“Maammmaaaang…”
After feeding Charlotte, I held her for a while.
Before I knew it, she fell asleep.
Though she fell asleep quicker than I expected, it was something she often did.
After breastfeeding, Charlotte easily dozed off, probably because her belly was full.
Today, she must’ve been tired after playing in the office with my sister, Dolores, and Midori before coming home.
“Hmm…”
I gently moved the sleeping Charlotte to her crib.
She was still too small to sleep in a little bed or somewhere like that.
Maybe she would be able to sleep in a bed together once she turns one?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how big a one-year-old was, but I figured that was about right.
“Is Charlotte asleep?”
“Yeah, after dinner, she just went right to sleep.”
“I wish I could eat and just sleep like that too.”
“Don’t say strange things.”
Anyway, after putting Charlotte in the crib, I was having a chat with Corbin, who was preparing vegetables in the kitchen.
While I was taking care of Charlotte, Corbin was just casually chopping the ingredients.
It really wasn’t complicated; he was just roughly cutting them.
Normally, it would be better to chop them in a different way, but it was better to chop carelessly than to hurt his hands.
“Are you doing well?”
“I’m working hard.”
“Well… I think this is good enough.”
This level of chopping was fine for Corbin, who wasn’t the best at cooking.
Rather than using his fingers unnecessarily, it was better to chop it carelessly.
“You could chop a bit more…”
“There’s no more ingredients to chop anyway. They might be a bit large, but… it’s fine.”
“Good to hear…”
“And besides, you haven’t really had a break since you got off work. Why not relax in the bathtub for a bit?”
He was really working even after getting off, so I wanted to give him a little break since I at least got to sit down with Charlotte around.
Well, it was true that he hadn’t showered yet either, right?
“Go take a shower. I’ll prepare dinner.”
“Got it. Just call if you need anything.”
“Sure, just relax in the tub for a bit. You’ve worked hard today.”
With that, Corbin went into the bathroom, and I resumed preparing dinner.
The ingredients were already chopped, so I just needed to sort things out a bit.
“…But seriously, he can’t chop at all.”
He nearly just sliced everything in whole chunks.
At first, I had wanted him to chop it thinly like into strips, but due to skill issues…
I had told him to chop it decently enough, but this definitely didn’t look like strips.
“…Guess I’ll have to chop them again.”
If I threw this directly into the dish, all that would be noticed would be the vegetables.
Anyway, I organized the prepared ingredients.
Thanks to reading cooking-related books while pregnant, I was at least better than Corbin at cooking.
Organizing things like this was easy for me.
After chopping the vegetables and placing them on the heated pan, I began to fry them.
“Hmm… hmm…”
Honestly, it wasn’t really hard cooking.
After frying the oil and vegetables, I took the bacon out of the fridge and dropped it right in.
As soon as it hit the pan, it started making delicious sounds as it cooked.
“Ha ha…”
Even if nothing else, the sound and aroma of meat cooking were simply delightful.
I was someone who enjoyed meat, so this made it even better.
Since I started cooking recently, I found myself frying ingredients like this more often now… And I really thought there’s nothing better than this every time.
“Guess I should take out the rice from the fridge now…”
While Corbin was showering, I continued cooking alone.
Just some fried rice.
With my cooking skills still… this was the safest bet.
If I tried anything too complicated like pasta or something, I could easily mess it up?
*
“Lindera, how about going out to have fun with Charlotte this weekend?”
“Where do you plan to go?”
“Aquarium? Zoo?”
“Hmm…”
It was sudden, but it felt kind of nice.
Ever since Charlotte was born, we hadn’t really gone anywhere aside from the apartment and the office?
Sure, we moved around other places, but honestly, there wasn’t anything fun at all.
So, like Corbin said, the zoo or aquarium sounded good.
“But since the weather is hot, if we go now, I think the aquarium would be better.”
“That’s true. It would be much better if the weather were a bit cooler…”
“Indeed.”
If the weather had been a bit cooler, that would have been really nice.
But as always, the weather was hot.
“Then it’s settled, the aquarium?”
“That sounds best to me.”
“Hmm… Then I’ll make a reservation for the aquarium. Honestly, I don’t really like sweating either…”
“You dislike it even more than I do, right?”
“Yep.”
This was absolutely true.
Corbin… really hated the heat.
In fact, even on days when we dated and roamed outside, he preferred to stay indoors as much as possible.
Though he would bear it during our dates, they were still mostly indoor activities.
“I’m kind of looking forward to what kind of reaction she’ll have.”
“Right?”
I was genuinely curious to see how Charlotte would react at the aquarium.
After all, Corbin and I were adults.
It would be a bit absurd to get overly excited about visiting an aquarium.
We were going there for Charlotte, after all.
Since we intended to go for her from the beginning, it didn’t matter.
Though I hadn’t been to such places during our dates, still…
“Hmm… But has Charlotte ever seen fish before?”
“…No, right?”
“…I think her reaction will be interesting.”
“Isn’t she going to be scared?”
“Oh come on, there’s no way.”
Charlotte didn’t seem to be scared of much.
She had watched new agents come into the office with a curious expression, after all.
Hmmm…
Isn’t it too strange how unafraid she seems?
What if she grows up and something weird starts happening?
“I should probably tell Charlotte to be careful around people someday.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah, I’m genuinely worried because she seems too fearless.”
“…Is that really an unnecessary worry?”
“Anyway, that’s how I feel.”
While chatting about that, we spent time having dinner.
I had cooked the fried rice, and it felt well-made, so I was happy about it.
I was even thinking it’d be nice to try something a little more complicated next time.
“Oh, right. Lindera?”
“What is it?”
“I have something to show you, just a moment…”
Corbin suddenly started fiddling with his phone.
What on earth could this be?
In the middle of dinner, he suddenly mentioned this, and I could only pause to wait.
What could possibly need to be brought up in the middle of dinner like this?
“What is it?”
“Hmm…”
“Why can’t you say?”
“…Never mind. I’ll talk about it next time.”
“…Huh?”
No.
What.
Why.
Does he start but quit?
This was such a rare sight to see Corbin like this, it was frustrating.
He used to do this sometimes, but he hadn’t been like this at all lately.
What on earth could have made him start speaking and then hold back?
Since he brought it up and then stopped, I was even more curious.
“…Are you worried about getting scolded?”
“…Huh?”
“No, um… It’s not that.”
“Seriously, just say it properly.”
It was genuinely frustrating.
It was so rare to see him start talking and then quit like that, making it even more annoying.
What was he thinking, starting and stopping like this?
“Hurry up and say it.”
“…Can I get a computer?”
“…Huh?”
“Like, um… these days we’re using computers to play lectures and lessons, right? When Charlotte gets a bit older, it would be helpful when teaching her letters and stuff…”
“………”
“I’m sure it would help! Plus kids these days use computers a lot, and people usually have one around…”
“………”
I never expected to hear such a thing.
To think he’d make such a straight-up play for Charlotte to get a computer, I genuinely didn’t see that coming.
I thought he’d discuss something different, but instead, he brought up buying a computer for Charlotte.
Oddly enough, it was even more comical how he went back to normal after blurting it out.
“…So, are you saying we should buy a computer?”
“Yeah, that’s it… right?”
“For Charlotte’s sake?”
“Exactly… right?”
“……..”
We had a gaming console left over from private use in the living room.
There was also a monitor…
But had his taste now turned to computers for gaming?
“To help Charlotte when she studies later, right?”
“Yep.”
Corbin nodded while answering.
…Is that really what he wanted?
“…Alright then. It’s okay to buy one. It’s not like it’s some huge piece of furniture; it’s just a computer.”
“Really? You’re okay with that?”
“Yep.”
Corbin looked incredibly relieved at my words.
Did he think I’d absolutely say no?
Well, it was kind of ridiculous how he used Charlotte as an excuse, but I suppose it made sense since we didn’t have a computer at home.
Having at least one would be nice.
Plus, it was likely he’d buy it for gaming, so the performance would definitely be good.
I might end up using it for work instead of gaming anyway.
“……..”
As soon as I permitted it, his face lit up with joy. It was honestly so amusing.
Even though he hadn’t played games in a while, was he that excited?
If someone saw this, they’d think I was forbidding him from gaming and scrutinizing him over every little thing.
After all, I sometimes played games with him, too.
“Hehe…”
“…Sigh.”
Well, at least it was good we shared a common hobby.
Better than picking some weird pastime.
“Corbin.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“…Isn’t there currently 2 extra rooms available at home?”
“That’s right.”
We had one room for me and Corbin to sleep in, and another room for Charlotte when she got older.
Then there were rooms for storage and one used as a dressing room, among others.
Anyway, that left about two rooms genuinely left empty.
Rooms that were completely empty without any furniture.
They had a square shape and were rather spacious, but it meant they were rooms just lying around empty.
“…You should set up a gaming computer in one of those empty rooms and store other gaming consoles there.”
“Huh?”
“You can decorate it however you like, and you can even order a comfy sofa to relax on.”
“…Huh?”
Corbin didn’t quite follow what I meant right away.
But what I was saying was pretty simple.
“I’m saying you can use the extra room however you want. You can set it up for gaming or just hang out.”
“…….”
“So… don’t just keep using Charlotte as an excuse; just say it next time…”
“…Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I found it genuinely amusing how he tried to play it off, thinking I might get upset.
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