My Husband, Warm The Bed

"Your man-eating uncle forced you to come?" Vanessa felt like falling into a laughing fit upon hearing Larry's words. She pinched his face and asked, "Your uncle is a cannibal? Is he really that scary?" "Shhh..." Larry reached out to cover Vanessa's mouth. "The scary uncle has a bad temper. He not only eats children but adults too. If he hears you badmouthing him, he will eat you too."

"Okay, I'll keep quiet." Vanessa played along and pretended to look scared. "Larry, can you tell me why your scary uncle forced you to come here?"

"It's sad. I don't really want to talk about it." Larry did not want to mention it! Every time he did, he felt that he was no longer the precious baby of the family. How could they send an adorable little kid himself off to danger?!

"Okay, I won't ask then. However, you can't hide here. Your uncle will be worried if he can't find you." Vanessa held Larry's hand in hers as she planned to walk him out of the room. She had no plans to be mistaken as a kidnapper.

"Please, I came here to avoid my uncle. Don't let him find me, or he'd gobble me up." Larry had taken the opportunity when Julien was not looking and fled here. He did not want to be sent back to his uncle. He was too afraid of being eaten.

"Ahem..."

A cough suddenly sounded from behind Larry. Larry felt his little body tremble and immediately threw himself into Vanessa's arms, grasping for her tightly. "Please save me, don't let my scary uncle take me away."

Vanessa stopped in her tracks, speechless.

Looking at the grim-looking man in front of her, Vanessa could not help but burst into laughter. "A cannibal uncle?" She laughed, "Mr. Kyle, it seems that I'm not the only one who thinks you're scary. Even Larry thinks that your dark, somber face is frightening."

Larry took a peep from Vanessa's arms and looked at Julien. Julien's face was grimmer than before. Frightened, Larry hugged and held on to Vanessa even tighter. "Do you know my uncle? Is he going to bite the both of us?"

"Don't worry, Larry. I'll protect you. I won't let him eat you up," Vanessa patted Larry's back, gently comforted him while looking up at Julien. Staring at his gloomy face, Vanessa laughed again and said, "Mr. Kyle, enough of that grim face. You're scaring him."

"Yes, Uncle Julien looks scary and I'm terrified." Larry said as he dived right into Vanessa's arms again. However, he did not expect that Julien would drag him out of Vanessa's arms in the next moment. Julien grabbed him by the collar and snarled, "Are you badmouthing me behind my back again?" Larry threw a few kicks and tried to escape, but Julien had carried him up so high in the air that his feet were no longe able to feel the ground beneath him. He was so frightened that he burst into tears. He cried, "Uncle Julien is about to gobble me up. Please, save me!"

Julien then hugged him and lightly patted his butt with his palm. "Little one, you've spent long enough talking about me eating humans. Your time has finally come today. Let's see if there'll be bones left once I'm done with you."

Then Larry filled the room with his cries.

He would only hear about his Uncle Julien eating humans in the past, so he was not as frightened since he had never seen him gobble children up. Now that he had heard that his uncle was going to eat him, fear gripped his heart and his tears started streaming down his cheeks. He screamed while wiping his tears away, "Dad, help! Mom, help! Grandma, help!"

Although Larry was already in tears, Julien showed no sign of stopping. Vanessa could not stand it anymore, so she quickly grabbed Larry back from Julien's arms and said, "Julien, are you nuts? How can you scare a little kid like this?"

After scolding Julien, Vanessa held Larry close to her. She gently patted him on the back and spoke words of comfort to him, "Don't be scared, Larry. I'm here. I won't let anyone else hurt you, not even your uncle."

Larry snuggled tightly into Vanessa's arms. Suddenly, the tears stopped. Raising his head, Larry told Vanessa, "You smell like my mom."

Vanessa was not sure what he meant.

Larry explained, "Mommy holds me like this too. I'm not afraid of anything when I'm in my Mommy's arms."

Vanessa laughed, "That's because I'm a mother. I have a little baby too at home."

Larry exclaimed excitedly, "Can I see your little baby?"

Vanessa nodded, "Of course. He's inside right now. Let's go see him."

Larry nodded his head and stayed very still in Vanessa's arms as she carried him into Lawrie's ward. When they entered, Larry was first to throw complaints at his Uncle Julien. "Uncle Julien's a liar who deceives children. He isn't cute at all and I don't want to play with him."

Vanessa agreed, "Okay, let's not play with him."

Delighted, Larry happily said, "You're the best. You're pretty, and kind. And, you like me so much."

Vanessa replied, "You too, Larry."

Eavesdropping on Vanessa and Larry's conversation, the corner of Julien's mouth raised slightly. He did not expect Larry to like Vanessa, let alone give her such great praise.

Children were the marksmen of judging a person's true character. If a person was kind, the child would want to play with him or her. Thus, Julien concluded that Vanessa, at her core, was a kind woman. Julien had wanted to bring Larry to the hospital so that he could keep Lawrie company since both children were of the same age and probably had much in common. He hoped that the cheerful Larry could have a bit of an impact on Lawrie's sensitive personality, and help bring some joy into Lawrie's life as well.

Julien had wanted to tell Larry why he had been brought to the hospital the moment they arrived. But when Julien spotted Lawrie's attending doctor, he stopped to ask for an update on Lawrie's condition. Unexpectedly, Larry fled and disappeared out of sight the instant Julien was distracted.

Fortunately, he found his way to Vanessa.

Since Larry and Vanessa hit it off so well, there was no longer a need for Julien to persuade Larry to come and keep Lawrie company. He believed Larry would do a fine job.

Julien opened the door and entered. He saw that Larry and Lawrie were already deep in conversation with each other. Looks like the two kids who thought of him as a monster had much to chat about. Julien heard Larry say, "Don't be scared, kid. I've been ill too, but as long as we listen to the doctor, take our meds and do exactly as he says, well feel better in no time. Then, we can go home and eat whatever we want."

Lawrie replied indignantly, "I'm three years old, and so are you. We're the same age, so I'm not a kid..."