My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 60

Jack recognized the little boy. He realized that he looked familiar because they had already met each other twice.

"Who is this little fella?" asked Jack. Even though he was confused, he still tried to sound kind and genuine.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to this uncle?" said Rachel.

Mendes was not usually this shy. He sat closer to Rachel in the back seat for comfort. Perhaps he was intimidated by Jack. "My name is Mendes Xu," he said.

Mendes1 voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. Rachel couldn't even believe that the voice was from him. He was usually loud and outspoken. She never expected the child was hiding an effeminate side. Seeing Mendes' reaction reminded Rachel how shy he was when he met Jack in the past. She couldn't help but wonder if Jack was the problem. 'Is he really that intimidating?' she thought.

"Nice to meet you again, Mendes. You can call me Uncle Jack," replied Jack as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.

"Uncle Jack!" Mendes said in a clear and loud voice.

Rachel noticed that Mendes might be trying to ■3

please Jack on purpose. Maybe Mendes was trying to get on his good side.

Jack never asked why she was bringing the child with her, nor did he ask where the child came from. He just focused solely on driving and the occasional small talk.

Rachel had planned to ask Jack about Wendy, but she realized that it was not the appropriate time to ask him. Mendes might not be able to completely understand that conversation, Rachel still decided to hold off on the question. It was not healthy for the boy to hear that kind of conversation.

Mendes was usually curious and full of energy, but right now he was behaving himself and wouldn't say a word.

Rachel had no idea why he was behaving this way. What could have made him so afraid of Jack?

She ruffled the child's hair but said nothing. There was an abject silence in the car. Jack found that it was especially quiet. He looked at them from the rearview mirror, and found that neither of them were interested in talking.

Jack saw that Mendes was resting his head on Rachel's shoulder. He stared at her with a pair of bright black eyes.

When the three of them arrived at the Fu family's house, Jonathan was waiting by the gate. He didn't expect that Rachel and Jack would arrive with a child in tow.

The old man glared at Jack. "Who is this boy?" he grunted. Mendes stared at Jonathan with his beady little eyes. ■3

He wondered why the old man was angry and hid behind Rachel. She held Mendes close and stroked the boy's head to comfort him. "This is my friend's child. He's out of town for a couple of days so he asked me to take care of the kid while he's gone. I had no choice but to bring him here with me," she said.

The old man's scary expression became gentle. He gestured for the boy to come closer and smiled. "Come over here, little boy. Let me have a closer look at you," said Jonathan as he crouched down to Mendes' level.

Mendes took a glance at Jonathan and stepped closer towards him.

"Young man, I'm Jonathan," said Jonathan. He wore a gentle smile.

"Nice to meet you, Grandpa Jonathan," Mendes replied in a loud and clear voice. He seemed to like Jonathan. Whenever he had taken a liking to someone, he would always be this cheerful when talking to them.

Rachel was surprised at what she saw. No matter how she looked at the two of them, she couldn't quite think of anything to say.

Meanwhile, Jack was taking something out of the trunk. He glanced at Jonathan and Mendes when he heard them talking. Even Jack found it strange that Jonathan would act this way around a child he just

met.

The old man was overjoyed to meet Mendes. He could not keep himself from smiling. He spread his arms to try and hug Mendes so that he might ■3

carry the boy in his arms, but after realizing that Mendes was too heavy for him to carry, he decided to just give the boy a warm embrace. Jonathan ruffled the child's hair one more time and put his hands behind his back. "Jack! Come over here and bring the boy inside the house." Jack stared at Mendes for a moment without saying a word. Then he walked over and whispered to Rachel, "He looks fatter than before."

Rachel didn't know what to tell him.

She stared at Mendes from head to toe. "Really?" she said as she took one last look at the boy.

She had never noticed it before, but Jack might be right. "He does seem fatter. I should try to control his diet. I have to tell Lucas to reduce the amount of food he feeds Mendes," Rachel muttered to herself.

Jack crouched down to Mendes' level and stared at him.

Mendes returned his gaze and opened his arms to tell Jack that he wanted be carried.

Jonathan was already inside the house. He opened the door for the three of them and urged them to come inside. The old man seemed rather excited to say the least. "What are you all still doing out there, come on inside," he said.

Mendes heard Jonathan. He pouted at Jack and stretched out his arms.

The boy had a way of getting people to do what he was asking for. 'Why couldn't he just walk by ■3

himself?' Jack thought to himself.

Jack looked at Rachel as if he was pleading otherwise. But she was indifferent to his pleas. He had no choice but to carry the child.

Mendes rested his head on Jack's shoulder while they went inside. Rachel followed behind them. When she looked up, she saw the plump face of Mendes on Jack's broad shoulder.

It seemed like he did get a little fatter. Rachel grew concerned about the boy's weight.

Tracy heard them talking and checked who it was. She saw her son and daughter-in-law bringing a boy to the house.

Tracy was confused. She had no idea what was happening. When Jack put Mendes down, Jonathan clapped his hands to call Mendes over. "Come here, boy. Let me have a closer look at you."

The boy hurried over to Jonathan with a wide grin on his face. Tracy felt like she was going to faint while watching Mendes and Jonathan.

She stood stiffly, her hands placed on her abdomen. Her well- tailored, beautiful fingernails made red marks in the palm of her hand. She tried to control her facial expression, but the corners of her mouth were slightly twitching. "Where did you get this child?" asked Tracy.

"Rachel brought him back," Jonathan replied as he was musing the boy.

"Rachel, you say?" answered Tracy. She turned her attention to Rachel.

Rachel could tell what Tracy was thinking ■3

based on her expression. Before she could explain herself, Jack did it for her. "It's not Rachel's child, it's her friend's. Her friend's out of town for a couple of days, so he asked Rachel to take care of the boy." Tracy's face lightened. She was obviously relieved. "And here I thought..."

She stopped halfway through her sentence.

Rachel was left speechless. Perhaps her mother-in-law had been watching too much soap operas on TV.

How could she think like that? They were living under her eyes.

Rachel crouched next to Mendes and pointed at Tracy. "Mendes, go say hi."

Mendes blinked his beady little eyes. "Hello, Grandma! Nice to meet you!"

It took a while for Tracy to realize what was going on. She smiled at Mendes and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Mendes." It was not long before Mendes became the center of attention inside the house.

Jonathan retired two years ago after his son took over the company.

Nowadays he spent his leisure time traveling around the world. Oftentimes he would play chess with several old men in his spare time and enjoyed making some crafts. It was no surprise for him to be expecting to have a grandson.

But he couldn't help if his son didn't live up to his expectation. Among his circle of friends, his son was the first to get married. But now all his friends ■3

have grandkids. It was normal for him to be envious.

Mendes was a naughty child, but he behaved politely in front of the elders. He knew how to be sweet and lovable around them.

Jack's parents were so amused by Mendes. At first, Tracy behaved aloof; now she couldn't keep her hands off Mendes. She was practically coddling the silly little boy.

Jack was dumbfounded to see how happy his parents were. In a matter of moments, Mendes had subdued the two most difficult people in his family. It was astonishing to say the least.

Rachel was just was overwhelmed as Jack. It was like Jonathan and Tracy had forgotten they were there too.

The reason why Jack came here today was very obvious. He wasn't sure why his father wanted him to go back. Perhaps it had something to do with their previous agreement. After pondering over for it a while, Jack figured it out. "Rachel, come over here. I have something to tell you."

Rachel curled her lips. "Okay, I have something to tell you too."

Jack was a little surprised. "Go upstairs," he said to Rachel.

After they left, Tracy poked her husband's arm lightly.

Jonathan took a grape from the fruit plate, tore off its skin and handed it to Mendes. ■3

"Thank you," Mendes whispered to Jonathan. His voice was music to the old couple's ears. If Rachel had been there to see what had happened, she would definitely burst into laughter. "Jonathan!" said Tracy. Seeing that he didn't respond, Tracy was a little anxious. She pushed him again. "Say something, Jonathan."

Mendes took a glance at them with his bright black eyes, the grape bulging from his mouth.

"What's the hurry? Let them talk about it themselves." Jonathan slowly picked up the second grape.

Tracy's lips moved. She wanted to say something, but she decided to keep it in for the mean time.

Her husband had told her that the couple came back today to solve their divorce issue. She was stunned to see that their brought a child home.

She had thought one of them had an illegitimate child and the other wanted a divorce.

Although she had complaints about her son marrying Rachel, Rachel was far better than Celine. She was more comfortable to accept Rachel because she had seen her grow up to become a fine woman. However, if she was being completely honest, she didn't like either of them for her son.

But Rachel and Jack had been married for five years now, why would they want a divorce?

Unlike Tracy whose mind was preoccupied by their son's marriage, Jonathan focused on Mendes. "It's so much fun raising a child, don't you think?" he said as he watched Mendes eat the grapes one ■3

after another.

While her husband played with Mendes, Tracy was fuming. "Yes, how fun!" There was sarcasm in her tone. "You're about to lose your daughter-in-law. How do you think you'll get a grandson?"

Mendes took another grape and licked it. "Grandpa Jonathan, where is your grandson?" said the boy.

Tracy and Jonathan looked at each other and fell silent. "He hasn't arrived yet," said Jonathan, breaking the silence.

"What does that mean?" said Mendes after swallowing the grape.

Mendes couldn't figure out what Jonathan meant. Before the boy's head could explode from thinking, Jonathan handed him another peeled grape. "You are so cute, Mendes. Why don't you have another one?" "Don't you think you're feeding him too much?" said Tracy.

"That's not true," Jack replied.

"You have been feeding him since he came in!"

Jonathan turned his attention to the boy. "Are you full?"

"Not yet," said Mendes. He swallowed the grape in his mouth and grabbed some more.

Meanwhile, Jack and Rachel went upstairs to their room. He closed the door behind him and wondered how to tell her what was on his mind.

Although the divorce had been brought up for a ■3

long time, it was still hard to say whether she would accept it or not.

Jack pondered about the first words he would say. He kept thinking about how Rachel would respond.

When Rachel saw how hard it was for Jack to tell her what was on his mind, she took the initiative to speak first. "Jack, I have something to ask of you."