She's My Sleeping Pill

Justin felt so devastated at the moment. He didn’t know what to do and they didn’t have anyone else to depend on. They were just a bunch of orphans and he was the only one who works for the family.

Martin wanted to wait for the result but he has other work to do as well. After long deliberation, he decided to leave and talk to Stefan about this matter. “Justin, I’ll go back to Yen’s house first and inform them of what happened. I’ll ask them if we could assign someone to look after the kids in your home. If you get the result, just send a picture to me.”

“Okay.” He muttered without even looking at the adult in front of him. He was busy thinking of the savings he has and how he should spend them now that two people dear to him were suffering.

“Don’t worry,” Erwin said and gently patted the kid’s shoulder. “Everything will be fine. We will find a way to help.”

Erwin drove back to Justin’s place first and unloaded the gifts that Cayenne and her family prepared. He also reminded them to take care of themselves and make sure that they won’t fight while the adults were away. So far, they behaved well and he could only hope that it will stay the same once he left.

Stefan was playing chess with Dr. Albert while his mother was talking with Cayenne about childcare. Even if she only stayed with Stefan for three months of his infant stage, Latticia still remembered the important things that a mother should remember for her children. The only problem was how to properly express her thoughts.

Her broken statements and stutters frustrate her the most when having conversations. Fortunately, the people around her have extended their patience to listen to her. If it was somebody else, they probably left her already from annoyance.

Latticia could now walk slowly from the cabin to the mansion without getting tired of doing it. Every morning, Dr. Albert made it a habit to walk her around while holding her hand to make sure she won’t trip and fall. She could move her hands a little but sometimes, she felt it taxing and painful. Dr. Albert didn’t specialize in neurology so, he didn’t have a full grasp of Latticia’s illness. He could only assist her with other things but not the whole treatment.

.....

And most importantly, Dr. Albert didn’t have to wait for that miraculous period of Latticia getting the chance to talk. She can talk now whenever she wanted although, although you need patience in trying to understand her words.

“Mom, you are improving a lot since you came here. You may not know this but Stefan is excited to see you hold our children.”

“Me...too.”

“When that time comes, let’s have a family picture – a secret family picture.”

Latticia sighed when she realized the inconvenience she was causing everyone. Her son, her daughter-in-law, and her brother have to lie for her as well.

Cayenne talked about so many things with Latticia and planned a lot of activities that she could do with the children in the future without worrying about getting busted.

Around 11:30 AM, before having their lunch, Stefan received a message from Erwin containing a photo of someone’s medical record. As soon as he finished reading the whole message, his eyes automatically sought his wife. [She can’t know about this.] He told himself because he was worried that her emotions would complicate things. Then, he realized that his wife was actually stronger when it comes to this kind of matter now. She learned it the hard way. [I’ll inform her later once things look a little better.]

“Find someone to look after the children for the time being. Don’t work at the company for now and just accompany Justin. Make sure that his grandma and Chloe are doing okay. Ask the doctor how to proceed on this matter.”

Erwin sent a thumbs up as his reply and immediately talked to the other bodyguards.

Stefan stared at the photo on his phone and sighed. “Love.” Cayenne instantly looked at him with a questioning look. “Dr. Albert and I will check something at the cabin. We’ll be back as soon as we could.”

“Sure.”

Dr. Albert who didn’t know what Stefan was talking about just agreed after seeing the man’s serious gaze.

The two of them left through the back door and when they were some distance from the mansion, Stefan showed Dr. Albert the photo of Chloe’s medical record. “I know you are not a heart specialist but, do you have any idea of what might happen to this kid?”

To come out and talk to him about someone’s child, Dr. Albert couldn’t help but ask, “Whose kid is this?”

“She’s an orphan. She’s a dear friend to one of our helpers in the previous house and Cayenne is very fond of her.”

Dr. Albert nodded his head while reading the information directly from Stefan’s phone. “Cardiomyopathy. Hmm. As far as I know, if her condition isn’t that serious, she can take medications, otherwise, she would need to undergo surgery. It’s only stated here that she has this illness. I’m sure that there is more to this paper.”

Stefan nodded his head and took back his phone. “Thanks for checking. I hope you can keep this matter a secret from my wife.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

The two of them returned to the mansion and it happened that Carla has served the food already. Kyle was coming down from his room while Cayenne helped Latticia walk to the dining area. With the food in front of them, Cayenne didn’t have the time to ask what happened at the cabin anymore – though, nothing really happened there.

In the afternoon, Kyle joined them in the theater room and they watched two movies in a row. Carla and the other helpers who finished their work joined them as well. Stefan made sure to choose something fun because of his wife. He can’t allow her to watch melodramatic movies.

The next morning, Stefan asked Cayenne to fulfill her promise; that he can shop for whatever he wanted for a day without any limit. He wanted to use this opportunity to distract her as well before telling her the news of Chloe’s illness. The child may not be related to them but with Cayenne’s big heart, he knew that she would be greatly affected by it even if she won’t say anything. She was really close to children.

“Come and check this out,” Stefan said and raised the matching beanie hats. “They also have small ones.” Cayenne covered her mouth while trying her best to stop grinning from ear to ear. “I didn’t notice that they have this kind of design for children, too.” He commented as he checked the pajamas. Cayenne could only nod her head and agree with his words without telling him anything about the things he bought.

It was probably the father instinct in him that made him get the things that he never usually bought. He still hadn’t noticed anything as they look around and Cayenne had no plan in telling him either. She was waiting to see his expression once realization dawned on him.

“Let’s go over there,” he said with his fingers pointing at the shoes for kids.

“Look at this.”

“Wifey, what do you think?”

“Is this safe for babies?”

“I wonder if I could get something customized?”

“Oooh! This is cute. I wish will have a little princess.”

“I’m not sure which one should I get. Hon, you choose.”

Cayenne didn’t expect Stefan will have this side of him, too. In most cases, women love to shop and spend money on whatever they like while men work and save money for the family. Note, not all women but most. Seeing Stefan like this, Cayenne didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She lost count of the bank notification she received already.

During lunch, Stefan chose a quiet place where he can discuss Chloe’s matter with his wife. He was a little worried but he was determined to tell her the truth instead of getting kicked out of their bedroom for keeping this issue from her.

“I’m done with shopping,” he declared which made Cayenne raise her eyebrow. “I’m telling the truth. The money that I might spend later, I want to use it on something else.”

Cayenne was suspicious of his words and she narrowed her eyes at him which caused Stefan to divert his gaze somewhere else. “And what could it be? Why are you looking away?”

“Promise me that you will stay calm.”

“Those words make me anxious. It’s doing the opposite.”

Stefan took out his phone and showed her the conversation he had with Erwin last night. It was his second update after the photo he sent yesterday morning. “Chloe needs treatment or she may need surgery in the long run.”