Clarissa was not a romantic person, but after having a child, she gave more thought to making their lives more enjoyable so that it wouldn’t be too monotonous for Damian.
For instance, she would put up some beautiful decorations along with other ornaments to create a Christmas vibe at home when Christmas was around the corner.
Long before Christmas, she had already purchased a Christmas tree and prepared some gifts to embellish their home so as to enkindle a festive atmosphere.
As with the decoration on the Christmas tree, it had been jointly done by Damian and her. Apart from that, she also told him about the origin of Christmas.
“Mommy, will Santa Claus hear my wishes? Will he come and give me presents?”
Damian was elated looking at the Christmas tree which had been fully decorated. Nevertheless, the one thing he was most concerned with was still Christmas presents.
Clarissa laughed at that. “What do you want most, Damian? As long as you say it, Santa would most probably fulfill your wish.”
Tilting his head to one side, Damian pondered for a while, looking a little troubled.
“Mommy, will Santa fulfill every wish that I have?”
The expression on Damian’s puny face indicated that what he wanted was not only a single present.
“Damian, even though Santa will bring gifts to children, if they are too greedy, he wouldn’t fulfill each of their wishes. Therefore, you shouldn’t be greedy. Choose only one.”
“Ah, I see!”
The little boy looked rather disappointed. “Mommy, what about this? Santa will bring me one gift, and you’ll fulfill the rest? Is that okay?”
Clarissa couldn’t help bursting into laughter and patted Damian on his head. “Damian, you’re really temperate, aren’t you?”
“Then will Mommy satisfy my wishes?”
“No. Tell me what you want most, and Santa might hear your wish when you say it.”
Pouting, Damian looked a little reluctant as his request was turned down. “Can I have a houseful of delicious food?”
…
Clarissa was rendered utterly speechless.
In the end, bearing a helpless laugh, she hugged Damian and gave him a kiss on his tender cheek. “You chowhound.”
“Hehe… Mommy, does a chowhound get to try everything delicious? I want to be a chowhound!”
Clarissa couldn’t stop laughing. “Alright, you be a chowhound then.”
Then again, Clarissa really had no idea what to prepare for Damian as his Christmas present. Do I really get him a houseful of delicious food?
After much thought, Clarissa decided to leave the problem to Matthew.
“Your son has got a sweet tooth, so his top favorite is naturally sweets and something tasty. The second favorite of his is model cars, with different kinds of vehicles, and nothing else. So, how do we prepare his gift?”
The houseful of delicious food that he specifically mentioned was the hardest among them to prepare.
Much to Clarissa’s surprise, Matthew answered straightforwardly, “That’s simple!”
However, he didn’t tell Clarissa exactly how he would solve this simple matter.
On the night of Christmas Eve, Damian didn’t receive a houseful of delicious food, but he received a scrumptious house made of chocolate that Matthew specially ordered for him. It was an enormous chocolate house that was filled with an assortment of sweets and chocolate inside. Matthew even dressed up as Santa Claus and put on Santa’s beard to present his gift to Damian.
Needless to say, Clarissa recorded down the moment when Damian got his chocolate house.
It wasn’t calculated, nor was it an exaggeration to say that the little boy’s response to that was a full minute of incessant laughter. His pretty big eyes turned into two merry arches from all the laughing.
Clarissa recorded a video, capturing every moment of the memory made as she looked at how excited he was. In fact, she was somehow able to anticipate Damian’s reaction, but it was out of her expectation that the actual effect would be amplified to such an extent. He was like a silly little boy, and he laughed so hard he almost ran out of breath.
She saved the video clip as it was too hilarious and she planned to keep herself entertained with it when she was moody in the future.
Without a doubt, after his intense exhilaration, Damian couldn’t wait to make a lunge for the chocolate house, roll inside, and gobble everything up.
Nevertheless, before he could throw himself over, Matthew got hold of him and only let him grab a stone from the mountain inside the yard of the chocolate house to have a taste. Finally satisfying his sweet tooth’s cravings, Damian felt like he was on cloud nine, swimming in contentment filled with sweetness.
Looking at Clarissa, Matthew raised his eyebrows as though he was asking for credits.
Look at this gift I prepared. Our little guy likes it so much.
Clarissa could only admit defeat.
“Damian, do you like it?”
Nom nom…
He couldn’t answer because his mouth was filled with chocolate.
From the side, Clarissa gave him a timely reminder. “Even though it’s a festive season now and there’s so much chocolate around here, you can’t have too much of that. Damian, I mean it, do you understand?”
Though it was quite a downer, Clarissa wouldn’t forgo her principles.
Damian was too elevated to take in what Clarissa just said and nodded half-heartedly. Seeing as such, Clarissa shot Matthew a look.
Matthew had no choice but to follow his wife’s instructions and carried Damian away from the chocolate house. Still engrossed in an exuberant state, the little boy laughed gaily, and it was only at that moment that he noticed his father’s appearance.
“Wow… Santa Daddy? Daddy is so cool!”
Damian clapped his hand and cheered for Matthew.
Seeing as such, Clarissa also gave Matthew the thumbs up. “Hubby, you’re handsome.”
Clarissa seldom addressed Matthew as ‘Hubby’. Hence, much to their surprise, as Clarissa called out to Matthew in such a way, Damian followed suit. “Hubby, you’re so handsome!”
Pfft!
Clarissa dissolved into laughter. “Damian, he’s my Hubby, not your Hubby.”
No one could be sure if Damian understood it or not. He just offered his silly smile regardless.
Then, he started with another form of address. “Matthew!”
Hearing his name being called, Matthew laughed as he looked at his son.
“Damian, it’s fine that you know my name. I still prefer that you call me Daddy!”
“Daddy, Matthew…”
The little boy did it on purpose and wouldn’t stop that as he chuckled.
Meanwhile, Clarissa was also giggling as she watched them from the side.
…
The next day, Clarissa and Damian boarded the plane to W City.
When they reached W City, the air felt so fresh and the sky so blue. To Clarissa, the weather had not felt as good as how it was that day for a long time since. Clarissa really couldn’t understand why so many people were leaving for D City.
Undoubtedly, if it wasn’t because Matthew was a citizen of D City, she wouldn’t have brought Damian to stay there.
Arriving home, Damian spent much time circling around his great-grandma, talking to her about the great big house they were staying in D City with Mommy and Daddy and a lot of toys. Not only that, but they also went to many places, tried various kinds of delicacies, and had a lot of fun…
Catherine held her great-grandson dotingly while Clarissa made a call to Matthew.
“Grandma hasn’t said anything yet. Damian has been running his mouth without letting anyone else speak. I have to admit that ‘chatterbox’ should be added to our son’s character tags.”
Matthew chuckled over the phone. “Yes, he takes after me.”
He has become very experienced by now, hasn’t he? Any weakness in Damian’s character surely comes from him.
Clarissa got what Matthew meant as well, and she couldn’t help but giggle.
“Oh, save that, please. You’re so tightlipped and reticent. He can’t be getting that from you.”
“Oh, then he must have got that from you, Clare.”
“Pfft… Alright, stop being funny. When I saw such fine weather in W City after getting off the plane today, I don’t feel like going back to D City.”
“No, Clare. Why don’t we find a city with better air quality to live in? No matter what, don’t mention separation.”
“… I didn’t mention splitting up; you’re too sensitive.”
“That’s fine then. I’m good as long as we’re not going separate ways. We’ll stay in any place you want to live in.”
As long as it was an objective factor that could be solved, Matthew would get to it.
And Clarissa was truly moved by Matthew’s compromise.
“I was just saying, and you’re taking it so seriously?” Even Clarissa’s voice turned gentler.
Laughing, she added, “Ease up and take a load off. I’ll come back to D City with Damian after a few days, okay?”
Clarissa was right about Matthew’s disconcertment, and with the promise she just made, Matthew finally simmered down.
Otherwise, he would be restless those few days, fretting over when his wife and son would return or if they would ever return to his side.
Ending the call, Clarissa paced back to the living room just to find Damian soundly asleep in Catherine’s arms.
At the sight of that, she hurriedly carried him over and put him to sleep in the bedroom. As she returned to the living room, Clarissa noticed that Catherine was looking at the photos on the phone that she had sent to her earlier.
With her glasses on, Catherine saw Clarissa coming over, but none of them said anything.
It was until Catherine took off her glasses and put down her phone that she broke the silence. “How is Damian coping?”
Clarissa nodded. “Mmm, he’s doing quite well. It’s a new environment, and he has a better mood now going to classes and meeting new friends.”
“I see. The school in D City certainly has better resources and conditions than those around here. Have you two discussed Damian’s education in the future? Will it be in D City?”
The other person included in the ‘you two’ mentioned by Catherine was too obvious to need pointing out.
Nevertheless, Clarissa paused for a while before she nodded. “Yes, we have discussed it. D City has more conducive resources, hence…”
Clarissa was too agitated to continue, but unexpectedly, Catherine didn’t show any objection.
She only nodded in response. “Umm, that’s not bad…”
And it fell completely silent again.
While Clarissa grew increasingly uneasy in the awkward pause and was about to disclose the fact that she had already obtained her marriage certificate three years ago, Catherine turned to her all of a sudden with a piercing glint in her eyes.
Clarissa was forced to swallow the words that were at the tip of her tongue.
Catherine started, “I was too impulsive three years ago indeed, but I have never regretted it. If it wasn’t for Damian, you might have found someone better and led a happier life by now. But I did ponder about it after that as well and came to the conclusion that it had all been written in the stars. You can’t go against destiny, so I’ll not comment further. There’s only one thing—you vowed before that you’ll not get married to a Tyson. Thus, I’m sorry, but you have to put up with this, and it’ll also serve as an ordeal to that man. After I die in the future, you can do whatever you want, as the vow will also cease to be binding.
