The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 788 Response From Charlie

Charlie was unusually calm when he heard the news. And his adorable face was devoid of any emotion. Sheryl stood motionless as she looked at him intently and gave his little face a thorough scanning. She was earnestly hoping to read his facial expression that was held barely discernible. She felt a little uneasy. Then she approached Charlie anxiously and in a trembling voice asked him, "Charlie, you heard that?"

"Yeah," Charlie answered in a small but affirmative voice. "I heard it."

"Then you..." Sheryl began to say something. But she suddenly felt at a loss that her voice trailed off. Sheryl swallowed hard and burrowed into her head, hoping to come up with appropriate words to say. Initially, she was so worried about how to tell Charlie the truth, but now that he happened to hear everything, the heaviness she felt in her chest was finally relieved.

The thing now that made Sheryl worried about most was how Charlie felt.

Charles, who was observing the whole scene, also felt to be on tenterhooks. Though he had faith with Charlie, he was still worried that Charlie wouldn't be able to take it, so he walked up to his son as well to prompt him, "Charlie, now that you have known everything. We're not going to hide anything from you. From now on, there'll be no more secrets. Can you tell us how you feel about it?"

Charles found himself looking attentively at Charlie. A surge of anxiety crawled within him as he waited on for Charlie to speak his mind. But Charles did not receive any response, so he continued to talk to his son, "Charlie, I understand that it is going to be very hard for you to accept it. And I know it will take a little while, but you should have the ability to differentiate the good from the bad. You should be aware who truly cares for you..."

"Charlie..." Shirley chimed in. She was a little scared of seeing Charles in a solemn expression.

Seeing her daughter feeling frightened of the tense atmosphere, Sheryl decided not to let Shirley stay further, so she asked Chris to take care of Shirley. "Chris, can you do me a favor? Please take Shirley out for a while. I need to talk to Charlie."

"No problem," said Chris. Chris gave her a slight nod and left the room with Shirley. On their way out, Shirley's worried eyes kept darting to look back at Charlie.

Even though Charlie was still a small kid, Chris knew that he was highly sensitive when it came to his feelings. She was afraid that acceptance would be too hard for Charlie.

After Chris and Shirley left, Sheryl squatted down and held both Charlie's hands tightly. Then she pointed to the birthmark right at his wrist and said, "This birthmark has appeared countless times in my dreams I... I should have realized earlier that the kid in my dream was you. But..." Sheryl's voice faltered and her chest twisted in pain.

Then tears of remorse welled up and streamed down her face as she looked at him tenderly. Much to her astonishment, Charlie quietly pulled out his hands from her grip. And he gingerly reached out to her face and wiped her tears. His hands were so soft and gentle. Sheryl was stunned and felt deeply touched by his gesture.

"Charlie, you..." Sheryl mumbled. Her voice was barely audible.

"I do not blame you," Charlie said promptly. Charlie did not wait for Sheryl to finish her words and continued to speak flatly, "I trust that you also didn't want to abandon me."

"Of course I didn't," Sheryl responded gently, shaking her head slightly. While searching his face, Sheryl asked him, "Don't you blame me?"

Charlie silently shook his head.

Sheryl's eyes widened in surprise to see Charlie's reaction. She had previously imagined numerous scenes in her head on how Charlie would respond to her words. She had visualized him laughing, crying, and even being angry. But Charlie's calm acceptance never did once cross her mind.

But still, she became a bit skeptical, and her face displayed conflicting emotions. So she tentatively asked, "Are you not... surprised at all?"

He must have been shocked by the sudden turn of events, that Sheryl was his biological mother and not Leila. He shouldn't be this quiet and composed upon hearing this.

And what was even more surprising for her was when Charlie replied, "Actually I knew that Leila is not my mother."

Sheryl and Charles were both startled to hear this and stared at each other in astonishment.

But Charles quickly recovered and asked him, "Charlie, what do you mean by 'you knew'?" Charles instinctively rephrased his question. Looking at his son, he again asked, "You knew that Leila is not your mother?"

Charles was no doubt in a state of utter disbelief that he repeated Charlie's words. He was thinking how could Charlie possibly know about this when he was just a small kid. And the fact that he had only found the truth recently didn't help him at all.

"Yes," Charlie replied in a positive confirmation. Then Charlie continued to explain, "I happened to know Leila's blood type. Biologically, she could not possibly be my mother. It's just that I cannot be fully certain about this."

He lifted his gaze to glance at Sheryl. Then he resumed speaking, "Just now, I heard what Sher said which helped me confirm that my speculation was right."

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" Charles queried Charlie impatiently. If he had known this information long before, perhaps he would have discovered the truth much sooner.

"I was also suspecting, but I had no solid evidence." Charlie was abnormally composed. He looked at Charles and said, "That was why I rejected Leila when she asked me to leave with her."

"Charlie..." Sheryl immediately reached out and hugged Charlie tightly in her arms. "Good boy. From now on I will never allow anyone to take you away from me."

Charlie felt an incredible sense of warmth when Sheryl gathered him in her arms. He had never felt this before. Though he had lived with Leila, who took care of him as a 'mother', he had never experienced such a caring and motherly hug. This was indeed a hug from a mother.

"Mo... Mom." Charlie couldn't control himself voicing that word so easily out, as if it was a natural thing to him.

He had been, in fact, treating her as his own mother way long before he was informed about his real relationship with Sheryl. Knowing that Sheryl truly loved him and wanted only the best for him, he accepted his new identity naturally.

Hearing that one small magic word from Charlie, Sheryl blanked out. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Letting go of her arms, she stammered, "What... What did you say? Again?" Sheryl's heart brimmed with overwhelming joy and happiness. She had waited for this moment for so long, but when it eventually came, she was so unprepared, as if she was living in a dream. "Mom..." The first step was always the hardest. After calling her for the first time, the second 'Mom' was way easier for Charlie. He murmured that in a blush, and quickly turned his eyes away. "Good boy..." Sheryl could hardly contain her excitement. She took a closer look at Charlie again and tightly embraced him, as if trying to prevent anyone from taking him away. And she couldn't seem to let go. A simple hug spoke a thousand words.

"Alright, alright. Stop crying. We are all good now." Charles wanted to stop Sheryl's tears. He was worried that if Sheryl continued to cry nonstop, her body would not be able to sustain. After all, she had just gone through so much hardship and needed some good rest.

He held Sheryl's hands and said, "Now, Charlie has accepted you being his mother. I know it is worth celebrating. But why are you celebrating with your tears?"

"I am just so happy! These are tears of joy," Sheryl replied with her eyes wet with tears.

"Charlie, get some tissue for Mom," Charles said to Charlie. As Charlie was about to turn to get some, Sheryl stopped him right away and complained to Charles, "How can you be such an irresponsible father? Don't you see that Charlie is still injured? Do you want him to get hurt again? How can you request him to do that?"

Sheryl glared at Charles with displeasure. Then she held Charlie's hand and said in a motherly tone, "Just ignore him. The most important thing right now is to take care of yourself. Get well soon from the bone fracture. It is our top priority. Forget about his order."

"I am fine. It is not painful at all. Besides, the doctor also said that it wouldn't matter a lot," replied Charlie. He focused his gaze at his mother's tear-streaked face. Then he heaved out a deep sigh and said, "Mom. Stop crying..."