Chapter 12 Natural-Born Charmer

After a good while, Jodie finally returned to the hospital. In the meantime, Rue was pacing in front of the ward anxiously. Seeing Jodie's return, Rue hurriedly held onto Jodie's hand. "Jodie, you're back. Something has happened at the office, I need to go. I'll leave Rachel in your good hands." Jodie nodded. "Alright, go. But when would Rachel..." Before Jodie could finish her sentence, Rue had begun to walk away. Although she proceeded to extend her arm, she still could not stop Rue from leaving. "When would Rachel be able to return to the Bennets." Jodie shook her head before she entered the ward carefully. As she watched over an unconscious Rachel, she exhaled deeply. "Rachel, why are you doing this to yourself?" At midnight, the eyelashes of a pale-faced woman in bed trembled subtly. Rachel slowly opened her eyes with bouts of panic. She sat up in such a sudden movement that it alerted Jodie who had her head by the side of the bed. "My child! Where is my baby?" Rachel placed her hand on her flat belly in a frenzy. Jodie soothed Rachel's back softly and helped her get into a comfortable position before she said, "Don't panic, Rachel, your baby is sleeping in the nursery. I've seen him, he's a beautiful and healthy baby." Rachel clutched Jodie's arm tightly. "Let me see, let me see him! Don't let my parents know, they will take my baby away from me!" Jodie nodded as she continued to soothe Rachel. "Okay, Rachel, don't worry. I will bring you your baby." When Jodie walked out of the ward, she slowed down her pace. Given that Rachel had just given birth, she was quite emotionally unstable. If she had told Rachel that Rue and Mrs. Bennet were here before, she would have freaked out. 'Well, nothing happened, so I'll just keep this from Rachel.' With the baby in her arms, Jodie looked at the infant incubator and frowned a little. 'Strange, why would they put one baby in a twin incubator?' However, when she thought about how Rachel was anxiously waiting for her child, Jodie shook her head and walked out of the nursery. Only when Rachel looked at the sleeping baby in her own arms did she finally relax. "Jodie, thank you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have known what to do." Sitting by the bedside, Jodie grinned as she poked the baby's chubby face. "I am, after all, the baby's godmother." The hospital bed was big and cold, but the only thing that had brought Rachel warmth was the child in her arms as well as Jodie, who had been on her beck and call. Jodie gawked at the baby in Rachel's arms, her eyes filled with surprise. "Rachel, all the news sites were talking about your one night stand with a hideous-looking middle-aged man, but the child doesn't look like that at all! This child is such a natural-born charmer!" Rachel hugged the baby with a firmer grip, her pale face full of determination. "No matter what the newspapers are saying, he is my child." Jodie stared at Rachel in awe for just a moment. She had known Rachel since they were young, so she knew how much Rachel had been through, even the many times Rachel had taken the blame for Rue and never spoken up. This time, however, she had stood up to her biased parents for the first time, all for this child! A kind smile appeared on Jodie's handsome face. "Rachel, pick a name for your baby!" The corner of Rachel's mouth curved upwards lovingly as she filled the room with a motherly presence. "Ziggy." Even before the baby was born, she had already decided on a name for him. Jodie muttered the name under her breath and beamed up. "Ziggy is a good name, it's as cool as mine!" Tiny Ziggy then opened his eyes slowly, his eyes full of life and spirit. Unlike other babies who would wail the moment they opened their eyes, Ziggy reached out with his tiny hands and moved them around. His gaze was locked onto Rachel in front of him. "Ee-eh, ee-eh~" Rachel was just a little taken aback before she reached out to Ziggy with her hand. Ziggy then raised both his tiny hands and grabbed onto Rachel's index finger. The moment he caught Rachel's finger, Ziggy closed his eyes and laughed before he immediately drifted off to sleep on Rachel's bosom. Encouraged by Ziggy's cuteness, Jodie quickly placed her hand beside Ziggy's. "Come on Ziggy, I'm your godmother." Ziggy opened his prominent eyes and glanced at Jodie's fingers briefly, then turned away coldly and burrowed into his mother's warm bosom once more. Jodie looked stunned as she stared at Ziggy and suppressed her urge to slap the baby's bottom. Rachel laughed lightly at the cheery scenario. However, she still felt a sense of emptiness as she caressed her flat belly absently. She did not know what or why, but it felt as if she was missing something — something important to her and she could feel it. In the same city, piercing howls and wails of a newborn filled the entire Bennet villa. It felt like the endless crying was going to shatter the entire building. Mr. Bennet stared unhappily at the baby in Mrs. Bennet's arms. "Where did you get the bastard child from?" Even though Mrs. Bennet was shocked at the accusation, she moved carefully while she carried the child. "Darling, you can't say that! This baby is Edward Bluemel's child!" Mr. Bennet was taken by surprise as disbelief crept onto his face. "Edward Bluemel's child? How could that be?! I've never heard about Edward Bluemel's relationship with anyone!" Rue held her father's arm as she repeated the words she had told Mrs. Bennet earlier. "Dad, that's where we're at." Mr. Bennet slumped onto his sofa. It was as if all of his strength was sapped away. The affair Rachel had the other night was with Edward Bluemel! Yet he had kicked Rachel out from the Bennet family without a hint of pity or sympathy! Mrs. Bennet, who was fully convinced by Rue, looked at Mr. Bennet. "We have no other choice. We have settled for Rachel's existence as Rue's stepping stone from the beginning. As long as Rue becomes Mrs. Bluemel, the Bennet family's fame will rise to unparalleled height!"