I Taught My Son to Call His Father “Uncle Ethan” Chapter 02
Chapter 2 The Cake He Remembered Too Late
We did not take the photo.
I took my son home and began packing.
While I was booking flights back to my hometown, Serena sent me a video.
She was at another popular photo studio in the city.
She and Ethan wore matching outfits and held a boy of about five between them, posing as though they had
done it a hundred times.
At the end, Serena gave me her usual little cut.
“It’s only a family portrait. Ethan and I can take one whenever we feel like it.”
Once, that would have made me fire back immediately.
Now I only looked at my son, who was quietly organizing his toys, and felt nothing but exhaustion.
What was even the point?
I closed the chat and bought two tickets to Southport for the day after tomorrow.
Just after the payment went through, Ethan came home with a strawberry cake.
Both my son and I stared at it.
Ethan hated strawberry cake.
Because of him, even though our son loved strawberries as much as I did, he usually chose matcha mousse for his birthdays because that was Ethan’s favorite.
So the cake in Ethan’s hand looked almost unreal.
My son glanced at me.
I glanced back.
Neither of us knew what to make of it.
Ethan stepped inside. When he saw the open suitcases, his face changed at once.
“Teddy cried pretty hard, so I stayed a little longer. On the way back, I remembered you two like strawberry cake, so I bought one.”
His eyes moved to the luggage.
“Why are you packing? Are you going somewhere?”
I shook my head, then nodded.
10:25 Thu, Jun 11 M MA.
pter 2 The Cake He Remembered Too Late
“Kind of.”
Two days remained before the cooling-off period ended.
I did not want to give him any chance to ruin it.
For reasons I could not understand, Ethan seemed relieved after hearing that.
“The studio called,” he said. “They said you didn’t make it today. I changed the appointment. Tomorrow works, right?”
He crouched in front of our son.
“I won’t miss it this time. I promise.”
Our son’s hands stopped moving over his toys.
He looked at Ethan.
Then at me.
His face held that terrible mix of longing and fear.
He wanted it.
He just did not dare to trust it.
That tiny hope in his eyes made my heart ache.
“Okay,” I said.
It was the last time anyway.
The answer lit him up instantly. He hugged his toys and ran back to his room.
After he left, I went on folding clothes.
Ethan came to stand beside me.
He hesitated before speaking.
“About him calling me Uncle Ethan today…”
