It'll Come Naturally

"Perhaps it's because of the traffic," Michelle offered. "It is rush hour. Traffic was so bad on my way back home so they must have gotten caught in it," she added. She returned Cynthia's smile because it was impossible not to be infected by her pleasant manner. "Whatever. I don't care where they go as long as they come back in one piece. By the way, look at you. It seems to me that you look more radiant and happier than the last time I saw you. Let me guess, does it have anything to do with Lukie?" Her eyes twinkled teasingly. As soon as Michelle entered the house, she found her daughter-in-law looking happier than usual. She was aware of how much Michelle had suffered in the past few days. So it was good to see her this way. The joyful and radiant look suited her well.

"Uhmmm... Oh, they're back! Dad and Justin are here," she announced. A blush had colored Michelle's face at her mother-in-law's teasing. She was too shy to answer. Honestly, Michelle had no idea what to say. Fortunately, Jonathan and Justin arrived, saving her from having to answer Cynthia's query. So, Michelle quickly changed the subject to divert attention away from her.

"You keep dodging my question, sneaky girl," Cynthia pretended to scold her but stopped asking anyway. She could tell the young woman was embarrassed, prompting her to drop the subject. As long as she was happy, Cynthia didn't mind what was going on between her and Luke.

Laughing nervously, Michelle said, "The food smells delicious. I'm going to the kitchen to check out what Mrs. Wu is cooking." She walked off to escape further interrogation. Michelle was really in a good mood recently because of the way things were between her and Luke. Things were looking very bright and promising. And this excited her to no end. Moreover, Michelle felt the warm welcome extended by members of this family. Everyone was friendly to her, and she could feel they genuinely cared about her. And they cared about her not because she was Luke's wife, but because she was Michelle.

"Grandma! I'm going to tell you something. Grandpa was staring at a beautiful woman on our way home!" As soon as they came inside the house, Justin rushed towards his grandmother to give his report. He had a mischievous smile on his face while relating his observations to Cynthia. It amused him to catch his grandfather being a bad boy. The boy also enjoyed playing tricks on his family.

"Oh yeah?" Cynthia decided to play along. "Is that so," she asked while glancing at her husband with mirth in her eyes. The woman looked very interested in what her husband was going to say to defend himself. Cynthia was quite aware of what Justin was up to and decided to humor the boy.

"Don't look at me that way! It's not my fault. Little guy here asked me to take a shortcut, saying it would save us time getting home. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the route he chose. So I ended up crashing into another vehicle, although it was a minor accident. I had to look at the woman to check if she was all right. That's all," Jonathan explained. He sighed. His grandson was a sly little fox. He had promised his grandfather to keep the minor accident a secret before they arrived. So Jonathan didn't expect that the moment they got home, Justin would throw him under the bus so quickly. Before he could react, Justin had already told Cynthia about some mischief, leaving him no option but to explain what truly happened. It seemed he couldn't trust the little boy to keep secrets anymore. Cynthia's smile quickly disappeared after hearing their experience. "What about you two? Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?" she asked in succession. She looked worried and no longer cared about the woman Justin mentioned earlier. Cynthia quickly pulled the boy towards her and began checking if he was hurt. She wanted to make sure both her husband and grandson were okay. It was a car crash, for God's sake.

"I'm fine, grandma, promise. Don't worry about us. Grandpa was driving slowly, so it wasn't that serious. I think that woman saw my grandfather was so handsome, so she acted fragile and helpless. She only wanted attention. But in truth, nobody was hurt," Justin explained. He puckered his lips after speaking. Justin didn't understand the female species. Once they see a handsome guy, they immediately want to get their attention. That was why he purposely called Jonathan grandpa out loud in front of the woman. The boy would never forget the shocked and embarrassed look on her face when she heard what Justin called Jonathan. It was strange that she didn't think it was possible that the man was married, and that he was much older than her.

"That's good to know," Cynthia said. "So, as soon as your grandpa saw that it was a beautiful woman, he kept looking at her?" she prodded the boy. Of course, Cynthia knew Jonathan well. And he was not the type of man who would be unfaithful to his wife, even in thoughts. That was why she didn't take Justin's words too seriously. She only asked to go along with little Justin. Cynthia knew the kind of boy her grandson was, and she was willing to go along with his teasing.

"Yes, that's right. That woman stood in front of our car, blocking our way, and refused to budge. She even demanded grandpa to buy her a new car. That's just ridiculous! So, grandpa glared at her with his cold and frightening eyes until she felt uneasy and decided to finally leave. That's what happened." Justin was very excited as he related their experience as if it was some make-believe tale. He told Cynthia every small detail of what happened on their way home.