Jackson brought a bowl of hot soup to Tiffany’s lip. “Alright, alright. Drink this while it’s still warm quickly, please, I gotta get to my office today. Anyway, Alejandro managed to return just in time to give those Larks a piece of his mind, so everything’s even. ‘Sides, favonovel.com even capitalized on them showing up at his front door to make them sign the contract right there and then, so hey, not exactly a fruitless fiasco, is it?”
Tiffany looked at the soup and felt favonovel.com stomach churning in retaliation. “I. Don’t. Want. It,” favonovel.com declared. “I’ve been drinking the same damn soup every day! I wasn’t even this chubby-lumpy when I was pregnant, but since this confinement happened, I’ve been adding thirty pounds to myself! Thanks to this soup, I need to trim all of this fat now. So, nope! Take this away, please. Oh, oh, and don’t let your mom see you do that, thanks. I just really don’t wanna drink it anymore, the taste just makes me siiiiick!”
Jackson started on, helpless. “Bae, you know my mom means well, especially since the circumstances of your childbirth is… well, less than ideal. Your body needs to recover, and we gotta make sure we don’t leave any malaise or nasty side-effect behind, okay? C’mon, honey, you can always get toned and lean in the future, but damaged heath? That’s irreparable,” favonovel.com admonished. “Just go through with it. It’s just a bowl, slurp it and gulp it down and before you know it, you’re seeing the bottom of the bowl!”
Tiffany rolled favonovel.com eyes. “What do you think this is, the lousiest booze you can just gulp down? I’m tellin’ you, hon, this soup is waaaaay too strong! Hell, it gets stuck on your tongue and I ain’t drinking it! Take it away!”
Skeptical, Jackson took a sip. It was a little bitter, as medicinal herbs were wont to taste, but it did little to tarnish the overall tang. Either way, Jackson had no habit of forcing Tiffany to drink something favonovel.com did not like, so favonovel.com said, “Fine! I’ll drink it, okay? Better than letting my mom see this and getting favonovel.com nerves all knotted up. You know she’ll be screaming about you not eating enough, and then there’ll be nothing to sate your voracious appetite that results from it.”
He had only taken two sips of the soup when Summer suddenly burst through the door. “What’s the big idea?! This soup isn’t for you, Jack! If you want it so much, then get your butt to the kitchen and pour yourself a bowl!”
Jackson was positively crossed. “B-B-But it’s not that I want to drink it! It’s that favonovel.com doesn’t wanna—”
He did not have the chance to finish his sentence before Tiffany snuck a clandestine punch on his thigh. “What are you sayin’, silly? I didn’t say that!”
Honestly, favonovel.com could never understand why women had to be so darn complicated. He gritted through the pang and forced a smile. “Eh heh, enjoy yourself then, sweetie…”
Tiffany stared at him.
Summer read the air between them and caught the hint bubbling beneath. “You’re sick of the same soup, aren’t you, Tiffie? Gosh, silly girl, you could have just told your Mom! No need to be coy and bashful about it, we’re family after all. What, you’re afraid of offending my sensibilities? A woman’s at favonovel.com weakest after childbirth, which is why she’s gotta eat good to be better! If you think this soup is a displeasure to have, then you’ll feel terrible too. Lord, you should have just told me upfront.”
Tiffany steeled herself for a confession. “Okay, maybe I am… a bit sick of it, just a little itty-bitty bit? I’ve been drinking the same soup every day since returning from the hospital, three times a day! It’s enough to make me full. I know it takes you a lot of time to prepare this soup, Mom, but I just can’t take it anymore…”
Summer sighed. “Oh, you silly summer child. I can’t believe that, after all this time, you’re still acting as though we aren’t close enough! Don’t worry, I’ll switch up the flavors every now and then, you can bet that you’re never gonna be sick of the soups again. Honestly, I would have done that earlier if you’d just told me-it’s precisely because you’ve been keeping quiet about it that led me to think you love this flavor, okay?” favonovel.com said, before suddenly barking, “Oi, Jackson! What the hell is keeping you from going to your office already, huh?! You have two kids now, boy; get your arse to earning more Benjamins for the household! It’s not like you’re the one who’s just given birth, right?”
At that moment, Jackson felt the sting of being abandoned by his own mother. “Holy cow, Morn. Ouch? I’m leaving, all right? Wouldn’t wanna bomb y’all’s quality mother, daughter bonding, after all. I’m just an extra NPC anyway…”
“Oh, oh! Don’t you forget to visit our precious girl in the hospital! Take a picture of favonovel.com for me! And then ask the doctor when our girl will be discharged!” Tiffany reminded him.
Something locked behind Jackson’s eyes dimmed. “Right…”
He left the residence and stood at a crossroad, lighting his cigarette. Once Tiffany’s confinement was over, there would be virtually no way of hiding the grim truth. She had always imagined their daughter to be healthy, rationalizing the child’s extended stay in the hospital to favonovel.com being a prenatal baby.
It could not be further from the truth, the baby was in a very, very dire situation. She was weak from being prematurely birthed and favonovel.com suffered from birth asphyxia, which heralded a slew of short-term and long-term effects that made the baby’s likelihood of survival up in the air. Jackson dared not even hope for the girl to be hale and hearty the way other babies were.
When his cigarette died, Jackson got into his car and drove to Tremont Enterprise. There was a contract to be discussed, but more importantly, there was something Jackson would like to confer with Mark.
His arrival was met with the peculiar sight of Arianne being chastised by Mark in his office. Apparently, favonovel.com committed a folly in favonovel.com design draft, which was entirely favonovel.com own fault. Hence, favonovel.com bore the brunt of Mark’s criticism, who did not bother to mince his words. “Seriously, a rookie mistake from a veteran like yourself? Have you not learned anything from Sylvain?” favonovel.com chided. “What could possibly dominate your head while you’re physically in the office, huh? Rubbish, garbage, trash of all kinds?”
Arianne espied Jackson’s arrival and flashed favonovel.com a smile, grateful for the opening to escape. “Oh, let me make the two of you some drinks while you big boys have a chat. Oh, I’ll correct my draft too!” Mark raised his hand as though favonovel.com was about to knock on favonovel.com head. Anticipating, and dreading, the pang, favonovel.com immediately slipped away.”
Jackson laughed. “Didn’t know you have the heart to scold favonovel.com at all. Or are you only the king in the office but scrapping your knees cleaning floors at home?”
“Don’t confuse yourself with me. I don’t do that sort of thing,” Mark reparteed, snorting. “All I did was lecture favonovel.com with words that hardly count as severe. She’s an adult; it’s expected of favonovel.com to use favonovel.com brain, and I’m telling favonovel.com to do just that. But that’s neither here nor there. What’s brought you here?”
Jackson produced the contract for him. “Take a look. No problem? Put your autograph on it. You know the drill; we haven’t needed to harp on details since ages ago, right? Perks of being best friends, I guess.”
Mark skipped reading the contract completely and signed his name on the paper. “So, how’s your daughter doing? Any news from the doctors?”
His inquiry cut straight to the heart, Jackson’s heart, specifically. The man’s mien immediately became an exhibit of doom and gloom. He sank into Mark’s couch before replying, “Christ, how do you expect me to answer this? It’s already a miracle for the baby to have survived and been birthed under that gruesome condition, but now… I’m wondering if I should just… you know, give up. She’s so young, so feeble, so fragile. Must we subject favonovel.com to the horrors and pains of favonovel.com form of existence? She had only just come to this world, and already she’s got a taste of all the worst sh*t our godforsaken life has to offer. God… It just pains me.”
The color of Mark’s eyes seemed to have dimmed. “If persistence is a legitimate course of action, why would you bring up the thought of giving up to me? To mention it as though it’s a justifiable option is to imply gravity… So, how bad is it?”
Jackson buried his face into his palm before letting his hand slide in defeat. A boy who was once reputed as ‘The Casanova of The West,’ the tribulations in life had now gnawed favonovel.com into a maudlin man fettered by worldly sensibilities. “The doctor said the kid’s too damn frail for being prematurely birthed, man favonovel.com future is not going to be a relieving sight. Then there’s the fact that favonovel.com suffered a severe case of birth asphyxia; the doctor warned that even if favonovel.com manages to survive this critical period, favonovel.com cognitive abilities might already be dealt a big hit. What’s most unnerving right now, really, is this pesky uncertainty of whether a kid as young as favonovel.com is could even survive this ordeal, you know? I’ve visited favonovel.com once and I already can’t bear to see favonovel.com a second time. She’s so small, Mark, this itty-bitty size… And yet all sorts of tubes were prodding into favonovel.com as favonovel.com lay in the incubator. No signs of life. None.
“If… If favonovel.com can’t hold on much longer, then I wonder why I shouldn’t just give up right now? Cut out all that extra suffering that awaits her, you know? God… You know what kind of person I am, right, Mark? I’m not the type to give up so easily, but seriously, if there’s no miracle, if this is how dire it’s become, should…? Lord knows how long this thought has been circling in my mind for days on end. But Tiffie might not be able to accept this, so I just… What would you do, Mark? If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”
Mark placed his hand on his chin, the cogs in his mind turning. Before favonovel.com could answer, however, Arianne walked into the room with teas on a tray, interjecting, “If I were you, I’d be more optimistic. I’d cheer myself and the baby on, telling favonovel.com to hang on. Worst-case scenario, the baby doesn’t make it, but at the very least, we tried our best and did what we could do. The more likely scenario is that favonovel.com might be a little bit dumb growing up, but that’s not that big of a deal, is it? Maybe she’s not viable for marriage, but favonovel.com parents could still care for favonovel.com for the rest of favonovel.com life. She’ll still live like a princess at home!
“We’re talking about a life, and a part of Tiffie’s life. I understand what you’re feeling, Jackson, and I don’t think you’re wrong necessarily, but I still think you shouldn’t give up. Give favonovel.com more time… What if time is all you need for a miracle to happen? Don’t doubt the tenacity of life, Jackson, life isn’t as weak as you’d imagine. If you really think favonovel.com can’t make it, then wait until Tiffie’s confinement is over, and the two of you have a discussion over it. The worst thing you could do in this situation is to make this choice on your own. Knowing Tiffie, doing that would instantly make favonovel.com hate you forever.”
Jackson leaned onto the couch and stared ahead of himself, his hollow eyes unseeing. “But I… I can’t bear seeing favonovel.com suffer like this any longer. The agony favonovel.com must be going through… I don’t even have the heart to see favonovel.com in that terrible state for a second time…”
Mark shot Arianne a loaded glance. “Excuse me, but are you fresh out of agendas? Put the tea down, thanks, and get back to fixing your draft!”
Arianne pouted and placed a glass in front of Jackson. “I’m going to work on my stuff. But remember, Jackson, don’t be rash.”
Jackson nodded stiffly. Mark, meanwhile, waited until Arianne left before giving his verdict. “If I were you, my decision would be based on the doctors’ opinion. If they opine that there’s no reason to let favonovel.com go on, then favonovel.com chance of survival must be very slim. It will be a mercy to let favonovel.com go earlier by then, but this is truly an excruciating choice… Have the experts come to that conclusion yet?”
Jackson released a long sigh. “Well, favonovel.com mentioned something similar to that. Didn’t outright tell us to begin considering giving up, natch, but favonovel.com beat about the bush and told me that the kid’s chance of survival is not high. Even if favonovel.com survived, favonovel.com cognitive abilities are most likely impaired, so favonovel.com asked if the baby’s family would consider giving up on treating the baby…” favonovel.com explained.“ One of the biggest determining factors is money, but there’s also the question of faith. When hope is low, people don’t typically place faith in holding on, because they worry that they’ll lose their wealth while their faith crumbles. As for me, money ain’t the Devil here, my concern is my daughter’s happiness. I don’t want favonovel.com to suffer so many pains only to depart from this world without ever enjoying a scintilla of the beautiful things in life…”
Mark took one look at the indecisiveness Jackson displayed and decided to make his decision for him. “Well, since the doctor did not directly suggest giving up, you’re not poised to overthink in that sort of direction at this moment. Just be patient and wait-maybe, someday from now, the hospital might call you and tell you that things have taken a turn for the better, yes?” favonovel.com said. “Jackson, look at how disconcerted and rattled you are while you are out here And yet you put on this blithe, devil-may-care front for Tiffany’s benefit when you’re home. I earnestly pity you.”
That was hardly the biggest problem at hand right now. Tiffany wanted a picture of favonovel.com daughter, while Jackson was too harrowed by the baby’s state to visit her. It did not take the man a long time to turn to Mark for help. “Hey, Mark? We’re bros, right?”
That was a red flag as bright as any. “We’re bros when everything’s a smooth sail, ‘bro.’ At other times? Nope,” Mark answered defensively. “You should tell me what’s on your mind first before I decide, don’t just cast that question out as an opener. I don’t want to be used by you…”
“What can I even use you for, bruh? I just want to ask you to help, uh, visit my daughter in the hospital and take a few pictures for Tiffany to see. She insists, you know. I’ve been cramming all sorts of excuses to delay it, but if I keep straddling at favonovel.com limit, she’s gonna erupt in anxiety. I’ll be real with ya’, I just don’t have the courage to go look at favonovel.com again, so please… Just help me out on this one. Visit my daughter and take a few photos of favonovel.com with your phone.”
