Chapter 271 - Leaving Soon! (1/2)
Time - 09:10 PM
Ethan and Lia stayed in the living room with the TV playing cartoons. Little Lia watched the show, while Ethan sat a few inches away from her, checking his mobile phone, replying to text messages and unanswered calls.
”Dad?” Lia called, after spending much time with her American friends.
Ethan paused to attend to her.
”Who was that?” she asked.
Seeing her mother leave in a hurry, Lia had no time to react. Upon the unknown visitor leaving with her mother, Ethan told her to watch cartoons till bedtime. The father didn't seem to care to explain what happened earlier, and it made Lia wait till it settles down.
Within a few minutes following their departure, Lia chose to ask her father.
Ethan looked over at the unbothered Lia with a blank face showing no emotion. The father glanced at the television to see if the show was boring:
The chaotic family members whose father is an inventor. His innovation fills their whole house, and the family members use it to their convenience. The wife being a great cook, uses her husband's crazy creations in her daily life.
What a perfect couple! - Ethan conceived a flick second.
They have three kids- a freewill girl, a nerdy big sister, and an introvert youngest brother.
Their neighbors appear to be a family of elegance and class, and the show deals with everyday lifestyle with these two complete counterparts. How the adventurous family and their conventional neighbors bond together despite the indifference was the concept of the show!
It is a pretty neat play with comical gags, good messages, decent adventures, and colorful animation that can pique any kid's interest.
And still, Lia shows no enthusiasm.
The few seconds he spared to understand the show, Ethan learned that it did not matter to Lia as she's still weighing of the earlier scene.
”Do you want to know who it was?” Ethan asked.
Lia nodded.
Ethan kept his mobile inside his pant pocket to reply.
”That person is your mother's sister!” he answered.
Lia's face lit up, almost feeling deluded from not knowing such relevant characters until now. A mixture of delight and disappointment made her upset.
”Her name is Gigi. I don't much about her either, nor have I met her until today,” Ethan added.
The poor girl felt being left alone in her whole life, that now after discovering new family, and relatives made her even more unsettled.
”That means, that person is my aunt?” she asked, her heart wrenched in defeat.
Ethan admitted.
”I understand mama was under a lot of pressure and pain, but somehow I am feeling bothered by not knowing all these people, father,” she exclaimed in an unapologetic tone.
Ethan couldn't argue with that, and his smile revealed his inability to respond.
”Don't be sad, dear. Since you are staying here with your mother, you will have a lot of opportunities to spend time with your grandparents, aunt, and so,” he cheered the little one.
Ethan is the only child, and it let Lia never experience the blood-related aunt or uncle bond. Now that she witnessed it, Lia appeared elated underneath all the revelation.
***
Ethan checks the time and calls for Lia to go to sleep without staying awake any longer and watch TV despite her disinterest.
Ethan tucks Lia in bed and reads her new book.
”How are you feeling? Not sleepy yet?”
Lia shook her head.
”A little!”
Ethan took the time to stay next to her and petted her soft to let her fall asleep comfortably.
”What am I going to do?” he mumbled.
Lia blinked at his words.
”You are already such an angel, sweetie. Do you know that?”
Ethan's voice almost sang to his lovely daughter, and it made Lia smile.
”I am going to miss you, Lia,” Ethan dropped.
Lia's smiling eyes arrested at once, and it grew wider to the weight of the news she heard.
”What?” the little one sprinted from her sleep.
Ethan anticipated the worrisome time he needs to face when Lia realizes him leaving soon.
”Are you leaving?”
”When?”
”Father, why?”
Lia outbursts. Her emotions exploded into a frenzy.
Ethan soothed her to calm down.
”I kept telling you all the time, honey,” Ethan appealed.
”When?” Lia shouted, almost on top of her lungs.
”Now, calm down, don't shout,” Ethan sternly said.
His serious face made Lia sit on her bed without displaying much action.
”Don't you remember?” Ethan spoke.
”The very first night, when we went out to an Ice cream parlor after our dinner, I told you that I'm leaving Monday.”
Lia tried hard to recall and somewhere down in her memory lane, her father's words inscribed in small font that was hard to read.