The convenient marriage

Chapter 53. Longing

"Sir, the peanuts have been showing signs of teething. They have begun chewing on their rattle toys more frequently these days. The younger brother even stole his older brother's toy to chew on it. But the latter is indeed an older brother, he did not make a fuss or cry at all." A maid cheerfully recounted the happenings of the day.

"They also adore Pudding very much, the troublemaker went out of the room for a second and both of them started crying. They only stopped when the butler forcefully brought him back." Another maid also added.

Zane only nodded at the information the maids were relaying as he ate his dinner.

Normally, it was rude of the two maids to keep on speaking while the master of the house was having his dinner. As professionals, naturally the both of them knew this, but Zane's mother had insisted that each time Zane returned home from work he was to be kept up to date on his two sons' daily shenanigans.

And as Zane had restarted going to the office since a month ago, the only free time he had after work was during his dinner.

The hour at which he came back home each day couldn't be said to be a late one, on the contrary he was on the dot each day at a usual ending hour, perhaps even earlier than normal at times. But still when he came back home, the time was limited for others to see him and talk to him.

As for why this was... everyone from the mansion knew fully well.

Since the doctors had deemed the mistress's situation irrecuperable, the master had renovated her bedroom and turned it into a fully equipped hospital room and moved Aria home. So most of his time home was spent accompanying her in the bedroom.

Although to the outside world it may have seemed that Zane had given up on trying to cure Aria, and only wished for her final days to be spent in her own home comfortably, this assumption couldn't be farther from the truth.

Aria's medical records were still passed around everywhere Zane's assistants could send them to, he was even more fervently than in the beginning in his actions in his attempt to wake her up. It was only because Zane was aware that his mother couldn't keep on handling the firm alone that he had taken Aria home. He also hoped that being in her own home with her loved ones aided in jolting her awake.

Listening to one or two more happenings of the day, Zane swiftly finished his dinner and went up the stairs to have a bath and change his clothes. Then no sooner had he finished, he immediately walked to Aria's room and as quietly as possible entered.

The fair lady appeared as frail as she had been the day she had given birth, but considering that more than four months had passed since that time, in actual fact she looked very well taken care of. Surrounding her bed, the multitude of machines made the room appeared akin to a hospital ward rather than the cozy bedroom Aria previously occupied. But unfortunately the machines were what kept her alive and so it was impossible for them to be removed.

With gentle movements Zane removed her blanket and started the routine of the day. With the advice of the two professional caretakers, who were in fact the persons that took care of Aria when Zane was at work, he gently massaged her muscles to keep her body as fit as it could be considering the circumstances.

From the tip of her fingertips to the sole of her feet, every part was skillfully massaged, he had done it over a hundred times already so it was to be expected.

An hour later with the massage and other miscellaneous duties finished, he softly placed the blanket back and tucked the small hands inside the covering, before slowly kissing the cheek of the petite woman.

With all the time that had passed, one might think that Zane's feelings and distress were slowly cooling down, that he was accepting the situation and adapting to it. At least that is how his face appeared to be, the somber face and cold like personality from before he had fallen in love with Aria had returned intact, perhaps he had become even colder than he was in the past.