Vernon was making pancakes for breakfast with the help of Chloe by his side. Mackie had been watching them from the living room, peeking from time to time, finding herself enjoying watching Mommy and Uncle in harmony in the kitchen.
It wasn't a new experience anymore for her. Uncle and Mommy always cooked together these days because of Mommy's injury. But that still didn't erase the novelty for the Little girl.
In her eyes, just seeing her Mommy smiling over the simplest thing was enough to bring joy to Mackie. After all, her Mommy had been suffering for so long living with her Daddy.
Mackie still hadn't exactly grasped the whole thing. But not because she was ignorant. She kept observing her surroundings and learning about new things each day, but her Mommy—and Uncle—always kept her in the dark, never telling her what exactly went wrong with her Daddy.
Nevertheless, Mackie knew that Daddy wasn't as good as Mommy portrayed him because no good man would beat her Mom until she couldn't use her right hand for a month.
Truth be told, Mackie never had high expectations of her father. She wished that her Daddy would accompany her, fulfill all his promises, and accompany Mommy during any school events.
But he was always busy, and Mackie clung to the idea that Daddy was a good person because Mommy kept telling her so.
'Mommy, I don't understand…' Mackie pondered. 'Why did you stay with Daddy if you're not happy? I don't want to befriend Jaden and Mia anymore after they bullied me. But why did you stay with Daddy?'
Mackie had a lot on her little mind when Chloe called her, "Mackie! Time for breakfast!"
"Um! Coming!" Mackie jumped from the sofa and rushed to the dinner table to eat with Mommy and Uncle.
She climbed the chair and sat right next to her Uncle, who had already prepared three stacks of pancakes, complete with maple syrup and honey bottle on the side.
Mackie's eyes marveled, and she started digging in without waiting for anyone.
"Eat slowly, dear. You'll choke," Chloe advised as she put a glass of water on her side.
Mackie chewed slower and swallowed the food in her mouth, "Un! Thanks, Mommy! Thank you for the pancake too, Uncle! It's tasty!"
"It's fine. Go eat," Vernon said.
They ate together until Vernon finished first and then told Chloe, "You need to go to the hospital today. I will call the doctor to be ready to take off your cast. It's been a month, and it should be healed perfectly."
Chloe nodded slowly until she swallowed her food, then replied, "I think so too. I can feel my arm inside this cast already. I think I'll be fine."
"Whoa! Mommy will be able to use two hands now?"
Chloe smiled at her daughter, "Yes, dear. I can finally cook for you and your Uncle again."
"Can I go to the hospital with you? I want to see it too!"
"You can't. You have to go to school, and it's almost winter break, remember? You will probably get a lot of assignments for it. You can't miss it," Chloe said. "Besides, it will only take an hour at best, dear."
"Awww, okay then," Mackie was a little disappointed. But her Mommy was right.
It was almost winter break, and the teachers would give everyone a lot of homework until winter break ended, so she had to be prepared not to miss any of it.
"Go to the hospital after driving Mackie to school. I'll have to go to work early today," Vernon said. After breakfast, he went inside his room to do some morning freshen-up. He left his room with a working suit and briefcase in his hand.
He was about to leave until he stopped halfway and returned to the dining table, where Mackie and Chloe were still cleaning up their plates.
He kissed Chloe and Mackie on the cheek as if it was an everyday thing and said, "I'd love to have dinner ready once I return home. I'll be home early today."
Chloe's cheeks reddened after getting a kiss on the cheek from Vernon, while Mackie didn't seem to mind at all. She just thought it was a natural thing to do.
"Mhm, I'll be sure to cook a feast after I get my cast removed. I've been itching to cook something with my own hands," Chloe said.
Vernon smiled, "I'll be off then, see you on dinner."
"Un! Good luck at work, Uncle!"
Chloe and Mackie left the apartment thirty minutes later. They sat in the backseat of the car, with the driver being as strict and silent as always, like a robot.
"Mommy, will you go somewhere else after having your cast removed?" Mackie asked out of curiosity.
"Mhm, I'll be buying your Granny some clothes because she needs them, and I'll do some grocery shopping. I'll start making your lunch again tomorrow, so you don't need to eat cafeteria food again, okay?"
"Whooo! Finally!" Mackie cheered. "Um, the cafeteria food is nice, but Mommy's food is better!"
"Hihi, alright then, I will make one for you."
Chloe dropped Mackie in front of the school. She watched Mackie enter the main hall before she returned to the car.
"Where are we going next, Madam?" the driver asked.
Honestly, Chloe felt a little disturbed by the new title. She didn't know if it was Vernon's order or the driver's initiative to call her Madam Phoenix Gray as if she had been married to Vernon already.
She didn't hate it, but it was a new thing for her.
Because when she lived with Vincent, nobody called her Madam Gray because Vincent always told them not to put Chloe in high regard.
They should know that Vincent was still the Master of the house, and Chloe was a mere wife of the Master who happened to handle a few light tasks.
So she never expected herself to be put in such high regard.