With Lu Chen leaving temporarily for work, Lu Qiang was left on the care of her parents for the time being as they stayed in the hospital. Since the little guy didn't wanna go home and wanted to stay with her, her Dad voluntarily accepted the job of the babysitter.
"Arnold personally cooked this for you."
Xiu Mei watched her mom take out all the dishes from the stacked thermal lunchbox she brought from home.
With her still recovering, most of the dishes prepared for her were on the lighter side. Laid down before her were a serving of chicken soup, spring rolls, and congee.
Even without lowering her head, she could the smell the hint of medicinal ingredients mixed in the food. She unconsciously smiled as she remembered how Arnold loved Chinese Medicine and how much he told her on some basic knowledge about it.
She couldn't help but feel touched seeing the foods in front of her. It was made full of love and wishes that she recovers quickly.
Taking a spoonful of the soup, the flavor of ginger quickly spread inside her mouth. As she continued eating it, she somehow felt calm. Probably with how delicious the soup was or the medicinal stuff mixed in it.
As she ate her lunch, the door across the room opened revealing her Dad. He had just come out from the bedroom connected in her room which was meant as the sleeping space for the guardians of the VIP patient.
Also, on the opposite wall was the kitchen in case they wanted to cook the food right there. Basically, the VIP room in this hospital is too liveable you could actually live in here for quite awhile.
"Is he finally asleep?" Pausing on her actions, she asked her Dad.
Xiu Gu Ren fixed both of his cuffs as he approached her daughter's bed and sat on the empty sofa beside it.
"He's finally asleep." Xiu Gu Ren let out a deep breath as if he just finished a difficult and laborious task.
"Thank you, Dad." Xiu Mei gratefully thanked her Dad as she smiled. Xiu Gu Ren glanced at his daughter who weirdly has an expression similar to his wife, that maternal smile on her face when she thinks about their children.
He wasn't sure how to take in that his daughter, have such a maternal-like smile expression on her face as if she already had children for so many years.
"Qiang'er is such a good kid, unlike your brothers." Her Mom, Yu Shi Huang, stated as she fixed the stuff beside her bed.
From her mom's expression, she knew that her mom really liked Little Qiang and she was being honest about it.
"He's really hard to put to sleep, just like our smelly sons too." Xiu Gu Ren's expression scrunched up as he remembered the old days where he had to literally bind down his sons on the bed just to stop them from playing around.
It was like playing a game of tag every night for him and his sons.
"But you still have the best touch with the kids, even after so many years." Her mom responded to her dad. Her dad showed a beaming smile as he realized how true her mom's words were.
She remembered that even though her dad was busy enough as a politician, he was strict with time. If it's time for work, it's only for work. But the rest of the time, he spends it with them.
He was very hands-on with them when growing up, and Xiu Mei couldn't help but admire his Dad for it.
Honestly, her a man like her Dad would probably the best husband material for her. A husband who makes time for his family despite how busy he was is the best man in the family.
"Well, Lu Qiang might be tough to put to sleep but the kid is honestly such a bright child." Xiu Gu Ren stated his impression on the little kid that he tucked to the bed a few minutes ago.
"It's too bad that his parents are gone. They could've watched him grow up to be a good intelligent man." Her Mom added as her expression turned into a sad smile remembering the story told by Lu Chen a few hours back.
"I feel bad as well. But the little kid seems to be tough even at such a young age." Her Dad's eyes sparkled as he continued, "I'm pretty sure he'd be the best among his peers in the future."
Xiu Mei couldn't help but smile at the positive comments that her parents have to Lu Qiang. She thought how hard it was for Lu Chen to be a parent and teach Lu Qiang to be the person he is today.
"Right, Mr.Lu really did a good job raising him." Xiu Mei interjected as she couldn't stop herself from smiling and her voice turned really soft as she thought about the two men.
The other two people watched their daughter's expression turn into bliss. Yu Shi Huang and Xiu Gu Ren glanced at each other before returning it to their daughter's body.
"Mei'er." Her Mom sat on the side of her bed, squeezing in beside her as she placed her hand over hers that was holding the spoon.
Xiu Mei raised her head to see her Mom.
She felt her Mom's finger caressing hers as if she was comforting her. She also felt the other side of her bed sinking a little bit with her Dad sitting at the other side of her bed right now too.
"Are you sure you're really ready to be a Mom?"
The moment her Mom's words completely registered in her mind, her mind completely blanked out.
What was her Mom trying to say?
Suddenly, she had a mini heart attack as her mind interpreted her Mom's words.
Uh…. why did it sound like they were implying she was pregnant?
She almost reached for her belly to check if there was some little life in there but then she remembered.
Xiu Me, you stupid. How can you be pregnant when you still haven't rolled on the sheets at least once?
"Princess, we're not against you marrying Lu Chen and taking Lu Qiang as your son, but we didn't want you to feel the sudden pressure of becoming a parent you know?"
"At most, we wanted you to really slowly be prepared in becoming a parent first instead of adapting to be a parent even before marriage." Her dad added.
Finally, Xiu Mei was enlightened and is now on the same page as her parents.
'Oh, so that's what they meant.' She thought. She thought she really had to take a pregnancy test to check whether she was having a baby or not.
Understanding it completely, Xiu Mei was now all ears to her parents' questions and advices.
"As parents, it's not easy at all. Especially you, we understand that you have a lot of priorities at this moment."
"To be Lu Qiang's mother, we're a bit concerned about whether you really be fine with the sudden change of priorities or not."
The Xiu couple knew their daughter very well. After that incident, their daughter's personality took for a turn. She became too engrossed in being independent and her priorities, she was too busy to even visit home when she started working.
And now with the little kid in the picture, Xiu Mei needed to change her priorities. Both of them wanted to teach her that among all others, Family still needs to be the priority. Especially when one has children, and that's exactly the concern the Xiu couple have been thinking about for the past few hours.