Chapter 204 He is Fannie's Real Dad
After resting a while, in the on-duty doctor's room that afternoon, Patricia and Frank left work together once he was finished with his tasks, walking side by side towards the elevator. Martin had been keeping a watchful eye on every movement outside the door.
Upon seeing Patricia's silhouette passing by the entrance, he wanted to follow her immediately, but Randy stopped him. "Daddy, what are you sneaking off to?"
Martin paused mid-step, turning back to shush him. Randy blinked and whispered lower, "Daddy, where are you going?"
Martin whispered back, "I need to step out for a bit. You stay here like a good boy, and I'll come back later to keep you company!"
Without waiting for a response from Randy, Martin squeezed through the open door and quickly made his way to the elevator. Watching his father sneak around, Randy was at a loss for words.
Martin didn't take the elevator but chose to use the stairs instead. The cardiothoracic surgery was on the 18th floor. He briskly descended two steps at a time, quickly reaching the first floor before finding a concealed spot to hide.
Soon, he saw Patricia and Frank exit the elevator, talking and laughing. They then headed to the parking lot and got into Patricia's BMW. Martin hailed a cab at the hospital entrance and followed them discreetly.
Patricia had made reservations earlier to welcome Frank, and before dining, they first stopped by the kindergarten to pick up Charles and Fannie from school. When she saw Frank, Fannie thought she was seeing things and rubbed her eyes hard. When she realized it really was Frank, she rushed over excitedly and hugged his leg tightly.
"Daddy, how did you come? When did you get here? Didn't you know I missed you so much?"
Charles also ran over joyfully and hugged Frank's other leg: "Godfather, I missed you too!"
Patricia glanced at Fannie with a warning: "Fannie, remember what I told you? You can't call him daddy, you must call him godfather, like your brother."
She had fled to Country A alone, with Charles and Fannie in tow. Struggling financially and with two children to care for, she found a cheap rental apartment. But the living conditions there were so poor that Fannie soon developed a skin disease due to her weak immunity.
When she carried Fannie on her back and brought Charles to the hospital, they met Frank, who was still a medical intern. Touched by her plight, Frank offered her the other room in his rental place to live in, and when she was overwhelmed with caring for the children, he would help her look after them.
Later, as Charles and Fannie began to babble, naturally came to see him as their father, being the only male in the house. At first, she feared this title might hinder Frank's prospects of marriage and thought of putting a stop to it.
But Charles and Fannie were young and understood nothing, and Frank had formed a deep bond with them, so he let them continue to call him that. Over time, it was easy enough to correct Charles' way of addressing him, but Fannie was already accustomed to it, and no matter what, she couldn’t change it.
It was the same now. She still called him daddy. And it seemed that Frank had no aversion to the title, making it even harder for Fannie to stop. Sure enough, after Patricia's words, Fannie stuck her tongue out playfully at her.
“I don’t want to, I'm going to call him daddy, because he is my daddy.”
From her earliest memories, Frank had fulfilled the role of her father. He played with them, goofed around with them, and was with them through every significant stage of their lives.
Even when they went to kindergarten, to avoid being looked down upon by the teachers and other children, Frank’s name was the one written in the father section of their forms.
Realizing Patricia’s resignation, Frank’s heart swelled with affection as he fondly ruffled Fannie's little head, his face full of indulgence. “Let her be. She’s always called me that, and I'm used to it. If she suddenly changed, I wouldn’t know how to adjust!”
Seeing neither party had objections, Patricia dropped the subject. The four of them, hand in hand, walked over to the BMW parked by the roadside.
Frank and Patricia stood on either side, with Charles and Fannie in the middle. At first glance, they looked like a happy family of four.
Martin sat in the taxi, the cramped space forcing him to bend over and stick half of his head out of the window to watch them leave, almost gouging a hole in the car door. The moment he saw Charles run towards the man; he almost couldn't resist bursting out of the car.
Throughout his recognition as Charles’s father, Charles had never been so affectionate with him, yet now he was with another man... He had never been so close to Hunter either. Who exactly was this man?
Observing how he looked at Charles and Fannie, could it be...? A bold notion surfaced in Martin's mind.
Contemplating this possibility, his eyes narrowed with danger, a malevolent aura emerged suddenly, and a chill spread wildly in the cramped car.
"Follow that car!"
The driver, who sat in the cab, shivered involuntarily and did not dare to delay even a moment, immediately trailing Patricia's BMW. They arrived at the Sicily Restaurant, in a private room on the second floor.
Jade had arrived early than them. When she saw Frank, Jade immediately got up and greeted him with a big hug.
"Frank, I never thought you'd come to a small place like Ivara City. What a pleasant surprise! It's my treat today, order whatever you like."
After Patricia fled to Country A, she applied to study there right away. That's how she met Frank, through Patricia. One studying and the other interning, to conveniently help look after the two little ones, the three of them ended up living together.
Three years later, the little ones had grown up and went off to kindergarten, and she had completed her studies in Country A, then returned to Ivara City. Before coming back, she made a special request to Frank to take good care of the three of them.
Although she had only lived with Frank for three years, after all, they shared the same roof, and he was sincerely helping Patricia, so over time, they became friends.
Picking up the conversation, Patricia said, "Jade and I know you like Italian food, so we specifically chose the best-rated Italian restaurant in Ivara City, which should suit your taste perfectly."
"Thank you for this yummy treat, I will warn you I won’t hold back!" Frank replied. With that, he sat down next to Fannie, picked up the menu on the table, and began to order.
Meanwhile, Martin had spent a hefty sum to secure the private room next to theirs. Once the room was empty, he pressed his ear against the wall, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation next door.
Luckily, a mere plasterboard divided the two rooms. Listening closely, he could faintly catch the content of their conversation.
Holding the menu, Frank first ordered several dishes that Fannie and Charles loved.
“Fannie can't handle spicy food, so I ordered her some chicken wings, minced pork with steamed eggs, and for dessert, corn cakes. Charles enjoys spicy food and can have the same dishes as me. But he's quite young and his digestive system isn't fully developed, so I made sure to order all of my dishes only mildly spicy.”
Fannie's face lit up with joy as she clung tightly to Frank's arm, "Thank you, Daddy, I always knew you loved me the most."
Martin, from next door, thought he heard the word ‘daddy’? Yet he couldn't be sure. Worried he might have misheard, he couldn't help pressing his ear closer, straining to catch the words more clearly.
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