Chapter 757 - Im Not Your Real Daddy (1)
Chapter 757 - Im Not Your Real Daddy (1)
More than a week passed, and finally, Li Meili, and her daughter Leyan, were able to come home with Zhang Jiren. It was in the wee hours of the morning when Zhang Jiren stirred from his slumber, his mind a little confused as he wondered just what had woken him.
His head turned to his side only to find Li Meili still sleeping peacefully facing him. Her c.h.e.s.t? rose and fell slowly, assuring Jiren of her deep sleep.
Finally, his question as to why he woke up was answered when he heard a cry coming from the baby monitor. Pulling himself away from Li Meili's arm that was dr.a.p.ed across his torso, Zhang Jiren made his way swiftly towards his stepdaughter's nursery.
Leyan had obviously woken up before him and was crying to get someone's attention.The child slowly ceased her crying when she sensed that someone had finally come to see her. Zhang Jiren immediately checked her diaper, making sure she was dry.
"This is the third time, Leyan. Are you really that hungry? But your mom is too tired to get you this time," Zhang Jiren murmured as he turned to the other side of the room to prepare a bottle of milk for his step daughter. Once done, he carefully picked up the child from the crib, took a seat on the rocking chair next to it and fed the baby in his arms.
The girl s.u.c.k.l.e.d on her bottle eagerly as if she hadn't been fed by her mother two hours ago. Zhang Jiren smiled, watching his stepdaughter who watched him back with wide eyes.
"Leyan, I'm not your real daddy. I'm your Uncle Jiren," He murmured to the child. "It doesn't matter whether I'm your daddy or not. I promise you, I'll take care of you and your mommy, so be kind and a good girl in the future, okay? Don't make your mommy sad because I would be sad too."
Zhang Jiren thought that what he was saying to Leyan was ridiculous. Once the two year marriage contract he had with Leyan's mother was over, how was he supposed to take care of the two of them?
He had already vowed to keep his feelings in check, but there were just things that couldn't be avoided. Now that he had come to know Leyan, Zhang Jiren knew that the little girl had already managed to ingrain herself in his heart. He knew that he would never stop caring about Leyan and her mother.
Ha. He really did dig a grave for himself for agreeing to marry Li Meili months ago, Zhang Jiren thought. But he couldn't find it in himself to regret his decision, for he knew he would do the same thing if he had another chance to go back in time.
Once Leyan was done with her milk, he stood up and patted the child's back gently, helping her relieve the excess air by burping. Then, he rocked the child in his arms slowly, allowing her to go back to sleep.
Thankfully, even though Leyan came earlier than they expected, her lungs were strong enough, and she was able to breathe on her own without any problems, unlike her cousin, Little Star, when she was born.
As Zhang Jiren placed the sleeping child back in her crib, he adjusted the temperature inside the room to make sure she wouldn't feel too hot as the weather in Shenzhen was starting to pick up by this time of the year.
"You should have woken me up instead," he heard a familiar voice behind him.
He turned his head and saw Li Meili yawning, blinking her sleepiness away.
"You barely have enough time to catch up with your sleep. I didn't want to disturb you, seeing how tired you were with Leyan last night," he replied, closing the door behind him silently as they stepped out of the room.
"I already fed her. She should be asleep for another hour or two," he added, knowing that she needed more rest.
"Thanks." Li Meili yawned again, turning to go back to their bedroom to catch up some sleep while her daughter was content and sleeping in the nursery.
As she marched towards the bed, she couldn't help but appreciate Jiren again. He was really good at taking care of Leyan. Whether her daughter needed a diaper change or another round of feeding, he was always there to help her.
"You're going back to work soon, right? Don't spoil Leyan too much or she might look for you once she notices you're gone," Li Meili told him once they settled back on their massive bed. Zhang Jiren dimmed the lights for her to be able to return to sleep easily.
"She's only a week old, Meili. You are worrying too much." Zhang Jiren knew that it was him who shouldn't get an emotional attachment with mother and child, but he couldn't help it.
"Ha. Don't you dare underestimate children like Leyan, Zhang Jiren. They might not be able to speak right now, but they know when they are missing someone," Li Meili said before curling into a comfortable position with a safe distance from Zhang Jiren with her eyes slightly drooping.
"You talk as if you have enough experience with children," he chuckled.
"Why, of course," Li Meili huffed. "You don't know this. I practically raised Xiao Bao and Little Star along with Moyu since they were born. Obviously, I picked up something after years of spending time with them," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, her eyes wide awake now, feeling fired up by Jiren's comment.
"Baobao always cried whenever he knew Moyu was about to leave for work while Little Star knew what time Moyu was to come home. So there was this one time that Moyu was stuck in heavy traffic and didn't come home on time. Xiao Bao and Little Star almost broke my and their nannies' eardrums when they cried nonstop until Moyu came home."