Chapter 558 Keep an Eye on Darwin
"I got it. It will be better once we move to Emerald Pool. We'll have an entire floor to ourselves," Darwin said, affectionately kissing Fiona’s nose.
"Speaking of which, Chicago asked me today about when we're moving." Fiona gently touched Darwin's earlobe. "Lilian mentioned that Chicago is concerned about you commuting so long every day, not wanting you to be so tired."
Darwin pondered about it. From Emerald Pool to Solomon Building was just a 20-minute commute. His face lit up even more.
"Just wait a little longer. Although the house has been ready for two years, the soft furnishings for Charles's and Chicago’s rooms were only installed recently."
"Mhmm." Fiona was both tired and sleepy. "Let’s go to sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow..."
"Okay." Darwin neatly stowed away the blow dryer and returned to find Fiona already asleep. Moving with utmost care so as not to disturb her, he switched off the light and tenderly drew her into his embrace. Planting kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and lips, he closed his eyes, feeling content.
Upon Stuart's return, Chicago was visibly livelier than before, even quitting the habit of lingering in bed. She would wake up before dawn, like an adult, supervising the chef in preparing Stuart's breakfast.
Though Chicago couldn't read, she would seriously show the chef picture cards as a reference. Once she confirmed everything was right, she made sure Stuart finished his breakfast without leaving anything.
After breakfast, Chicago would hurriedly drag Stuart to see her puppies. Then, before the sun was fully up, she’d join Stuart for a wild playtime with Jessie in the small park. They would get as dirty as little alley cats, covered in mud and leaves.
After a bath, Chicago would sit on the couch in a pretty dress, letting Stuart do her hair.
Even though he had forgotten the past, Stuart's muscle memory was still adept at tying hair as if by magic.
"Wow, our young lady finally doesn't have to run around with a sloppy and askew ponytail anymore!" Lilian was overjoyed.
Fiona stood by with a cup of hot milk, watching. Hearing this, she felt like she was being teased.
"The reason the ponytail is loose and crooked is that Chicago's hair is too silky and slippery to stay tied," Fiona argued logically.
"But Stuart can tie it up..." Lilian blurted out, then was met with a death glare from Fiona.
Immediately, Lilian made a zipping motion across her lips.
At that moment, Darwin changed into his suit and came downstairs.
Chicago immediately got up and ran to him, asking, "Uncle Stuart did my braids, do they look good?"
Darwin scooped her up.
"Mr. Solomon, your shirt will get wrinkled!" Fiona reminded helplessly.
"It's fine." Darwin flashed Fiona a smile, then looked at Chicago. "Yes, they look beautiful!"
"Uncle Stuart is amazing at braiding!" Chicago boasted proudly.
Darwin looked at Stuart, feeling a twinge of jealousy that was hard to deny. But seeing Chicago so happy, he could easily brush aside his jealousy.
"Chicago, it's time for Daddy to go to work," Fiona prompted.
Obediently, Chicago got down from Darwin's arms and waved. "Good luck!"
Darwin's smile crinkled his eyes. "Daddy will do great!" he said, then turned to Charles, "Charles, let's go."
Now that Stuart was back, Chicago clung to him. But Charles still visited the Solomon household every day. He would go with Darwin when Darwin went to work, or he'd wait for Burl to wake up and join him later.
Once the father and son left, Janna finally looked up from her busy schedule. "Fiona, keep an eye on Darwin. I heard he let Charles join a new system development team. Charles is still so young, and he just recovered. He should be resting more!"
"You've got it all wrong about Darwin. It was the development team who invited Charles after he solved a bug that had been troubling them for a long time," Fiona explained helplessly.
Strictly speaking, it was indeed an accident that Charles resolved a longstanding bug that had stymied the development team, making them as excited as if they had seen a babe. They immediately offered Charles a spot on their team.
Charles took a look at the project and found it to be a challenging endeavor. Without even discussing it with his parents, he accepted the offer.
Darwin knew about this. The folks in the development department had submitted their applications.
"Then he can't possibly say no, right?" Janna asked.
"Nobody would dare go against a decision made by Charles; even you wouldn't object, so how could he?" Fiona remarked.
Janna was momentarily at a loss for words. Charles had always been particularly headstrong.
In his eyes, things he deemed inconsequential could be arranged any which way but when it came to decisions he had made, they had to be carried out no matter what.
"How does such a young kid have such a sharp mind?" Janna wondered aloud.
"He's a genius!" Chicago chimed in from the side, busily playing cat's cradle with Stuart.
"Our Chicago is so smart," Janna said adoringly, lavishing praise on Chicago.
"By the way, how are Jannie and her children doing?" Fiona inquired.
She had initially planned to relocate Jannie and her two children to Armie's location. However, Jannie declined, expressing her desire to remain with her children in the home where she had lived with her late husband.
"She is slowly getting used to re-entering the workforce. She has started at a branch office and is doing quite well," Janna responded.
"It's good that she is able to stand on her own two feet," Fiona nodded approvingly.
Jannie possessed considerable resilience. Janna intended to arrange a comfortable job for her nearby, sparing her from starting at the bottom and potentially encountering mistreatment or bullying.
But Jannie rejected the offer outright.
She was a diligent business school graduate from a prestigious university before marrying Chris. The couple met while studying, and after graduating, Chris didn't want her to work herself to the ground, so he had her become a homemaker.
Now that her support was gone, Jannie, struck by fear and looking at her young children, thought about the lengthy life she still had ahead of her.
She was determined to start anew.
Staying by Janna's side would just mean relying on someone else, and she didn't want to depend on anyone again.
Instead, she wanted to be the support her children could rely on.
"I just hope her children can be as understanding and ambitious as Charles and Chicago..." Janna pondered, then shook her head. "Never mind, the Rhoads family has enough money for eight generations; all they need to do is be healthy, happy, and kind."
Fiona empathized with Janna's feelings, though she refrained from verbalizing them. The tragic destinies of Ken and Chris remained a deep-seated wound in Janna's heart, one that would never fully mend.
She had once asked Fiona if it was because she had set her expectations too high in their childhood and been too strict that had led to the outcomes of the two children.
Fiona thought about the grandfather she had never met. He had been quite a famous playboy in high society before he died.
So she answered, "You can't really say that; maybe they were just simply like their dad."
Janna was taken aback.
Shortly after, she burst into laughter.
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