Rachel had lost her parents at such a young age, she would never want a father like Celia's.

She could tell how irresponsible the man was. Not only did he neglect his first wife and daughter, but he also abandoned his son.

No matter how angry she was for Celia, she held herself back.

After all, she had no right to judge the man.

"I just don't get it you know?"

Celia choked. Her eyes were already turning red as her cheeks flushed in frustration.

"He pities Mendes because his mother is dead. What about me? When my mother passed away, he didn't want to build that father-and-daughter bond. Hell no! What did he do? He brought another woman back after her death.

They even had a child! He was probably cheating on her way before my mother's death. And the man had the audacity to lie to me by saying that they'd divorced a long time ago? Bullshit!"

At that point, Rachel felt that it was a bad idea to mention Mendes in front of her.

Celia was already growing more and more emotional at each word she spat out.

Knowing that she had spoken too much, Celia slowed down as she wiped her tear-streaked face.

"Let's stop talking about this. By the way, Rachel, why weren't you in the hospital? I went here so many times, and all they told me was that you went on vacation."

Rachel nodded. "Yep, a long vacation."

"When do you plan on coming back?"

"Once I get everything sorted out."

Actually everything was sorted out now. After a period of time, she could already get back to work.

But Rachel actually liked staying at home.

Celia gazed at Rachel.

Although she had said a lot, Rachel still remained calm and poised.

Celia leaned against her. "Rachel, you may seem indifferent, but I like you," she pointed out.

Rachel blinked in surprise. Before she could say anything else, Celia continued,

"In fact, you're like a sister to me.

You make me feel safe, you know? Like I could talk to you about anything under the sun."

'Feel safe?' Rachel didn't quite understand.

Suddenly, Celia released her hold and clapped her hands together. "My cousin's done!" She quickly walked towards a woman who had just walked out of the room. The woman already had a rounded belly, implying that she was already far along.

Rachel followed with a smile.

"Hey, this is Rachel.

She was the one who taught me during my internship, and she was also the one who took care of Mendes when I was not around."

The pregnant woman gazed up at the doctor admiringly. "Have you eaten lunch yet, Rachel? How about we eat together? My treat." Rachel was about to refuse until she saw Celia gazing up at her hopefully. "Please, Rachel. It's just lunch." "Okay." She smiled.

She had already told Celia that she didn't have any plans that day, so there wasn't any reason to excuse herself. Given that they were about the same age, they had plenty of things to talk about.

Rachel couldn't help but observe the differences in their personalities. While Celia was talkative and optimistic, her cousin was gentle and reasonable.

Rachel wondered if she'd also be like this if she herself became a mother. The three women didn't talk much.

In fact, the two only let Celia do the talking as she ranted about her days at school.

Soon enough, they were discussing about the baby and how nice it would be to become a mother.

Before she knew it, the topic shifted to Rachel.

"Are you married, Rachel?" Celia's cousin asked.

Celia hadn't been in the hospital for such a long time, so Rachel wasn't able to tell her about her marital status.

As soon as Celia heard the question, she was about to say "no" when she heard Rachel's clear voice saying, "Yes. I'm married."

Celia's jaw dropped.

"What? Are you kidding me?

You're married?"

Rachel laughed lightly. "Yes. I'm not lying."

The piece of news dropped between them like a bomb. Celia was so surprised that she looked like a fish that had just been taken out of the water.

"No way!"

Celia's eyes glistened as if she had discovered a hidden treasure chest. "Who's the guy? Is it Lucas? When did this happen? Why didn't I know?" She asked so many questions in one go that Rachel didn't even know what to answer first. "Well, it isn't Lucas."

Celia groaned in disbelief. "I can't believe you didn't marry the guy!"

"Why are you so sure that I'll marry him?" Rachel asked, amused.

"You are..."

"We get it, Celia," her cousin said, holding her back. "You don't have to ask her all these questions. It's not polite."