"My father is marrying a witch."

This statement had Alicia in shock.Never had she been referred to as a witch..B***h maybe but she didn't think Ru meant that.She needed to get to the bottom of this..

"Ru,did your father tell you this?That he is marrying a witch?"

Ru nodded his head and said,"Father told this morning that he was going to marry.And Aunty Su told me last week that father has been ignoring me..he missed my bedtime twice this week..She said if my father were to marry another woman then he will send me away to the hostel to live with other kids and have new kids with his new wife.She said,I should tell everyone that I want to live with my mother as mother will always love me even if she marries someone else.At first I thought that she was playing a prank but then father missed my story time twice..which he never does unless he is out of the country and even then he always calls me to wish me good night..Then this morning he said he was going to marry...Aunty Su said all step mothers are witches and only pretend to be nice....woooooohoollll....now what do I do?I don't want ny father to stop loving me..I don't want to live with my mother..Father doesn't like her so she must be a bad person...But Aunty Su tells me that if I stop father then he will hate me and be unhappy..please Alice let me come live with you..that way I won't make father unhappy and I will have you with me always....wooooooohooooo"

By the time Ru's explanation came to an end,Alicia was fuming.This Aunty Su,if she was not mistaken that woman was Ru's nanny,what non sense was she teaching little Ru!!Her motives were clear..she was deliberately trying to attack Ru so that he would choose his mother next week at the hearing...Hmm and the woman was too shrewd slowly feeding Ru these poisonous thoughts and making him feel as if he could only rely on her...Oh she messed with the wrong person?!!"

"Ru,you told me your father is like Mr Dragon,right?then can he be caught by a mere witch.."

Slowly shaking his head, Ru said "But Aunty Su said..."

"No matter what Aunty Su said you know your father the best and you know that he loves you the most, yes?Then let me tell you a secret -when we love someone we want everybody around us to love them as well..so even if your father decides to marry,he will definitely marry a woman who will love you lots..that way you will have one more person loving you..hmmm.?"

After giving Ru something to think about Alicia asked him,"Now tell me have you eaten anything?No?then come we will fill our stomachs first and then jog our brains to find a solution to your problems..okk?"

Forgetting hui woes at the thought of tasty food both Alicia and Ru made their way downstairs only to find the living room empty.

The tasty smell coming from her kitchen made her frown..Neil was known for being unable to boil water..so what was cooking??

Oooohhhhg...How had her kitchen shrunken?Yummm ..forget the food she wanted to eat the chef!!Gosh..how can he look so hot wearing a peppa pig ap.r.o.n?!!That is just not fair..She had just managed to look decent after her shower and this guy was looking tempting like her favorite candy!!!She surrept.i.tiously checked to see if she was drooling.Any man cooking was hot but thisbone was scorching...

Looking at Al standing frozen in the doorway,Ryu gestured towards the small dining table laid out with many delicacies...

Ru sat on his chair and immediately started spooning the porridge into his bowl.He could see his father had made his favorite pancakes as well.Seeing this the three adults also sat and started their breakfast..

Al,who almost always skipped breakfast as she hated eating alone,had eaten 2 bowls of porridge and some amazing pancakes and was now feeling full enough to be sleepy again..when it struck her..they were supposed to meet at 10!!She looked at the watch and still it was only 9.30 am...just why had they come early??She looked at Neil with questioning eyes but Neil just avoided her gaze so she turned towarda Ryu.Seeing her look at him questioningly,he just gestured her towards the garden indicating that they needed to talk alone..