"I didn't expect my sudden invitation to be such a hit." Fred looked at the two kids as he walked beside me and said happily.
I nodded. "Well, it wasn’t sudden. We just happened to run into each other." I diffused the awkwardness by not addressing the elephant in the room like last time.
"When the speaker was talking on stage, Munchkin and Tina were very focused on listening. It seems like Munchkin has good learning skills, so I guess you don't have much to worry about when he starts school.”
I nodded. "He's always been a great learner. He got all of that knowledge from watching TV. I don't even know when he watched so much."
I laughed at myself as I thought that I was a competent mother, but it turned out that even after spending so much time with Munchkin, I still could not understand him fully.
"It's normal. Children are independent individuals from birth. They don’t belong to us, so we can't fully keep them under our thumb. We're helping them navigate through life right now just because they're still young and don't know much yet. It's our only responsibility as parents, but there are many other things that we can’t decide for them.”
I frowned slightly as I felt that Fred's words had a hidden meaning.
"As parents, it’s only natural that we would want the best for our children. But have you ever thought about choosing what’s right for Munchkin?" “Fred,” I warned him that it might not be appropriate for him to continue, but he had no intention of stopping.
“You know better than me how happy your lives were when Munchkin grew up in Zenon. You’re also aware of all the things that happened after you left Zenon."
He paused for a moment and continued,' Tina told me that Munchkin had experienced a lot of things this time. He even got kidnapped twice by two different people."
Fred did not elaborate further.
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