"Sorry to keep you all waiting." Ace wore a faint smile as he sat down beside Joanna, as if they hadn't just argued.
Joanna glared at him, but could not do anything else since they were both guests there. Finally, she just sighed in annoyance and started eating.
The atmosphere at the dining table was surprisingly warm and pleasant.
Jane was nibbling a chicken drumstick, and both her hands and mouth were stained with sauce. She looked adorable.
Joanna's heart softened when she looked at her. She was about to take a tissue paper to wipe Jane's hands and mouth for her.
but Ace beat her to it. He gently wiped her mouth and said affectionately. "Greedy girl. Your mouth is dirty."
Joanna was slightly stunned as she looked at him, a strange emotion stirring in her. She had never seen him so gentle and
patient before. He didn't look like the superior and aloof Ace, he seemed quite caring now.
Her anger towards him instantly faded.
Jane broke into a smile as she looked up at Ace and said childishly. "Uncle Ace, you're more handsome than a celebrity. I'd better call you Brother Ace instead so you'll be a better match for Sister Joanna!"
"Hah! She definitely got that right!" Anthony and his wife burst into laughter, amused at how clever their daughter was.
"Mr. Moran, it seems like you love kids too. Would you rather have sons or daughters?" Anthony took a sip of his wine and asked Ace warmly.
Surprisingly, Ace seemed quite relaxed, and his Mr. Iceberg persona was nowhere to be seen. He replied honestly." Daughters are cuter and more considerate. If I had a daughter as cute as Jane. I'd spoil her terribly. But sons are good too… They can hike, ski, play basketball, and do business with me, but most importantly I can beat them up!" There was now a faint smile on his face, as if he was imagining himself with his future children.
Sophia said brightly. "If that's the case, you've got to have two children. Women need a few years to get pregnant and give birth, so you guys need to hurry up!"
Anthony chimed in. "Technically, they can try to get a pair of twins of mixed genders, so they'll have both a son and a daughter
at the same time."
Sophia rolled her eyes at Anthony. "Do you think people can get twins if they wish for it? It's such a small probability, and you've got to have the genes for that…"
She then looked at Ace and asked, "Mr. Moran, does that kind of gene run in your family?"
Ace shook his head. "No, not that I know of."
Suddenly, Anthony smiled, his eyes lighting up. "Ah, what a coincidence! I remember that gene runs in Joan's family!"
Sophia also nodded immediately. "That's right, Joan had a twin elder brother, but he died from strangulation of the umbilical cord around his neck right after he was born. Poor thing…"
Ace was slightly surprised, and he looked at Joanna and asked, "You had a twin brother?"
"Yes, but it's not something my family tells outsiders." Joanna could not help but sigh. That incident had hurt her parents very much, so her family pretended that her brother never existed. They never mentioned him ever since then.
Joanna only ever talked about it with Sophia, who was a former lecturer of Biology, for the purpose of academic research.
"Well, it's a high possibility for Joan to have a pair of mixed–gender twins. Mr. Moran, maybe you could give it a shot with Joan if you want both a son and a daughter?" Sophia suggested, eagerly trying to set them up.
"Ahem!" Joanna felt extremely awkward, so she quickly ducked her head and focused on eating.
However, Ace appeared unaffected and said lightly, "I'll take it into consideration."
'What the hell?!' Joanna silently cursed him. "Who do you think you are? Are you a king trying to pick your queen? Did you even ask for my consent?'
Anthony subconsciously glanced at Joan's slightly swollen belly and asked cheekily, "Joan, I feel like your belly is getting bigger. Are you perhaps already pregnant with a pair of twins?"
"Pift!" Joanna spat out the soup in her mouth, face flushed and eyes wide. "Professor, what are you saying?! It's not that easy to get pregnant! People will surely get the wrong idea if they heard that!"
Sophia tilted her head and observed Joanna's belly. She then frowned and said. "I get where he's coming from. Your belly does look a bit bigger now…"
" don't side with your husband!" Joanna groaned, then said calmly. "I'm just too happy after getting the divorce, so
I've let myself go a little. I'm not watching my weight like I did when I was still married. I never ate enough back then, and that's why I was slim!"
They found her explanation reasonable. Sophia nodded and said, "That's right. If women don't watch what they eat, they can put on weight very easily."
Ace, however, was staring at her intently. Joanna seemed composed now, but he had noticed her initial panic that she had quickly stifled. People always said that when one tried very hard to explain the situation, they were usually attempting to cover something up. Was there really something unusual with her belly?
However, he did not ask anything further. He just grabbed a tissue paper and handed it to her. "Wipe your mouth."
It was still early after the meal. Ace planned to leave, but Jane didn't want him to. She insisted on going out with him and Joanna.
"Brother Ace, Sister Joanna, let's go out and have fun! Dad and Mom get tired easily, so they can't take me out. I'm so bored at home!" The little girl whined.
They nodded in agreement, looking at their daughter sympathetically. "She's right. We're old, and usually busy doing research. She always stays alone at home to read. She's not like other kids whose young parents take them out to experience all kinds of new things…"
Both Ace and Joanna were left with no options; they could only agree and take Jane out.
They drove to a nearby shopping mall, and once they entered the building. Jane rushed towards the arcade.
"Brother Ace, Sister Joanna, I want to shoot zombies!" The little girl said excitedly, and ran to a machine with a zombie game.
Ace strode over, but Joanna was standing outside uncomfortably. There were many people in the arcade, and it was quite noisy. She was pregnant now, so it seemed quite unsuitable for her to enter the place.
"Why are you just standing there?" Ace turned around to look at Joanna.
"I…" Joanna thought hard, then eventually said, "I didn't sleep well last night, and it's stuffy in there. I'll get dizzy if I go in."
Ace stared at her for a while, but didn't say anything, and eventually made his way into the arcade.
After a while, it was clear that the two of them were having fun or more accurately, Jane was having fun.
"Sister Joanna, Brother Ace is great at these games! He won many gift coupons for me, so I got a lot of gifts in exchange!" Carrying a pile of gifts, Jane handed a toy panda to Joanna. "This is Mama Panda, and it's for you. This is Papa Panda, and it's for Brother Ace. As for this Baby Panda…"
She paused for a while before she pointed at Joanna's belly and said, "I'll take care of the baby first, and give it to the baby in your belly in the future!"
"Umm…" Joanna felt awkward again as she patted Jane's head and said, "Hate to break it to you, but I'm not pregnant."
"It's fine. You'll get pregnant sooner or later," the little girl said cheerfully.
Joanna was speechless. She glanced at Ace anxiously, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that he wasn't listening to them.
The three of them headed somewhere else, not noticing that someone was following them from afar…