Loved by my brother-in-law

5

'But I'm still a mother. What Mother doesn't want her daughter to be happy?' Chloe continued watching her daughter, who stopped waving at Vernon when the big guy entered his car and drove off.

Mackie kept staring at Vernon's car with glimmering eyes, the same eyes she showed when she saw her Daddy driving a car, either leaving or coming home.

'Oh my dear daughter…' Chloe's heart was pinched as she realized that Mackie might've started to bond with Vernon.

She knew that it was inevitable. Vernon and Mackie had similar personalities. Mackie could even pass as Vernon's daughter, and no one would question it.

But that was a red flag for Chloe, a sign that she shouldn't let this happen for too long, or Mackie would be too attached to Vernon.

'What should I do? We're not going to stay together with your Uncle forever….'

'Should I tell Vernon not to celebrate at all? Or maybe not to be too familiar with Mackie?' Chloe started to get overwhelmed with fear.

She was always afraid of her daughter's connection with new people.

"Mommy…"

Amidst her panic, Mackie suddenly called her Mother and snapped Chloe out of her daze, "Yes, dear?"

Mackie continued staring straight at the parking lot. With a big smile, she said, "Don't be scared, Mommy."

"H—Huh?"

Mackie slowly looked up at her Mother. She might be very young, but she knew one thing or two about her Mommy.

"Mommy, I know you're scared," Mackie said.

Chloe's heartbeat skipped for a second. She almost jolted out of shock after hearing her daughter's statement, "W—What do you mean, Mommy is not scared, Dear."

Mackie shook her head, "Mommy would usually bite your lower lip, and then stare emptily when you're scared or worried."

"Mommy would also sweat and look paler than usual!"

…

Chloe quickly fixed her habit in front of Mackie so her fear wouldn't get noticed, "W—Well, Mommy is not scared anymore now. Let's go to school. We're going to be late."

Chloe grabbed her daughter's hand, wanting to pull her toward their car. But Mackie stayed still as if she still had plenty of things to be said.

"Mommy, I've always wanted to have a big celebration. Where I can eat a big cake, and a lot of gifts. I also want someone to accompany us when celebrating. Daddy's never home, can Uncle replace him for a while?"

…

"Uncle is not so bad, right?" Mackie asked. "Did he scare Mommy?"

…

Chloe shook her head slowly. She was never scared of Vernon, even when they had plenty of fights at the start of their reunion.

Vernon had a temper that he needed to fix. He was prone to anger and would explode from time to time.

But everyone had their own issues, and Chloe knew that she was also at fault for not being able to communicate properly.

And she most of the time, she felt at ease with Vernon, unlike when she lived with Vincent. She felt like walking on a cracked eggshell. She would make a mistake that she didn't even know, and Vincent would abuse or at least mock her.

"Then, if Mommy is not scared of Uncle, can we stay with him for a while? I can wait until Daddy is feeling better, then we can return to him— with Uncle too!"

…

"Let's talk about this later, okay, dear? You need to go to school first."

"Mm, okay Mommy…."

Mackie knew that her Mother was not open to another conversation after this. It happened a lot when they were living with Daddy.

Mackie often asked many things out of curiosity, especially how Mommy always fainted or puked out of nowhere, especially when Daddy was around.

But whenever she asked, her Mommy would say nothing was wrong and then continue to distract her by doing something else.

Just like this.

But Mackie didn't want to ignore this forever.

'If Uncle is not bad, shouldn't we stay with him until Daddy is feeling better?'

Mackie wanted to continue asking that question to Mommy. But she knew Mommy wouldn't give her a clear answer.

'Ummnn… I will ask her again later!'

*

Chloe drove Mackie to her school and pinched her cheek gently, "Good luck for your rehearsal, dear. Remember what I told you before?"

"Un! To be confident and brave! Don't worry, Mommy, nothing will scare me!"

Mackie jumped out of the open car and hopped around as she entered the school gate. She joined her new friends since she wasn't a friend anymore with Jaden and Mia.

She looked excited today because she would be rehearsing for her play. Vernon's also contributed to her happiness.

Chloe's heart melted as she saw her daughter looking so joyful. She was like a little chick chirping around with her friends.

'If only Mackie can be this happy every day….'

It had been a while since she saw her daughter's burden less smile. The true smile came from a pure little girl who was too happy to care about this world's problems.

But Mackie's happiness brought both joy and sorrow to Chloe's heart.

She wanted to always make her daughter happy. But even that small thing was risky for her, because Mackie's true happiness was to have a father figure in her life, and she couldn't get that from her real father.

Instead, she might get it from her Uncle, and that was also a bad idea, as Vincent would definitely kill Vernon if his position in Mackie's heart was being replaced.

'Vernon, how can it be so easy for you to make her happy? What if she sees you as a father figure, replacing Vincent? What should I do if I have to leave you?'

'When the time comes for you to truly replace Vincent in my daughter's heart, should I stay with you for the sake of my daughter?'

Chloe was unsure of everything. She was afraid that she would be trapped against her will again. She might also leave a scar in Mackie's heart if she had to separate her from her new father figure.