Although I had been heartbroken and cried my eyes out for the past few days, when I heard my mother-in-law speculate about me with the most proud words, my tears still fell uncontrollably.
I didn’t understand. How could people change so easily?
My mother-in-law treated me like her own son and so did Melinda, who had been married to me for 20 years.
When Melinda came back, she saw me sitting by the window, decadent and haggard. When she hugged me, I was still cold from outside.
She simply took off her coat and stuffed my cold hands into her sweater to keep them warm.
For a moment, I suddenly felt that we had returned to 20 years ago when we loved each other the most.
We were very miserable at that time. Melinda’s father cut off all of her livelihood just to make her realize the mistake of not having children.
Her father didn’t like me either.
We slept in the basement and ate instant noodles and steamed buns in this huge city. When we were the poorest, we couldn’t even afford a bag of rice. When it was the coldest, we huddled together in a bed, wearing all our clothes and wrapped in quilts and we were so cold that we trembled when we spoke.
I was also so decadent.
I always thought about giving up. If it continued to freeze like this, Melinda’s already poor health would get worse.
“Melinda, let’s give up the divorce. Go back and admit your mistakes. Maybe you can drink hot chicken soup when you go back now.”
Melinda hugged me, stuffed my hands into her clothes and clamped my feet, with tension and fear.
“No, I won’t divorce you. Jefferson, I won’t admit my mistakes. I’m not wrong. I’m sorry, the ligation hurts so much. I didn’t want you to suffer, but in the end, I still made you suffer.”
The tears of that year overlapped with the tears of this year and the bitter taste spread from the tip of the tongue.
“Melinda, let’s move, okay? You like children. Let’s have our own, okay? Why? Why didn’t you tell me when you wanted a child?”
The long silence was like a stick, waking me up.
I came to my senses and looked at Melinda in a daze.
Following her hesitant and complicated profile, I realized that she was not the only one who came back.
This was the first time Kevin and I met.
Just like in the video shot by Melinda’s mother, he was young and considerate and the whole person looked like a good husband and a loving father.
And I...
I looked at the mirror by the window in a daze. My eyes were red and swollen like walnuts and even the wrinkles at the corners of my eyes were crying.
It was really embarrassing.
There was an indescribable feeling in my heart.
Kevin’s eyes were fixed on the place where Melinda warmed my hands. The sadness in his eyes did not seem fake, but he still resisted and pushed the child next to him up to say hello to me.
Melinda felt sorry for him, took my hand without hesitation and walked over to hug his waist.
She didn’t say anything, but stood on tiptoe and kissed Kevin’s lips with a soothing touch.
The sourness in his eyes surged up again and the fingertips that were not completely warmed up were stained with coldness again.
Kevin touched his hair embarrassedly and seemed to raise a smug smile to me unintentionally.
“Leon, go quickly. This is Uncle Jefferson, say hello to him.”
I was stunned and asked him in disbelief.
“What’s his... name?”
“Leon, Leon. Melinda said that she hopes he will be as bright and desirable as the stars in the sky in the future.”
In just a moment, my head was buzzing.
Leon pursed his lips and said something to me, but I couldn’t hear it clearly.
