Chapter 217
Chapter 217
Frederick had a hunch that he had seen the boy before.
Just as he was pondering on the latter’s identity, Kara interrupted his thoughts and called out impatiently, “Uncle Frederick, stop dilly-dallying! Let’s go home! I want to celebrate my birthday and have some cake!”. “Oh! Alright, then!” Frederick could only carry out his duties as Kara’s loyal chauffeur. She was the birthday star, so her orders must be heeded!
Soon, the car came to a halt in front of an apartment building. Keith followed the others out of the car. – Tina and Kara’s living quarters might not be big, but the place was decorated nicely. At first
THE STREET glance, it looked very cozy to live in. The common quarters were plastered with artwork produced by Kara in her kindergarten classes. Everywhere Keith looked, he would spy cute plushies here and there. Kara was friendly and welcoming to the new guest. She demonstrated her hospitality by locating a pair of small indoor slippers. “This is my favorite pair of slippers. They’re shaped like cute bears! I’ll let you wear them.” However, Keith’s expression started becoming grim. Not only did the slippers sport the appearance of cute bears, but they were also colored a bright pink “I don’t wear slippers like these!” he replied huffily. “Huh? You don’t like bears? What about yellow duckies?” Kara fetched a pair of bright yellow slippers that sported duckling patterns. “I don’t want those as well.” “Hmm… What about giraffes? Or sheep slippers?” Kara kept presenting more slippers in front of Keith, each pair cuter than the one before. The boy was completely speechless by now. He was never talkative to begin with, but it was impossible for him to speak up in front of the mother and daughter combo, especially when Kara was involved. “Do you have any normal-looking slippers?” . Kara felt hurt on the inside. “These slippers are so cute! Why don’t you like them?” “I just don’t like them åt all, okay?” Tina tried to appease the boy by saying, “Kara’s slippers are categorized under the theme of cute animals. If you don’t like them, you can always wear regular grown-up’s slippers.”
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11
I Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
Keith finally agreed to that. Kara was quick to let go of her grievances. She couldn’t wait to start her birthday celebration, so she took out the party hats, plates, forks, and a small bunch of birthday candles. “I’m turning five years old today, so we need to place five candles on the cake! All of you can place one candle each, and I’ll place the remaining two candles!” Tina and Frederick accepted the candles, but Keith backed away from Kara with a look of disgust. “Low quality candles can cause harm to the human body once lit. Aren’t you afraid of getting poisoned?”
Kara replied, “Huh? We’ll get poisoned by the candles? Then, let’s skip the candle-lighting process. Can I cut the cake now?” “Cakes aren’t good for your health as well. Most of them are produced using hydrogenated vegetable oil, after all. Even the chocolate used as your cake filling isn’t real. It’s actually a cocoa butter replacer that contains trans fatty acid.” Upon studying the cake painted with rainbow colors and had animals drawn on the surface, Keith added in the same disgusted tone, “Plus, your cake has so much weird stuff drawn all over the surface. That means the food coloring has definitely exceeded the safety levels.”
Kara could only listen to Keith’s complaints in confusion. Imaginary stars were beginning to spin around her head. After that, Keith glanced at Tina and Erederick. “Don’t you know about all this information as parents? How on earth did you educate your child?” All three of them couldn’t say anything in retaliation. In the end, Kara was the first one to speak up first. Confusion colored her tone as she exclaimed, “T- Today is my birthday! Don’t you eat cakes during your birthday?” “I never celebrate my birthday! It’s a ridiculously childish thing to do!” Keith might only be a child, but the moment he opened his mouth, his razor-sharp words could hurt everyone’s feelings in the room. Sorrow overcame Kara at that instant. Her lips scrunched into a pout, and she could feel big fat tears rolling down her cheeks like broken strings of
pearls. “All I want to do is to celebrate my birthday… I want to eat that cake…” Keith didn’t expect to drive the little girl in front of him into tears, crying like a baby. “What on earth are you crying for?”
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