It'll Come Naturally

"Senior Colonel, here is some water," Mark showed up in front of Daisy at the right time. He passed his water bottle to her. As a guard, it was his responsibility to keep an eye on her and know what she needed. "Mark, the whole troop will head to the exercise base this afternoon. Are you ready for this?" Daisy asked, taking several gulps of water. She wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. "Senior Colonel, I'm ready." Mark reported. He felt Daisy was acting a little weird today, so he behaved more cautiously.

"Good job. You can go now! I want to be alone for a while," Daisy said, giving back the water bottle to him. She thought it was necessary for her to think about how to deal with her pregnancy issue.

"Yes, Senior Colonel!" Mark said, looking at Daisy worriedly. Without much of a choice, he followed Daisy's order and left.

Daisy sat down on the grass, looking up at the blue sky and white clouds above the army base. She didn't notice anything unusual, but for some reason, she felt sadder than before.

She knew Edward wanted a daughter and that Justin wanted a sister. She would definitely have considered it if only they had talked it through first and made proper preparations. But never like this -- like she was forced and a passive participant.

She sighed slightly, wondering what Edward would say to her if she decided to get rid of the baby. She always subconsciously tended to put the country first before family or anyone else.

Some people might say she was cruel. Truthfully, she was the one who would suffer the most when it came to this kind of thing. After all, no mother would ever dislike her own child. Even though the new baby wasn't fully formed yet, it was already a life inside her.

In the afternoon, the troops were ready to ship out. Even though it was only a warm-up for the formal military exercise, nobody took it lightly. As a brilliant soldier, he or she should be ready to serve the country anytime.

Daisy didn't tell Edward about her attending the military exercise. She wanted to tell him about it this morning, but she was so annoyed with the whole pregnancy ordeal that she forgot about it. Edward had been waiting at the door of the army base for more than an hour. Eventually, he figured that something was wrong. No matter how many times he called Daisy, she wouldn't pick up. He decided to call Mark and Kevin, only to find out that their phones were turned off. In desperation, he called Leena, hoping that she might know what was going on.

"Hi Edward, what's the matter?" Leena answered.

"Girl, is Kevin on a mission today?" Edward said. He cut to the chase because his patience had been run out when he was waiting just now.

"Yeah! They have a training exercise. Didn't Daisy tell you?" she replied. She was more beautiful now, her whole face glowing with radiance. Maybe it was because she had the mother glow! Even though she was still technically the same, there was something different about her -- like a sculpture that had been recently painted over.

"What? Training exercise?" Edward said, clenching his teeth and fists. He thought about it for a while; he knew Daisy must be angry with him, so she might have kept it from him on purpose. 'Damn it!' he thought to himself. He couldn't stand her temper. But then again, he was the one who spoiled her. Who was to blame now?

"Yup! Kevin told me last night. It seems like he won't come back until the day after tomorrow," Leena said, frowning. 'Oh my god. Did I say anything I shouldn't have?' she thought to herself.

"All right. I got it. I gotta go," Edward said. He hung up the phone and threw it in the air angrily. After staring at the army base for a while, he started the car and drove away.

Leena, on the other hand, just shrugged. She guessed Edward must have done something that had upset Daisy, which would explain why he didn't know where she had gone.

"Mommy, can I watch Monkey King?" Richard asked, looking at Leena with his head on one side. He was only three years old, and yet his language ability was way beyond his years. His dad was a soldier, so naturally, Richard thought in a different way and liked different things that normal kids wouldn't. Besides, he was very strong and brave.

"Sure. But you need to finish your meal first," Leena said. This little kid was interested in nothing else but Monkey King.

"Fine... So I can watch TV after dinner?" Richard said, and then took a big bite of rice -- which looked very cute.

"Yes. Eat slowly, or you'll chock," Leena said, flicking the rice off his clothes, her face full of love. She had suffered a lot when she gave birth to him, but Richard was so easy to raise and was so well-behaved that he was like a blessing. Kevin was strict to him, which might be the reason why Richard acted the way he did. In short, he had self-discipline.

The little fellow giggled. Although he spread rice everywhere, he was still a very independent and adorable boy.

Leena couldn't help but kiss him on his face. He might not be the best in the world, but he was Leena's greatest love. On top of that, the love between Kevin and Leena grew stronger and got much happier because of Richard.

As soon as Edward got home, Justin went up to him with his examination paper in his hand, and asked him to sign it.

"Daddy, why did you come home so late today?" Justin rubbed his worn-out eyes. He had been waiting his dad for a long time.

"Why did you get a perfect score again? Can you be a little less perfect? Even by just one measly mistake?" Surely, only Edward was the parent who didn't want his own son to get high scores in school.

"Yeah. about that. I really tried. I mean I barely even studied for the exam, and I answered the test questions without thinking about them too much. I don't know why I still got a perfect score," Justin said with a shrug.

"You are not modest at all," Edward said as he promptly but absentmindedly signed the paper. His thoughts were still on Daisy.

Justin gave a resigned sigh. "I guess ordinary people can't understand the struggles of geniuses," he replied, putting away his examination paper inside his schoolbag next to him. It seemed like his dad couldn't understand his world. "Aren't you curious about why your mommy still isn't back home?" Edward asked, raising his brow. He felt like Justin was too calm.

"Why should I be curious? Last night, Mommy said over dinner that there was something happening in the army base, so she won't come back home soon," Justin said matter-of-factly. His maturity made him seem like he was ten times taller, even if he really looked like a little boy on the surface.

"What? How come I'm the only one who doesn't know about it?" Edward said, his eyes widening in shock. He felt he was ignored again.

"You went to the wine party, so how would you know it?" Justin replied, looking scornfully at Edward. 'It's so simple! Why can't he understand?' he thought.

"All right! It was kind of my fault. But did your mom say when she'll come back?" Edward asked, his voice masked with a hint of agitation. He walked up to the living room and slumped back onto the couch. He suddenly felt weak and burned out.

"She didn't say when. But, daddy, why do you care so much?" He always cares about mommy whenever she goes out for a mission. But why does he look so nervous this time?' Justin thought.

"She's my wife. Of course I care about her!" Edward said, staring at Justin angrily. He felt his son had become more difficult to deal with recently.

"Oh! Okay. You just relax here, Daddy. I go upstairs." Justin said with a sly smile. He didn't want to waste his precious time on hearing his daddy's rants.

"Wait. One more question," Edward stopped Justin who was already at the foot of the stairs. He couldn't be alone there! Edward felt that he needed someone to be with right now.

"What is it? Come on. I can tell you all," Justin said, sitting on the couch next to Edward. He was just a little kid, but he behaved like an arrogant king.

"If I tell you your mommy is having a baby, do you want it to be a sister or a brother?" Edward said expectantly, his eyes shining with curiosity.

"I never do baseless assumptions. But if mommy is having a baby, I hope it's a sister. It will be okay too if it's a brother. In that case, I wouldn't be too tired when I take over the FX International Group," Justin said. He would have definitely said he wanted a sister if he was asked years before. But he didn't want sister so much ever since Joyce showed up.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐