The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

"Sure thing," Grace replied before turning back to the kitchen to get busy.

Brandon took a special look at what she was cooking up - all pretty simple stuff, a bowl of porridge, a dish of greens, with some

small side dishes to go with the porridge.

"Grace," Brandon called out to her again, "do you always do the cooking?"

"Not really." Grace answered in between tasks, "Back in Wye City, | was just in charge of looking after the kids. Sophia had hired a

part-tcook, but since we've returned to the country, and considering Theresa's getting older and Sophia hasn't found a suitable

cook yet, I've been whipping up lunch and dinner. But breakfast is Sophia's domain. She's super into what Theresa eats, so she

always makes breakfast herself, and on weekends too."

"What does she make for breakfast?" Brandon asked.

"Whoa, lettell ya, it's quite the spread." Grace said, unable to stop herself from counting on her fingers, getting lost in the list,

"She whips up something different every day for Theresa, never repeats a dish, and she's all about that nutritional balance. The

combos are so fancy; | can't even remember them all. Tried to learn but just can't get the hang of it."

Grace got a bit sheepish as she went on, gesturing towards her own simple fare, "Look at me, | can only manage these basic

things. Anything more complicated is beyond me."

"It's alright." Brandon said politely, "You've been working hard these past two years."

Grace was taken aback by the compliment, "I'm just doing my bit; it's nothing really, Mr. Crawley."

"It must be tough handling both the cooking and the kid.” Brandon said, “How about this? I'll hire a dietitian in the next couple of

days to take care of the meals at home, and you can focus on looking after Theresa. It should make things easier for you."

"Sophia and Theresa are both a bit on the delicate side, so | plan to have the dietitian get their health back on track," Brandon

added.

"That would be great." Grace quickly agreed, "Sophia really depleted her strength having the baby, and then she was so busy with

the kid, school, and work that she never had tto recover. She definitely needs to take care of herself. And Theresa has always

been frail, just like her mom, prone to sickness. They both could use sgood nutrition."

"Alright, I'll get it sorted and let you know." Brandon said, "You go on with your things. I'm gonna check on Theresa."

With that, Brandon went back to the room.

Theresa had been moved to the next bedroom by Grace the night before, since he and Sophia hadn't chome. The little girl

was still in dreamland when Brandon's entrance woke her. She rolled over and crawled out of bed, rubbing her eyes and looking

towards the door.

Theresa was momentarily stunned to see Brandon. Having just woken up, her sleepy brain was still catching up to the fact that she

had a new dad.

Brandon approached her, "Theresa, don't you want to sleep a bit more?"

Theresa shook her head instinctively, "I'm all rested."

She then looked at Brandon and uncertainly called out, "Daddy?"

"Yeah, it's Daddy." Brandon said as he sat on the edge of the bed and scooped her up, "You awake now?"

"Yeah, I'm awake." Theresa replied softly, finally taking a moment to look around. She realized she wasn't in her parents’ room, a

puzzled expression crossed her face, but she didn't ask, just looking at Brandon wonderingly, "Daddy, where's Mommy?"

"Mommy's still resting." Brandon said, "Do you want to go wash up first?"

Theresa nodded, "Okay."

She wriggled out of Brandon's arms, hopped off the bed, and headed to the bathroom. She skillfully grabbed her toothbrush and

toothpaste, squeezed a small dab on, and began to brush, albeit a bit clumsily. No need for any grown-up help.

"Do you usually brush your teeth by yourself, Theresa?" Brandon stood beside her, picked up the toothpaste, and asked gently.

Theresa nodded, "Yeah, Mommy says | should do things for myself."

"Theresa's so great," Brandon praised softly, patting her head.

The compliment made Theresa especially happy; she turned to Brandon with a big, beaming smile.

Sophia returned to see the father-daughter duo brushing their teeth together at the sink, mirroring each other's movements.

She watched them, slightly spellbound.

Brandon turned and noticed her standing at the door, his brow furrowing slightly, "Why are you up so early?"

He rinsed his mouth a few times, cleaning out the toothpaste foam.

Theresa also saw Sophia, and after a muffled "Mommy" with her mouth full of foam, she quickly rinsed her mouth too.

The way they both rinsed was identical.

Sophia had always known Theresa picked up shabits from Brandon, but she had never seen them side by side like this.

"lI woke up and wanted to make sbreakfast for Theresa, so | got up early," Sophia said, moving to the sink and grabbing a

toothbrush and toothpaste.

Brandon and Theresa had already washed their faces and stepped aside to make room for her.

"I'll take Theresa back to our room to get dressed," Brandon said, leading Theresa away.

He opened the wardrobe, which was full of her clothes.

"Does Theresa usually pick out your own clothes, or does Mommy choose for you?" Brandon looked down and asked Theresa,

surveying the wardrobe's contents.

"Mommy picks." Theresa said, "Sometimes, | pick what | want to wear."

She stepped forward and pulled out a dress, "lI want to wear this."

Brandon helped her get it down. It was the sclothes she had worn the first the saw her in Wye City; it looked beautiful.

But wearing this outfit meant doing hairstyles and dressing up, which was totally out of his league.

He knew a lot of things, but doing a girl's hair and styling was something he had never tried before.

Brandon glanced at Theresa's sleek, shiny hair draping over her shoulders and tried to lift a strand, feeling a bit clueless about

where to start.

"Hey, how about | take a look at how to do your hair first?" He asked Theresa softly.

Theresa, not quite grasping the challenge hair braiding posed for her dad, nodded obediently, "Okay."

Brandon whipped out his phone, googled shairstyles for little girls, and then compared those to the style of dress Theresa had

picked out and her face shape. He chose a simple yet pretty hairstyle to try on her.

It looked easy enough - just divide the hair into sections and start braiding.

But while the video made it look like a breeze, Brandon quickly realized the truth of "easy to watch, hard to do." Just braiding was a

struggle that took him ages, and the end result was a lopsided, loose braid full of flyaways. Theresa looked like she could have

walked straight out of a refugee camp.

Brandon's brow furrowed deeply in frustration.

Catching a glimpse of her messy hair in the mirror, Theresa's lips puckered up in disappointment and she couldn't help but quietly

remind Brandon, "Daddy, my hair's all over the place."

"I'll redo it for you," Brandon said, taking the braid apart and ready to give it another go, but still feeling all thumbs.

The new hairstyle wasn't much of an improvement.

"Let's not wear this today. How about we wait until Daddy has learned how to do your hair properly?" He finally said, trying to

convince her to give up on the outfit for now.

Theresa was a bit sad and whispered to him, "Mommy knows how to do it."

"Mommy's been super tired from work lately. Let's give her a break. Daddy will learn in a couple of days and then do it for you,

okay?" Brandon coaxed her softly.

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