Chapter 507 Accelerated Science
After dinner, Kenny took Thalassa for a stroll around the yard to aid digestion. It was fair to say that the Walker family's property could rival a small park. The summer night breeze was gentle and soothing as Thalassa and Kenny walked hand in hand.
"Your family, they were all pretty shocked about your sudden marriage," Thalassa commented at a leisurely pace. "I heard them talking; for a moment, I wondered if they suspected I was a witch from some remote village, casting a spell to make you fall in love with me!"
Kenny mused, "So is there any truth to that?"
"What?" Thalassa was puzzled.
"You know how to cast spells."
Thalassa was speechless.
Seeing her incredulous expression, Kenny couldn't help but laugh, and Thalassa, unable to hold back, chuckled along with him.
Kenny wrapped his arms around her. "What did Mom talk to you about today?" he asked.
Thalassa thought for a moment, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Kenny. "Mom said that you were exceptionally smart from a young age, and you taught yourself anatomy through books. By the time you were five or six, you could dissect an entire frog!"
Kenny, looking surprised, asked, "Doesn't that scare you?"
He always remembered the moment his family found out he had dissected a frog. They looked at him as though he were a monster, and he never understood why. Then, later, his sister-in-law stumbled upon his secret hideout and was so frightened she nearly miscarried. In a fit of rage, his brother confronted him, verbalizing the family's fear of him for the first time.
That was when Kenny realized his behavior might not be what was considered normal. From that point on, he began learning how to blend in, avoiding those unsettling gazes.
"Scary?" Thalassa blinked. "Did you dissect frogs to satisfy some urge to kill?"
Kenny immediately shook his head. "I just wanted to see if their anatomy matched that in the books, and the frogs were already dead when I got them from the vendor."
He had never explained this to anyone before.
"Well, there you go," Thalassa said, nonchalantly. "What's so frightening about that?"
Kenny looked at Thalassa, and after a moment, he smiled. "Yeah, there's nothing scary about it."
"It's just a shame, with your talent, you didn't go into medicine," Thalassa remarked, somewhat regretfully.
Kenny raised his hand and gently caressed Thalassa's cheek with his thumb. "Looking back, I don't feel any regrets."
"Why? Did you lose interest?" Thalassa asked.
Kenny shook his head, his gaze soft as if hiding a pond of warm, clear spring water. "If I'd chosen medicine back then, I'd be buried in books at medical school right now, and I wouldn't have met you."
Before Thalassa, his life had been monotonous and unremarkable, a ceaseless charade of pretending to be normal. However now, she had injected excitement and purpose into his existence. With her, he experienced emotions he never knew existed. These newfound feelings eclipsed any regrets he harbored about not pursuing a medical career.
Thalassa's eyes reddened, and her lips quivered. "I'm going to cry."
Kenny laughed, "Cry about what?"
"Mom and the sisters-in-law think I'm your redemption," Thalassa choked up, then looked at Kenny through teary eyes. "But it's always been you who's saving me."
Before meeting Kenny, Thalassa, no matter how glamorous on the outside, was rotting away inside.
She knew she was always last in her beloved mother’s heart,
Suffering every day, continuously making excuses to heal herself.
She was aware of her forbidden relationship with Chris.
Spending every day torn between her love for Chris and her own moral condemnation.
Year after year, her insides becoming more and more riddled with wounds.
Yet in the end, Chris broke his promise.
Betrayed by her own mother with ruthless precision.
Throughout that period, Thalassa maintained a facade of normalcy to those around her. Yet deep inside, she was teetering on the edge of collapse. The world seemed devoid of purpose, and she felt as though nothing could anchor her to it.
Kenny looked at her with a heart full of sympathy.
"Alright," Kenny coaxed like comforting a child, opening his arms and enveloping Thalassa with a sense of security. "Let's just say we're each other’s redemption, okay?"
Thalassa didn't know how she could possibly redeem Kenny.
She thought for a moment. "Kenny, do you still want to go to medical school?"
Kenny was slightly taken aback.
Thalassa's eyes sparkled as she gazed at him. "If you do, I'll support you!"
"I'll give it some serious thought," he said with a smile curving his eyes. "My wife is so supportive!"
"What a coincidence, my husband is pretty amazing, too," Thalassa said, beaming with a radiant smile.
Kenny watched as sunshine poured into the once shadow-ridden recesses of his soul, seeds wildly grew in the dark soil, and soon they blossomed into a vast, sunlit garden of flowers.
He bowed his head and tenderly kissed his redemption.
In the distance, on a tall loft, Scarlet had set up a telescope.
One foot on a stool, she caught a glimpse of Kenny and Thalassa under the dim light.
"They kissed! They kissed!"
Scarlet clapped her thighs in excitement.
"Let me see, too! Hurry!" Matt = was frantic.
Scarlet pushed him away. "Who's the snooping dad-in-law watching Kenny’s bride smooch? Aren't you being creepy?"
Matt just stood there, speechless.
It wasn't clear who had insisted on dragging him into this.
"Now you can rest easy!" Scarlet laughed, her smile beaming.
Then, as if a thought struck her, she looked up at the huffy Matt and suggested, "Honey, how about we organize a thanksgiving event?"
"Why? To celebrate Kenny finding a wife?" Matt thought to himself, ‘Was that really necessary?’
His son might be a bit peculiar, but with his tall, handsome, and distinguished looks, finding a wife should have been no trouble at all.
"I've already given thanks for that," she said.
He was surprised. "When did you do that?"
"While you and Pearson were inspecting the mine area," Scarlet replied as she started to rouse people on her cellphone for the thanksgiving arrangements.
"And what's the occasion this time?" Matt always marveled at his wife's unpredictable ideas.
Scarlet didn't even lift her head as she continued making arrangements. "Seeing my son and daughter-in-law so lovey-dovey, who knows when they might have a child. I want to give thanks in advance, praying for a blessing that this time the Walker family will have a daughter"
Matt was shocked.
He slapped his forehead in a mixture of fear and realization. "Right, right, right, that's the real issue. Get it organized, and make it as grand as possible!"
Heaven knows he had endured enough criticism from the elders in the family for not having a daughter. In earlier years, the pressure nearly overwhelmed him.
It was ironic.
While many families would lament not having a son, he faced reproach for lacking a daughter.
The elders in his family were all academics, and when they scolded, they did so scientifically, without prejudice, never blaming his wife for it.