Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 504: 502 Vera Hale and Ivy Shea (1)
Chapter 504: 502 Vera Hale and Ivy Shea (1)
Vera was born to be uniquely pampered.
Not to mention that the Hale Family had long been hoping for such an adorable and soft baby, even the Payne Family treated her exceptionally well. While Zoe was still in confinement, her mother sent over a heap of jewelry.
William prepared a princess room for her, complete with a walk-in closet and a special room for storing jewelry. He was almost inseparable from his little princess, thinking everything about her was perfect. Whenever he had time, he would take over the tasks of preparing milk and changing diapers.
Perhaps because of her previous dance background and the fact that she had a natural delivery, Zoe recovered very quickly.
With the help of a professional postpartum nurse, she hardly had to take care of the baby herself.
Her only responsibility was to eat well, sleep well, and play with the baby.
This led to her feeling rather bored during her entire confinement period, so she ended up coming up with various new perfume formulas.
After confinement, the task of taking care of the baby was mostly taken over by several elders in the Hale Family. Zoe started to manage her store’s business and resumed dancing.
Vera was very well-behaved and seemed to be fine with anyone taking care of her.
But occasionally, there were times when nothing could soothe her.
For instance, when she was a little over two months old, Zoe was just doing an inventory check at the store, and William was not at home either. As Vera couldn’t be soothed, Lily called Zoe.
When Zoe rushed home, she found the little one sleeping in Old Sir Hale’s arms.
Old Sir Hale was singing “The Red Lantern,” and his mouth had gone numb from singing.
Because of this, Old Sir Hale, at his advanced age, started learning opera at home. He would croon all day long, driving everyone in the Hale Family crazy, especially since he had smoked incessantly when he was younger, making his voice…
Terribly unpleasant!
Wyatt privately described it as:
A voice like a duck!
When Vera heard Great-Grandpa sing opera, she would babble along.
However, despite Old Sir Hale’s efforts to win her favor, he couldn’t shake William’s place in her heart. As soon as she saw her dad, no matter how much she was crying, she would calm down immediately when he held her.
Besides her parents, in the Hale Family, her favorite was—
Finn!
The first time Finn saw Vera, he liked her immensely. She was truly beautiful, with eyes that resembled Zoe’s lychee eyes, obedient and adorable.
However, at their first encounter, Old Sir Hale introduced him like this:
“Baby, this is also your grandpa, third in line, he’s your Third Grandpa…”
Third Grandpa was enough,
Why add “little” before it?
Finn and Sussie lived outside, so they didn’t visit the old house often. But every time Vera saw him, she seemed especially excited and was very quiet in his arms, always staring at him intently.
Old Sir Hale lamented, “She’s still young, can’t tell who’s a big bad wolf.”
Brock, her actual grandpa, watched on enviously.
But he couldn’t decide who the child liked, so he could only buy more toys to try and catch her attention.
But alas,
Vera didn’t seem interested in toys.
However, Finn also had his moments of chaos, because babies need to be burped after feeding. Once, she…
Spat up all over him.
With such a precious little one, whoever came home had to take a look at her first. Vera’s 100-day banquet wasn’t elaborate; they simply had a meal with close family and friends because the weather was cooling down, and the little one accidentally caught a cold and got a fever.
She couldn’t speak and just kept crying, wouldn’t take medicine or drink milk.
When she was taken to the hospital, her finger was pricked for a blood test, and she cried so hard she could barely catch her breath.
William, being a doting father, was heartbroken.
The entire Hale Family was in a frenzy.
They were worried that the 100-day banquet with too many people could lead to another infection, especially since it was flu season, so they only invited close friends and family.
After her illness, Vera wasn’t in good spirits, always listless.
It was then that…
She saw Ivy.
Ivy, who was over three months older than Vera, nearly seven months old, was dressed fashionably and stylishly. She immediately went to hold Vera’s hand upon seeing her.
Vera’s eyes brightened up a bit.
When the two kids were placed on the same bed, the previously hard-to-soothe Vera quickly fell asleep next to Ivy.
Ivy was like a magical sleep aid.
William even wanted to borrow her for a few days, leaving Hannah speechless, “Do you take my son as a tool?”
“I just want them to bond as siblings.”
What kind of bond could a few months old kids form?
Hannah still stayed at the Hale Family for a few days with her child.
Isaac’s personality really seemed to have been inherited by Ivy. Even at a young age, she seemed quite observant, knowing whom to please in the Hale Family, always sticking close to Old Lady Hale.
She would smile so brightly at the Old Lady, but towards Old Sir Hale…
Her smiles were always perfunctory and fake.
At an age when even controlling bathroom needs was difficult, how could emotions be controlled?
So Old Sir Hale could see through it right away:
This kid’s smile wasn’t genuine!
Still, he thought his Vera was cuter.
However, since Ivy started eating solid food, the few precious leafy greens in Old Sir Hale’s garden went straight into her tummy.
**
This New Year, the Hale Family was particularly lively, not just because Vera was their little joy, but also because Finn and Sussie were about to have their wedding after the New Year.
The date was set for when spring blossoms in a traditional Chinese ceremony. Sussie’s entire outfit, from pearl hairpins to jade ornaments and gold accessories, was crafted by Tim Payne, a gift from him as her senior brother.
She wore a phoenix coronet and a gown with embroidered dragons and phoenixes. Under the lights, she looked like a fairy.
During the ceremony, Vera, who was initially sitting in Julia’s arms, shifted to Cressida’s lap.
She seemed particularly fond of beautiful people.
She clung to Cressida and refused to leave.
“Vera is just too adorable.”
“Do you like kids so much?” Tim whispered as he got closer to her, “How about… we try tonight…”
“Try what?”
“Making a baby.”
Cressida felt that since someone got a taste of intimacy, he became shameless, saying such indecent things in such settings.
On stage, the ceremony had ended, and both parents were accepting the tea from the bridal couple.
Even though he called Finn unfilial, Old Sir Hale’s eyes still reddened when he saw him getting married. He choked several times while giving his speech.
He was old now and had been blessed with wealth and fortune in this life.
All he wished for was a peaceful home and happiness for his children and grandchildren.
Finn’s wedding was exceptionally grand, with almost everyone of some standing in their circles attending. Michael initially thought of playing pranks on the newlyweds but gave up after receiving a death threat from his little uncle.
One had to keep the bridal chamber peaceful on the wedding night.
Despite all the precautions…
Their wedding night was still disrupted.
Somehow, little Vera clung to her third grandpa, insisting on being held and soothed by him. Even Zoe couldn’t do anything about it.
In the end, Finn had to put her to sleep before he could go back to his wedding duties.
Zoe felt rather embarrassed and wanted to treat the newlyweds to a meal. But she heard that…
Finn and his wife had already left for their honeymoon that very night!
Zoe twitched her lips:
That was really unnecessary!