Stuck in you

Jack recognized the little boy. He realized that he looked familiar because they had already met each other twice.

"Who is this little fella?" asked Jack. Even though he was confused, he still tried to sound kind and genuine.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to this uncle?" said Rachel.

Mendes was not usually this shy. He sat closer to Rachel in the back seat for comfort. Perhaps he was intimidated by Jack. "My name is Mendes Xu," he said.

Mendes' voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. Rachel couldn't even believe that the voice was from him. He was usually loud and outspoken. She never expected the child was hiding an effeminate side.

Seeing Mendes' reaction reminded Rachel how shy he was when he met Jack in the past. She couldn't help but wonder if Jack was the problem. 'Is he really that intimidating?' she thought.

"Nice to meet you again, Mendes. You can call me Uncle Jack," replied Jack as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.

"Uncle Jack!" Mendes said in a clear and loud voice.

Rachel noticed that Mendes might be trying to please Jack on purpose. Maybe Mendes was trying to get on his good side.

Jack never asked why she was bringing the child with her, nor did he ask where the child came from. He just focused solely on driving and the occasional small talk.

Rachel had planned to ask Jack about Wendy, but she realized that it was not the appropriate time to ask him. Mendes might not be able to completely understand that conversation, Rachel still decided to hold off on the question. It was not healthy for the boy to hear that kind of conversation.

Mendes was usually curious and full of energy, but right now he was behaving himself and wouldn't say a word.

Rachel had no idea why he was behaving this way. What could have made him so afraid of Jack?

She ruffled the child's hair but said nothing. There was an abject silence in the car. Jack found that it was especially quiet. He looked at them from the rearview mirror, and found that neither of them were interested in talking.

Jack saw that Mendes was resting his head on Rachel's shoulder. He stared at her with a pair of bright black eyes.

When the three of them arrived at the Fu family's house, Jonathan was waiting by the gate. He didn't expect that Rachel and Jack would arrive with a child in tow.

The old man glared at Jack. "Who is this boy?" he grunted. Mendes stared at Jonathan with his beady little eyes.

He wondered why the old man was angry and hid behind Rachel. She held Mendes close and stroked the boy's head to comfort him. "This is my friend's child. He's out of town for a couple of days so he asked me to take care of the kid while he's gone. I had no choice but to bring him here with me," she said.

The old man's scary expression became gentle. He gestured for the boy to come closer and smiled. "Come over here, little boy. Let me have a closer look at you," said Jonathan as he crouched down to Mendes' level.

Mendes took a glance at Jonathan and stepped closer towards him.

"Young man, I'm Jonathan," said Jonathan. He wore a gentle smile.

"Nice to meet you, Grandpa Jonathan," Mendes replied in a loud and clear voice. He seemed to like Jonathan. Whenever he had taken a liking to someone, he would always be this cheerful when talking to them.

Rachel was surprised at what she saw. No matter how she looked at the two of them, she couldn't quite think of anything to say.

taking something out of the trunk. He glanced at Jonathan and Mendes when he heard them talking. Even

could not keep himself from smiling. He spread his arms to try and hug Mendes so that he might carry the boy in his arms, but after realizing that Mendes

and put his hands behind his back. "Jack! Come over here and bring the boy inside the

word. Then he walked over and

know what to tell

stared at Mendes from head to toe. "Really?" she said

never noticed it before, but Jack might be right. "He does seem fatter. I should try to control his diet. I have to tell

down to Mendes' level and stared

arms to tell Jack that

of them and urged them to come inside. The old man seemed rather excited to say the least. "What are you all still doing out there, come on inside,"

at Jack and stretched out his

boy had a way of getting people to do what he was asking for.

she was indifferent to his pleas. He had no choice

them. When she looked up, she saw the

a little fatter.

it was. She saw her son and daughter-in-law bringing a boy to the

happening. When Jack put Mendes down, Jonathan clapped his hands to call Mendes over. "Come here,

wide grin on his face. Tracy

hand. She tried to control her facial expression, but the corners of

Jonathan replied

She turned her attention to

her. "It's not Rachel's child, it's her friend's. Her friend's out of town for a couple of days, so he asked Rachel to take care of the

face lightened. She was obviously

halfway

speechless. Perhaps her mother-in-law had been watching

like that? They were living under

and pointed at Tracy. "Mendes, go

little eyes. "Hello, Grandma! Nice to meet

held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Mendes." It was

retired two years ago after his son took

around the world. Oftentimes he would play chess with several old men in his spare time and enjoyed making some

was the first to get married. But now all

politely in front of

parents were so amused by Mendes. At first, Tracy behaved aloof; now she couldn't keep her hands off Mendes. She was practically coddling

a matter of moments, Mendes had

Jack. It was like Jonathan and

here today was very obvious. He wasn't sure why his father wanted him to go back. Perhaps it had something to do with their previous

for it a while, Jack figured it out.

her lips. "Okay, I have something

was a little surprised. "Go upstairs,"