Larry threw himself into his father's arms and said, "Dad, Mom, the lady who was crying just now has a cute and sensible son like me. Can I be friends with her son?"
Larry's mother rubbed his head and said with relief, "It's a good thing to make friends. You can make friends with whoever you want to. You'll feel less lonely when you have more friends."
Larry said happily, "Mommy, you're the best. I love you the most."
Larry's father pretended to be jealous and said, "What about me? Do you not love me?"
Larry immediately held his father's face in his palms and gave him a kiss. Then, he said in a soft voice, "Dad, you're the best daddy in the world. I love you too. I love you and Mom."
The father asked, "How much do you love me?"
Larry scratched his little head and seriously thought for a while, "As much as Dad loves Mom."
The father finally raised his eyebrows and smiled, "We love you too."
Now that his father had said so, this little fellow should have felt happy. However, he was frowning as he said, "Dad, nobody loves that lady who was crying just now. Can you be her father too?"
Larry's father was speechless.
The mother said with a smile, "Your father is still so young. How can he give birth to an adult?"
Larry said dejectedly, "But I just told her that my father is her father and she agreed to be my best friend. I can't lie to her. You and Dad always tell me that children must not lie."
The father pinched his little face and said, "Okay, Larry, you can do whatever you want."
The mother said, "Lionel, can you stop spoiling him? It's not good for him."
It turned out that the couple was none other than Lionel and Karen Joy. The lovely, sensible and clever Larry was their child. Since he was born, everyone in the family doted on him immensely.
Upon hearing what Karen Joy had said, Lionel still did not think that he had done anything wrong. Instead, he said with a proud and complacent look, "He's my son, whom my wife painfully gave birth to, so how could I not spoil him?"
Karen Joy shook her head and sighed, "You! You are getting more and more ridiculous."
Lionel would usually listen to her, but when it came to educating his son, he was extremely adamant about it. Lionel would still spoil his son no matter how Karen Joy opposed it.
The others might not understand this, but Karen Joy knew why Lionel was behaving this way. Lionel grew up in a cold distant family. His parents were married to each other for political gains, not because of love. They were never lovey-dovey like ordinary married couples were.
Lionel did not want his child to go through what he had gone through so wherever he went, he would bring Karen Joy and Larry along with him, for fear that he did not do a good job in taking care of them.
He had once told Karen Joy that she was the most precious treasure that God had given him and Larry was the second. He would do everything within his power to love and dote on them.
Lionel lowered his head and kissed Karen Joy. "Honey, don't keep sighing. No matter how much I dote on Larry, you should know that it's because he's our son who you have carried for nine months and gave birth to."
Karen Joy curled her lips into a smile. "You've
become such a smooth talker lately, huh. You'd better be honest with me. Did you do something behind my back so you're trying to make it up for me now?"
He poked her forehead and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Karen Joy hugged his arm and said, "Okay, okay, I'm just joking with you. Lionel, don't be angry."
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