Chapter 6 Be Nice My Darling

Lyla smiled. For someone to make little Gretel to be so dramatic, he must be handsome to a certain caliber. She could not help but raise an eyebrow and asked, “More handsome than Felix Smith?” “Mhm…” Remembering Felix Smith, Gretel thought hard and compared the two in her mind. “Better, if not the same!” Lyla laughed and could not contain herself when she said, “You little minx!” “I’m not! He really is handsome!” “Alright! Alright! Come on then. We must hurry up and go home!” Gretel nodded and the two pushed the little shopping cart to the payment counter. Meanwhile, outside the supermarket, Kathleen Turner was still clinging to Mark Pattinson as they walked out. “Mark, as I recalled, you were never one to like kids!” “Really now?” Mark replied with a question. “Really!” “Those shouldn’t be my kids…” he said. Kathleen remained quiet as she stared at him. Sometimes, the man was truly an enigmatic presence one would find hard to understand. When they returned, Hansel had already cleaned and tidied the house neatly. Everything was organized and speckless. Layla was so grateful to have such a good kid. “Oh my darling! Thank you so much for the trouble!” said Lyla as she was coming towards her son for a kiss. Hansel remained standing as his sight shot towards Lyla. He felt something akin to his mother merely trying to take advantage of him. Lyla herself was stunned and shocked by the look her son was giving. She ended up kissing him and she said, “My darling, be nice. I am still your mother, you know?” What else could Lyla say? Gretel was snickered away at a corner. She looked at her brother’s face and suddenly, the image of that man she met in the supermarket came into her mind… At that moment, Hansel went and fetched the groceries the mother and daughter bought and was going to arrange them where they should be. At that moment, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get the door!” Gretel cried and she happily scurried towards the door. When she opened the door and saw Abigail, she smiled sweetly and greeted her. “Aunt Abby!” “Oh my, is that my little Gretel!” Abigail was standing at the entrance and when she saw Gretel, she cried out excitingly. “That’s me!” Abigail zoomed forward and hugged Gretel tightly and warmly. “Let me have a look at you! I was only able to look at you through a screen and now I can finally hug the real person!” Gretel allowed Abigail to hug her, albeit it was truly horrendous. Lyla stood there, looking at Gretel and smiling. “That’s enough, Abby. You’ll break my little Gretel!” She turned to Lyla and finally let Gretel go. She shot towards her and said, “You little scoundrel! How long has it been since you came back?” “I’m here now, aren’t I? I’ve missed you!” “If you’ve missed me, you would have returned sooner!” said Abigail. The corner of her eyes started to tear up. “I’m back now. That’s all there is to it. Alright, alright… It’s my bad. Don’t cry…” Lyla consoled her. In just a moment, Abigail smiled and the two shared a hug. It was a long hug. A hug that embodied a meeting of two long-lost people. A hug that brought back memories. Abigail looked at Lyla and asked, “Where’s the other one? Where is Hansel?” “I’m right here, Aunty Abby,” Hansel announced his presence, coolly as he walked out from a corner. When she saw him, Abigail immediately walked towards him and said, “My little Hansel. You look so much cuter than in the videos!” “Is that so? Aunty Abby looked so much prettier from the videos!” How could Lyla not realize that her own son had such a sweet tongue? He was not like that towards herself. After chatting for a bit, Abigail finally offered, “Alright! Seeing as both Hansel and Gretel are here, I will treat dinner tonight! Treat it as a welcoming party!” “What are they to you? Do you really need to show that much face?” “But of course! When you left, you left for so long! Be grateful that I didn’t slaughter you for that!” said Abigail with a huff. “Alright! Alright! Gees…” It was not enough that Lyla had to admit she was wrong. The less she spoke, the better. “My darlings, what do you want to eat?” Abigail asked the two kids. Gretel hugged the Barbie doll and asked, “Aunt Abby, what is there that is good?” “Oh my. Alpine City has lots to offer! We have everything that you could want to eat!” “I’ve heard mummy say that the best thing to eat in Alpine City is the hotpot!” I’ve never had that before!” “That settles it! Your Aunt Abby will take you to some good hotpot!” said Abigail before she swooped in and carried Gretel in her arms and walked away.