A Night of Desire

The little baby was having a grand time playing in Clara Grant’s arms. He would tug at her hair one moment and pat her face the next. Although it was Clara’s first time holding such a tiny infant and she was a little overwhelmed by his constant wiggling, she was still very happy.

The baby’s occasional giggles made her heart melt completely.

Clara suddenly thought, ’It wouldn’t be so bad if Seth and I had a child now.’

But then she remembered what Seth Quinn had said at the hospital—that kids were too much trouble and he preferred it being just the two of them. ’Since Seth doesn’t seem to want kids right now and isn’t ready to be a father, I should probably just forget about it,’ she thought.

A little while later, the man reached out to the baby and said, "Come on, little one. Come to Daddy. The lady will get tired."

But the baby didn’t even look at him. He just threw himself into Clara’s arms, babbling, "Want lady... want lady..."

The man looked both helpless and embarrassed. Just as he was about to reach out and take the baby by force, Clara smiled and said, "It’s all right, I can hold him a little longer. Maybe he’ll come to you on his own once he’s had his fill of playing."

Unexpectedly, she ended up holding him all the way until it was time for her to get out of the car, and the little baby still hadn’t had enough of her.

When it was time for Clara to get out, the man tried to take the baby back, but the little one started to fuss. Clara spoke to him softly, "Sweetie, the lady knows you don’t want to leave her, and she doesn’t want to leave you either. But the lady is home now and has to get out of the car. So, you have to go back to Daddy, understand?"

After she said that, the baby, though reluctant, obediently reached his arms out for his father to hold him.

The man kissed his little cheek and said, "Sweetie, say goodbye to the lady."

The baby stretched out his chubby little hand and waved at Clara. "Lady, bye..."

Clara waved back at him, got out of the car, and retrieved her luggage. She then stood by the car window, bending down to look at the little baby and say goodbye one more time.

The baby didn’t respond this time. He just stared at her intently, his little lip trembling before he stuck a finger into his mouth.

The taxi started to move. As it drove past her, Clara clearly saw the baby’s big eyes glistening with tears, which then instantly streamed down his chubby cheeks.

A wave of sadness washed over Clara’s heart. She suddenly had the urge to stop the taxi and ask for the baby’s name and where they lived.

But she quickly gave a self-deprecating smile. ’We’re just strangers who met by chance. Why bother asking?’

’The baby’s reluctance to leave me is only temporary. He probably just misses his mom and would cling to any woman like this, right? Once he sees his mother, he’ll forget all about me in no time.’

Clara first returned to Stellan Bay, the residential complex where she and her mother lived. As she stepped out of the elevator, she was startled to see the door to their apartment wide open. Thinking something was wrong, she quickened her pace and rushed inside.

The moment she stepped inside, she heard her mother, Skylar Hayes, ask, "What are you doing here again today?"

A man’s voice followed. "Skylar, I already told you when I came by last time. I just feel that you had a hard time during all those years you were with me. When we divorced, I wasn’t able to give you and Clara much of anything, aside from this apartment."

"Thinking back, I really let you down. But we don’t have to be enemies just because we’re divorced. Besides, Clara called me ’Dad’ for over twenty years, and you were my wife for twenty, maybe thirty years. How could the feelings and bonds between us just disappear like that?"