CHAPTER 379: CHAPTER 379: CHRISTMAS EVE FRIGHT

After Honey finished the video call with her dad, she hopped off the bed and dashed to her brother’s room. Only she would burst into Seth’s room without knocking, and he was quite used to it.

"Brother!" In a flash, the little girl was by his bed, tugging at his arm. "Dad will be here soon. Let’s hurry and decorate the Christmas tree. It’s only two hours until Christmas, and we need to finish before Santa comes."

As she spoke, she pulled on her brother with a sense of urgency.

Their mom had just called, saying she wouldn’t have time to spend Christmas with them, and told them to go to sleep soon. She even warned them, mainly Honey, that if she didn’t listen to her mom, Santa wouldn’t give her any presents because she’d be considered a naughty child.

Honey was initially disappointed that she couldn’t spend Christmas Eve with her mom. But when she heard Santa might misunderstand, she didn’t dare to complain and went to bed quickly. Still feeling a bit wronged, she immediately thought of her often neglected dad.

Having a dad was great; just one call, and someone would keep her company on Christmas Eve!

Seth saw his sister’s excitement and felt a bit reluctant to dampen her spirits, but he had to ask, "Does mom know dad is coming?" His parents’ relationship was already tense. Even though he believed that seeing each other more would help their relationship, his dad didn’t want to connect with mom now, which might just make mom angrier!

Honey was startled for a moment, suddenly remembering that mom had said dad needed her permission to come.

"Dad... should tell mom, right? Brother, let’s hurry and decorate the tree. Otherwise, we won’t finish before dad gets here."

Seth knew Honey didn’t genuinely care about their parents’ situation. She wouldn’t understand even if he explained, so he said nothing more and got out of bed to prepare for the Christmas Eve countdown.

They had been waiting to decorate together with mom, so the Christmas tree had been left untouched since they bought it. What’s more, they’d bought an oversized tree, and even if both kids stood on stools, they could barely reach a limited area.

In all the previous years, mom would put the star on top of the Christmas tree, promising Honey that she would get to do it when she turned eighteen.

But this year, Honey wanted to do it herself.

However, due to her illness, she was shorter than most six-year-olds, and even on the stool, it was hard for her to place the star.

Honey pursed her lips, focused on the very top, raising her arms, subconsciously standing on her toes.

Mama Bennett was woken up by the noise the two little ones made, threw on a robe and came out, only to find Honey and Seth balancing on stools, decorating the Christmas tree, which frightened her. "Oh dear, my little darlings, what are you doing?"

Honey was startled by the sudden voice, lost her balance, and instinctively reached for the Christmas tree beside her. But the tree was only loosely fixed and couldn’t support a child’s weight.

The next second, while Seth was hanging the snowman ornament, he saw the Christmas tree topple in front of him, and Honey fell directly from the stool onto the tree.

"Honey!" Seth threw down what he was holding and rushed to help Honey up.

Startled, Mama Bennett gasped and hurried over as well. Hearing the commotion, Owen Fulton rushed out of his room.

"I’m fine..." Honey used her brother’s strength to slowly lift her head, a trickle of blood under her nose. Mistaking it for a runny nose, she quickly used her hand to block it.

Seth exhaled deeply, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Mama Bennett quickly instructed her to raise her hand, asking Owen to fetch a towel.

Fortunately, the quality of the Christmas tree was good and large enough, so when Honey fell, the fluffy branches cushioned her fall, leaving only a few small scratches from the plastic pine needles on her face with no other external injuries.

Mama Bennett had already called Ruby Sullivan twice with no answer. She couldn’t treat Honey’s nosebleed as a trivial matter. Though her checkups post-operation had always been good, they still had to be incredibly cautious since she was the host family’s child.

"Honey, are you feeling unwell anywhere else?" Mama Bennett asked with concern.

She knew Honey needed to go to Mercy Hospital for an examination by her attending doctor, so she was anxious, unable to take the child to the hospital without Ruby’s instructions.

Sitting on the sofa, holding a towel to her nose with one hand and raising the other, Honey frowned and said, "Did you just call mom? I’m fine. Don’t make random calls and disturb her work!"

Mama Bennett looked at Honey’s serious expression, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, "Mom asked you to sleep well, so why did you come out?"

Seth noticed Honey struggling to keep her arm up and helped support it, explaining to Mama Bennett, "Dad will be here soon, so no need to worry."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Mama Bennett went to the door and saw it was Ethan Sterling. Relieved, she quickly opened the door to let him in, hurriedly recounting, "Honey just fell off the stool and is having a nosebleed. Should we take her to the hospital for a check-up?"

Ethan Sterling’s expression turned grim as he took large steps inside to check on Honey without even changing his shoes.

"Honey, what happened?"

Seeing her dad made Honey extremely happy, dismissing Mama Bennett’s concerns and welcomes her dad.

"I’m fine, Dad, just a little nosebleed," Honey said with a grin.

Seeing her lively demeanor eased Ethan a little. When Owen Fulton brought the slippers, he changed his shoes.

"Let daddy check if it’s still bleeding." Ethan said as he gently removed the towel from her hand.

Her tender nose was red but no longer bleeding. He sighed with relief, "You can lower your hand now, and if you feel even the slightest discomfort, you must tell daddy immediately, no hiding." He gestured with his fingers, hoping she’d understand the seriousness of the matter.

Hearing her dad’s exaggerated tone, Honey’s mind started to play, mimicking his gesture, "Even the tiniest bit of discomfort, I’ll tell you, Dad."

"Good girl." Ethan lovingly rubbed her head.

Seth was still a bit uneasy, "Shouldn’t she go to the hospital for a check-up?"

"We will, after tomorrow’s kindergarten event, I’ll take her to the hospital," Ethan knew his daughter was looking forward to the Christmas performance and didn’t want to let her down.

"Great, then I won’t miss tomorrow’s performance," Honey beamed.

Ethan looked at the fallen Christmas tree, got up, checked the time and said, "Good, now there’s still more than an hour until Christmas, let’s start decorating the tree!"

Honey and Seth exchanged cheerful glances and joined their dad with smiles.

Meanwhile, at a karaoke bar near the plaza with her colleagues, Ruby Sullivan was singing her heart out, shrieking as she turned the song "Even in Death, I Will Love" into a jumbled mess.

Claire and Tina couldn’t stand her sharp and trembling voice, covering their ears while disapprovingly using other microphones, "Alright, alright, we get that you and Mr. Sterling are in love, no need for such high-profile declarations."

Ruby made a face at them, undisturbed, continuing to sing, while Howard’s face turned a little unpleasant after a sip of beer.