After Selena bathed the two children and prepared them for bed, Juniper docilely took a picture book herself and got into bed. “Just read me one picture book today, Mommy. After that, you keep Jamie company.”
Jameson looked at Juniper’s bookshelf in the room, the dazzling array of picture books on the shelf a sight he’d never seen. “What is a picture book? Is it a book?” He gazed at Selena with his head tilted.
“Ha ha, you don’t even know what a picture book is!” Juniper teased.
“But I really don’t know what it is. The teacher at my house doesn’t teach us with such books. My brother’s books, in particular, are really thick. It hurt badly when it hit my leg.”
“Oh yes, Jamie and Jojo are both incredible, Mommy! They know a ton of words, and they can even read a whole book!”
Unbidden, a wave of anguish flooded Selena. The Fowler Family must be very strict in their children’s education. She had a bit of an understanding of how things were after her interaction with them during this time. After all, they both hadn’t even seen the cakes, bread, as well as dessert she made previously and loved them so much! In the beginning, she thought Pierre was strapped for cash, thus couldn’t pamper the children, but she later understood that the Fowler Family was very strict and didn’t allow them to eat sweets. The food they ate was also very dull, so they loved the myriad of designs and tastes of the food she made. They must have started learning their alphabets and words very early, so Jojo probably learned even more.
Selena then read a picture book to Juniper. Thereafter, Jameson walked back and forth before the bookshelf, thoroughly captivated by the books with beautiful pictures. In the end, Selena allowed him to choose a few books before taking him to his room.
Holding him in her embrace as she’d held Juniper, she then started reading him picture books, the interesting books making him double over in laughter. “We’ve already read many books, so are you going to sleep now?” Selena was a tad tired, and she noticed that it was rather late now, so Jameson needed to sleep since he hadn’t fully recovered yet.
“No! I want to continue reading. Juniper is asleep, so let’s go to her room silently and get another two books, okay?” Jameson’s eyes shone brightly, the picture books having a firm grip on his attention, especially the few three-dimensional books that had three-dimensional pictures popping up when he flipped the pages open.
“Okay.” Selena truly couldn’t bring herself to turn him down, so the two of them crept into Juniper’s room and grabbed a few more picture books.
When they finished reading those few books as well, Selena knew that Jameson really had to sleep though he was still very reluctant to do so. “Jamie, it’s time to sleep. You’re still sick now, so you’ll only get better if you have enough sleep. When you’ve recovered, you can eat and do anything!”
Pierre was enticed by the laughter that drifted out from upstairs every so often. Stealthily going upstairs, he saw Selena holding Jameson in her arms, picture books scattered all over the bed through the crack of the door. The smile on Jameson’s face was one he’d never seen before.
Out of the blue, Jameson hugged Selena around the neck. “How I wish you’re my mommy, pretty lady!”
Upon hearing this, tears welled in Selena’s eyes as she recalled her two twin boys who died when they’d just come into the world. If they were alive, they’d be the same age as Jamie!
“I really want to have a mommy like you.”
A mix of feelings brewed within Pierre as he watched this through the crack of the door. He then left silently.
As Selena stroked Jameson’s hair, she asked, “Is your mommy not good to you?”
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