Ice and Fire

Chapter 399 A Mysterious Note (Part One)

When they got home, Cherry busied herself preparing dinner for her and Joe while he watched

cartoons in the living room.

Her cell phone was in her pocket and suddenly rang, when she pulled it out, she saw Jackson was

calling.

She quickly swiped to accept his call saying into it, "Hello, Jackson!"

"Where are you, Babe?" asked Jackson hurriedly.

"I'm home, " replied Cherry. She could hear the worry in Jackson's voice and that he seemed rushed,

so she added, "Why? What's up?"

"Wait for me there. I'll be home soon." Jackson hung up as soon as he gave her the short message.

Cherry slipped the cell phone back into her pocket, a little confused. 'What just happened?' she

wondered. Jackson sounded like he was in a rush.

When dinner was ready, Cherry walked into the living room and found Joe, still happily lounging, while

he watched cartoons.

When Joe saw his Mommy, he gave her a huge happy grin and asked, "Is dinner ready yet Mommy?"

"Yes, " said Cherry, as she sat down next to him. Her voice was tender as she told him, "But, we have

to wait for Daddy to get here. He will be here soon, and the three of us will have dinner together."

"Will Daddy be home soon?" Joe asked, expectantly looking at his Mommy, there was a tinge of

disbelief in his gaze.

Cherry nodded and smiled as she told Joe, "Yes, Daddy just called and told me that he would be here

soon."

"Yeah! That's awesome!" Joe shouted excitedly. He was so thrilled about what his mother said, that he

gleefully clapped his hands. "Then we all get to eat dinner together!" He could hardly contain himself.

Joe's delightful, happy mood was contagious, and Cherry found herself grinning and giggling, just from

seeing his happy smile. She also felt a bit apprehensive, because of how Jackson sounded on the cell

phone. She could tell something serious was on his mind. 'I hope everything is okay.' she thought, and

in her heart, she prayed.

Ten minutes had slowly ticked by before Cherry and Joe heard the door being opened. They spun

around, and saw Jackson.

"Daddy, Daddy!" shouted Joe, as he happily darted at Jackson with his arms wide open and a wide

grin.

Jackson was overjoyed to see his little son, and knelt on one knee with his arms stretched to receive

Joe's hug, and to give an equally happy, tight hug in return. He said affectionately, "Oh, my sweet, good

boy, I am home." He tousled Joe's hair and scooped him up, carrying Joe back into living room.

"Joe and I were waiting for you so we could all have dinner together." Cherry said, keeping her tone

light as she looked at Jackson, "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, everything is great, now. I missed you both so much, so I hurried back today." He let Joe

down as he replied. He didn't want his small son to know there was something on his mind.

"Mommy, since Daddy is home now, can we have dinner? I'm starving!" Joe asked, and angelic smile

on his face.

"Yes, let's go! I'm famished! I can't wait to eat what Mommy cooked us!" Jackson said in an animated

voice, as he walked, hand in hand with Joe to the dining room.

"Daddy, let me tell you, Mommy is a super cook...and makes super delicious food! It's even more

delicious than Lily makes!" beamed Joe as he bragged, proud of his mother.

"Really?" Jackson asked, pretending he had no idea.

"Of course! You shouldn't rush to eat. I will eat half of the food and then you and Mommy can have the

other half." Joe told Jackson in a serious manner.

Listening to her two men, Cherry shook her head. The two were talking in such a matter fact manner,

that it sounded hilarious. Watching her childlike husband with their precious son made her happy, and

she couldn't help but smile.

The three sat having dinner together at the table. Jackson and Joe raced to eat more than the other.

Joe thought his Daddy must love his Mommy 's cooking as much as he did, and he was anxious his

Daddy would compete to win his Mommy's heart from Joe. In reality, Jackson was trying to make Joe

happy, playing along with his game. He had something serious on his mind, but he wouldn't talk to

Cherry about it in front of Joe. After all, it was adults' business, and little child shouldn't get involved.

Joe was brilliant though and would notice any flaw in Jackson's pretense. Jackson had to out-perform

himself so that Joe wouldn't notice anything unusual.

"You two need to eat slower! This is dinner, not a race!" chided Cherry when she saw the two of them

racing to shovel food into their mouths as quickly as possible, as though it were a competition. She

rolled her eyes, thinking the two of them were behaving rather childishly. Especially Jackson, such a

big guy and here he was, racing to eat faster than his son.

"Daddy is racing to eat all the food before I can." Joe stated, in a hurried way. Then, he hastily lowered

his head and continued to eat, as if his Daddy would eat all the food in the time it would take to say

another word.

"It's you who hurried to get to the food before me!" Jackson argued, in a childlike manner.

"Ny-uh! It was you!" Joe bantered, emulating his father.

The jubilant atmosphere stayed, even after dinner ended. Jackson and Joe sat in the living room

playing online games while Cherry washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.

When Cherry finished in the kitchen, she headed to living room, where she found the two still

engrossed in their online game. This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

She walked over and told her son, "Joe, It's time to go upstairs, now! You shouldn't be up playing

games this late!"

"But Mommy, I want to keep playing games a little longer with Daddy." Joe made his eyes wider, trying

to look so sad, and hoped his Mommy would give in to him. He knew he should obey his Mommy, but

he was having so much fun with Daddy that he wanted to play longer.

Jackson put the game controller down and told his son, "Joe, you need to listen to your Mommy. It's

time to go upstairs and get to sleep."

Joe was disappointed that his Daddy took his Mommy's side, but, like a good boy, he agreed, "Okay, I

will."

Cherry walked over to Joe. She caressed his head and in a tender voice said, "Go upstairs and study,

when you finish don't forget to take a shower."

"Okay Mommy." Joe said in a quiet voice, and lowered his head. Then, as he walked away slowly, he

added, "I'm going upstairs now."

After Jackson knew Joe was upstairs, he went over to Cherry, and touched her shoulder, lightly, then

turned her to him and pulled her close, holding her in his arms.

Cherry glanced at Jackson asking, "Will you tell me now, why you decided to return so suddenly?"