Before Rachel could say anything, Jolly rolled her eyes at Justin. “I invited him to this trip. What if both of us defenseless women bump into someone or get into trouble up on the mountains? We’ll need a man to help us.”
Immediately, Justin frowned. “Am I not one?”
“Well, who knew you were coming?”
Trying to mediate the dispute between them, Rachel cut in, “Alright, you guys. It’s getting late. Let’s go quickly while the weather’s not hot.” As she spoke, she walked toward Julian. “Hurry up and come down, Samuel. You’re too heavy.”
“He’s not.” Julian grinned as he handed her a bottle of water. “Here, drink some water.”
“Aww… Juice made out of love?” Jolly jeered, “Only Rachel gets a drink and I don’t.”
Glancing at her, Julian replied, “I have more in my car. I’ll get some for you.”
While the three joked around intimately, Justin stood behind and watched. His face turned dark as he felt left out.
“It’s fine. I don’t deserve it. I’ve already gotten used to it abroad.”
Suddenly, a sigh sounded beside them. “Ugh…”
Arms crossed like a little adult, Charlotte shook her head at Justin. “Daddy, I already told you to bring some breakfast, but you refused to listen. Look at that. Somebody else has taken the chance!”
He tensed. “If such trivial matters could win her favor, it need not wait till today.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” She patted his hand. “Watch me and Samuel later.”
When they reached the entrance to the mountain, Jolly parted ways with the others at the intersection to take the cable car while the rest walked up the mountain.
With that, Jolly went away light-heartedly in her eye-catching wide-brimmed sun hat. Rachel sighed in relief as she didn’t want to be caught walking with Jolly who dressed up as if she was going on holiday to the Maldives. How embarrassing.
“Let’s go!” Rachel beckoned the others.
On cue, the three adults and two children followed the trail and walked up the mountain.
Along the way, Julian chatted with Rachel. “The hospital seminar this time seems to be pretty long. You’ve been back for quite some time already.”
“They offered me a permanent position here, but I’m still considering it.”
“Tran-Q is the most prestigious surgical hospital here. Besides, there are very few cases abroad. I think staying here would suit you best if you’re committed to doing clinical research.”
“I’m not worried about that.”
“Then, what is it?”
Julian didn’t reply to her question but asked her in response, “Are you planning to stay here, or will you be returning to Montenegro?”
Hearing this, she was dumbfounded for a moment. All of a sudden, he grabbed onto her. “Hey, careful!” As a result, she narrowly avoided a rock that rolled down from the mountain. The rock hit the spot where she was earlier and rolled to the side of the trail.
Right then, they were standing so close together that she was almost in his arms already. Shocked, her face turned pale.
Watching the both of them, Justin frowned even more. Hastily, he stepped forward and pulled Rachel over. When he did that, she stumbled.
Fortunately, Julian noticed it and pulled her other hand at once. Taking her other arm, Julian looked at Justin with a cold expression. “Justin, what are you trying to do?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking what you’re trying to do?”
Julian, who was usually gentle and calm, exploded. “Do I have to discuss with you before I do anything? Don’t forget that there’s nothing between you and Rae anymore!”
“So what? She’s Charlotte’s mother. How could you behave like that in front of Charlotte?”
“There are some things that the kids should know earlier to avoid wishful thinking.”
“What do you mean?” Justin’s eyes darkened as he stared at Julian intensely.
Both of them held onto her wrist tightly and argued without giving Rachel a chance to speak. Just listening to them gave her a headache. Right then, she shook Justin’s hand off and drew her hand back from Julian. “Can we go?” Then, she kicked the rock to Justin and stared at him sullenly. “Would you be happy if I got hit by a rock?”
Just as Justin was about to reply, Charlotte shouted, “Mommy!”
Rachel gazed at Charlotte. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Hungry?” Rachel looked around. “There’s a restaurant at the top of the mountain. Hold on a little longer, okay? We’ll be reaching soon.”
“But I’m really hungry now.” Charlotte pouted. As she said this, she kept winking at Samuel.
Immediately, the boy knew what she was trying to do. “Ouch! It hurts!” He wrapped his arms around his belly and crouched.
“What’s the matter?” She rushed over to him. “Where does it hurt?”
“I’m having a stomach ache. I want to go poo,” Samuel told her.
“Didn’t you go to the toilet just now? What happened?”
Seeing this, Julian came over. “Samuel, let me see.”
Samuel shook his head intensely, scrunching his face while hugging his stomach. “I want to go poo!”
“There’s a washroom at the top of the mountain. Can’t you hold it?” asked Rachel.
“How can anyone hold their poop?” Pulling Julian’s hand, Charlotte told him, “Uncle Julian, you should take the cable car down with Samuel quickly. Otherwise, he would poop in his pants.”
Upon hearing this, Samuel smirked but kept his hand on his stomach as he crouched on the floor, pretending to be in pain.
Then, Julian asked him, “Can you hold on a little longer? I’ll take the cable car down with you.”
Samuel nodded his head furiously.
Immediately, Charlotte blurted, “I want to go too!” At that moment, a sense of triumph filled her. As long as we distract Uncle Julian, Mommy and Daddy will get some alone time. With that, the chances of them getting back together will be greater.
It was at that moment that Justin understood what she meant by ‘watch me when they were at the bottom of the mountain. That little minx. She’s young but she sure has many tricks up her sleeve.
Initially, he had wanted to say something, but he got annoyed thinking of how close Julian and Rachel were, so he pretended not to care and said nothing.
“Alright. I’ll bring the kids down, Rae.” Without any hint of doubt, Julian took Samuel’s hand and asked Charlotte to come along.
“Hold on” Rachel stopped him.
“What’s wrong?” He turned to look at her with a puzzled expression.
Squatting down to meet Samuel’s gaze, she asked, “Samuel, look me in the eye and tell Mommy. Do you really want to go to the washroom because you’re having a stomach ache?”
Julian froze upon hearing this.
Meanwhile, Rachel held Samuel’s hand and looked at him seriously. Charlotte always had funny ideas, and Rachel could see through her easily.
However, Samuel was not a simple-minded child, so it was difficult to predict what they were trying to do. As he bit his lip, he caught Charlotte blinking at him desperately from the corner of his eye. There was nothing he could do now, so he bit the bullet and nodded. “Yes, it hurts.”
“You’re having a stomach ache, right? Mommy will go with you then.”
