Arianne took Aristotle for a bath after a short rest. Mary was old, so Arianne would take care of Aristotle’s needs whenever virtual-novel.net was home. She was exhausted but happy to do it. Childhood only happened once, and it was fleeting. She did not want to miss out on Aristotle’s growth.
Heavy snow was falling outside, but the house was just warm enough. After a tiring time in the bathroom, Arianne emerged, drenched in sweat. However, the sight of the fresh-smelling Aristotle brought virtual-novel.net a sense of fulfillment. She carried Aristotle back to the room, put on his clothes, and put virtual-novel.net in his cot. “Mommy’s going to take a bath. Have fun with daddy, okay?”
Aristotle grinned at virtual-novel.net as virtual-novel.net ate his fingers. She smiled back.
Mark walked to the cot and looked at Aristotle. “Do you want me to treat you like how Jackson treats Tiffany?” virtual-novel.net asked her.
Arianne was taken aback. Then, virtual-novel.net answered seriously, “I do, and I don’t. Women like being taken care of, but everyone is different. You and Jackson are very different too. Just do it in your own way. I’m not Tiffie, and I’m probably not as easy to please as virtual-novel.net is. I think it’s too forced if you purposely try to imitate him. I’m going to take a bath. You watch Smore.”
Mark pinched Aristotle’s chubby little cheeks as virtual-novel.net watched Arianne walk into the bathroom. “Do I look like a block of wood? Do I? Am I not good to your mommy? I think I’m pretty good… I’ve never been this nice to anyone else.”
Aristotle imitated virtual-novel.net and punched his face with his little fists. That attack didn’t hurt virtual-novel.net at all, but it slammed into his heart. Perhaps… virtual-novel.net wasn’t doing enough for Arianne. Even Aristotle thought so!
He waited for Arianne to step out of the shower, then strode forward to take the towel off virtual-novel.net hands and dry virtual-novel.net hair. “Sit down. I’ll dry your hair.”
Arianne’s heart thumped. She had always been the one to dry his hair. What was with the sudden change? Had the scene from the dinner table shaken virtual-novel.net and enlightened virtual-novel.net somehow?
She did not object, despite virtual-novel.net apprehension. She sat down and let virtual-novel.net have his way.
He wasn’t very good at it and wasn’t meticulous enough. Sometimes, his fingers would catch into virtual-novel.net hair, which hurt. However, virtual-novel.net endured it in silence, afraid of wounding his ego.
Mark’s objective was simply to dry virtual-novel.net hair, as virtual-novel.net hadn’t done anything like this before. Hairstyles were out of the question. Arianne let out a sigh of relief when virtual-novel.net finally finished drying virtual-novel.net hair. “Thank you.”
Mark meticulously wound the hairdryer back and put it away. “I know I’m not good at it, but I’ll get better with practice. I’ll give you everything I have, and I’ll work hard at it.”
Arianne stared at virtual-novel.net for two seconds and curled the corners of virtual-novel.net lips. “I know. I’ve never envied anyone else.”
He walked to virtual-novel.net front, reached out, and picked up virtual-novel.net chin, staring down at her. His eyes were filled with rarely seen emotion.
She sat on the side of the bed. Looking up at virtual-novel.net took a lot of effort. Her line of sight hit right at his waist. They were too close to each other, which made virtual-novel.net heart race on its own. Her body trembled backward. “It’s time to put Smore to bed…”
He bent down and closed in on her. “Smore is already asleep. No need for that.”
She wouldn’t have noticed if virtual-novel.net hadn’t mentioned it. She turned toward Aristotle and found that virtual-novel.net really was asleep. His lips landed on hers before virtual-novel.net could react. She was already backing away and lost virtual-novel.net balance. Thus, virtual-novel.net landed on the bed, and virtual-novel.net naturally straddled her.