The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1220 Eat Out

"Don't worry. We still have a lot of time," Charles assured his wife. Looking at Sheryl, he felt contented and happy. He rarely had time to be with her because of their busy schedules, but today would be different.

He started the car and drove for the kindergarten. It was a bright afternoon and a perfect time to spend with his family.

"What would you like to eat for dinner?" Charles inquired while driving.

"I don't know," she replied. "It would be better to ask Clark and Shirley what they want to eat." Since they had kids, they seldom spent time alone. They would usually bring their children along wherever they went. For the couple, as much as their children were a blessing, they could also be an annoyance sometimes.

At this point, Sheryl was basking in the happiness of eating out with their loving kids.

"Fine. It's up to you," Charles nodded, as a visible smile of joy climbed up the corners of his lips. As long as Sheryl was happy, he was okay with it.

"Do you think Mom will get angry if we get home late?" Sheryl couldn't hide the worry in her voice. Whenever she mentioned Melissa, her heart grew heavy. Charles' mother was still hostile to her and wanted to kick her out of the Lu family. However, she couldn't do anything to her.

Melissa was a wound to Sheryl which would never be healed.

"Don't worry about it. It was my idea to take you out for dinner. Just come with me and enjoy the meal. If Mom gets angry, you have me. I will explain to her. Besides, I don't think she will get upset about that. Rest assured," Charles said in a determined tone as if it wasn't a big deal.

In fact, it was common for a family to eat out. But Melissa would not be pleased to see Charles take his wife and children out for a meal without inviting her. What was worse, she would make it appear that Charles had neglected her and then put the blame on Sheryl.

She was good at complicating things. So Sheryl was worried that Melissa would make a big deal out of their eating out.

But since Charles said so, Sheryl thought there was no point in discussing it further. The woman who found amusement on her every downfall was no other than Charles' closest kin after all, his own mother. Their mother-son relationship made it difficult for Charles to stand by Sheryl.

The fact was, Sheryl meant a lot to Charles and their relationship was solid and full of commitment. However, he wouldn't blame his mother even though he knew of many terrible things that Melissa did to his wife.

He always talked himself into believing that his mother was mean to others because she needed more time to fit in his family. She had been in prison for fifteen years and had suffered a lot, after all. So he tried to be more considerate of her.

Sheryl was aware of Charles' attitude towards his mother. That was why she decided to keep all the bad things that Melissa had done to her from him, even if she knew that Charles really loved her and wanted to protect her from harm. Instead, she always chose to only confide a small part of them so that Charles wouldn't have trouble believing those were his mother's doings.

Sheryl nodded her head, pretending to believe his assuring statement. She couldn't bear the thought of him being in a dilemma of siding either with his mother or his wife.

He was her beloved husband. Charles had always wanted to keep her happy. The last thing she wanted was to trouble him or hurt him.

They arrived at the gate of the kindergarten earlier than expected as the traffic was light. Classes were due to finish after another ten minutes. Even so, a throng of people already gathered in front of the gate waiting for their children. It was easy to tell how much parents cared for their kids.

Most of parents came to the school ahead of time. And some indulgent grandparents arrived at the kindergarten earlier than that. They usually waited more than half an hour at the gate despite the weather, as they enjoyed picking up their grandchildren.

No sooner had Clark and Shirley walked out of the gate than they spotted their parents among the crowd. "Daddy! Mommy!" they gushed sprinting in the direction of Charles and Sheryl. Their joy was beyond words when they saw their parents waiting for them. It was a rare scene for them to see Charles and Sheryl come together to pick them up.

The couple were both busy with their businesses, so their obedient kids seldom complained about that. They would be glad to have either of their parents pick them up.

"Daddy, Mommy, how come you are both here?" Shirley asked with a bright smile as she jumped cheerfully to meet them.

"Daddy and I are not busy today, baby. So here we are," Sheryl replied dotingly as she stooped down and stretched out her hands to embrace her loving kids. Both Clark and Shirley automatically reached out to hug her back.

"This is great! I hope you can both come and pick us up every day." Shirley blurted out her wish while laughing innocently.

However, it was just a little girl's beautiful vision of their future. Sheryl and Charles couldn't promise that, and Clark also knew that was never going to happen.

"Whenever Daddy and I have time, we will pick you up together, I promise," Sheryl replied. She was afraid that a negative answer would break her little daughter's heart.

That was how things worked for them. Fantasy was better than reality. People sometimes chose to make up some kind of lies to protect the ones they cared for from getting hurt.

"I'm glad to hear that, Mommy," Shirley responded sweetly. The innocent three-year-old girl failed to realize that her mother didn't answer her question. Turning to her brother, she said "Come on, Clark" and raced with him to get inside the car.

Clark had been watching Shirley and Sheryl closely all this time and he tried his best not to interrupt. Even if he was the same age as his sister, he was smart enough to know that it was impossible for both their parents to pick them up daily. However, he chose to keep his silence.

"Hurry up. We're going to take you out for dinner. What do you think?" Sheryl and Charles said in chorus.

"Great! What are we going to eat?" Shirley asked eagerly.

"We haven't decided yet. Any suggestions?"

"Well, how about we get pizza? I like that," Shirley suggested. Pizza had become her favorite food recently.

"Fine," Sheryl agreed. She was fine with anything as long as her children loved it. Turning her head in Clark's direction, she inquired, "Would you like to eat pizza too?"

"I'm cool with that," Clark immediately replied as he wasn't particular about food.

"Buckle up, guys. Let's go get some pizza!" Charles exclaimed in high spirits. His children giggled from the back seat. He started the engine and felt the overwhelming happiness that he craved the most. 'I'm with my wife and kids. They will get happy or upset because of my remarks. Only married people can know this kind of happiness,' he thought.

Traffic was moderate but they barely noticed it. The kids had been singing a song they had learned in school the entire trip while he and Sheryl listened with their heads slightly nodding to its beat. It was already dark when the four arrived at the pizza parlor. However, bright neon lights blazed here and there, adding more charm to this sleepless city. Looking at the busy street, Sheryl was lost in her thoughts. She had fallen in love with Charles in this city.

Back then, she thought that things wouldn't work out between them. But it turned out that she was wrong. Her eyes fell on her children, each beaming their innocent and grateful smile at her, and she felt how lucky she was to not have given up on Charles.