Soon half a month had passed again.

Kate could have got out of the hospital and stayed at home, but her child and Tristan were all in the hospital, she wanted to stay so that in her mentality, she could feel that the families were still together, in one building.

The next day Cathy was born, Laura brought food to the ward. Kate then learned from her what had happened after she was missing. Tristan arranged for her to live in a condo, and Lucy was taken there too. The day when Tristan was shot, the villa was sealed up by police. In the condo Laura stayed, there was room for Kate and the baby.

Kate was shocked again. He had thought about this before.

He was so considerate.

Kate had to be interrogated by the police for half a day when she was still in the hospital. The interrogation was carried on in a special ward. To most of the questions, police asked, she replied with silence. Because there was no evidence that she got involved in Tristan's case, and also because they were not even a registered couple, they drew the conclusion that she had nothing to do with the case.

It was just that in the middle of the interrogation, a solemn female policeman's eyes kept sweeping her fingers and fixed on her ring. Kate didn't hide as before. Her hands maintain in the same place without moving.

Later before the interrogation ended, the female policeman finally asked, "You look like a nice girl. How did you end up being with this kind of person?" Her tone showed puzzlement as well as disappointment.

Kate looked into her eyes and said slowly, "I don't want to answer this question."

Without going out to the streets or watching TV, or reading the newspaper, Kate knew Chaisn's case caused an uproar in public. And a lot of government officials were fired and being investigated. The civilians were glad about the incident and chatting about it over tea. Tristan wasn't playing a good guy in this play.

Every time she went to see her daughter, some of the nurses might be pointed to her and chatted. She ignored them. After the interrogation, she always muttered to her daughter outside the glass wall, "Never mind about them. They knew nothing."

Right. They knew nothing.

And she didn't want to explain.

In the afternoon, Kate had three special guests to her ward.

They were her mother, eldest sister who learned the news about her and came back from her hometown, and Max, who went to pick them from the train station.

The traveling and worry made her mother look much older than Kate saw her about a month ago. Kate didn't care about other people's questioning and discussing, but faced with her own families, she felt sorry and guilty.

Her simple and rustic mother didn't blame her or cried. She just said, "Come back home. Your father and I will help you take care of the child."

"I am sorry, mom." Kate's eyes were with tears, "I cannot go now. He is my family, the father of my child. I cannot leave him."

Her mother was upset and puzzled. "He put you in this, and you still want to be with him?"

"No, he has not done anything bad to me."

If he said he had done anything to her, he made her not able to leave him.

They had too many stories, and now they were tangled together and could separate or from each other or tell who owed who.

Persuaded and reasoned by Max, Kate's eldest sister, and Betty, Kate's mother finally gave up getting Kate back home, and she went to see her grand-daughter. She exclaimed with reddened eyes, "How small she is! It is a miracle that she can survive."

She asked her eldest daughter to take out a new small blanket from the suitcase. It was sewn by her for her grand-daughter.

Kate bit her lips to prevent herself from crying.

On the day when Kate's daughter was one month old, Kate left the hospital first.

She moved to the condo where Laura stayed. Not met for over a month, Lucy turned much slimmer. In the new environment, it looked quite different too.

The crib and toys in the baby room were familiar. They were what she bought. And in the study, most of the things were hers. Only some were his important files.

When she was in the hospital, according to the rules, she could not visit Tristan, but thanks to Jimmy's help, she got a chance to go to see him once. She stared at him without blinking. Under the watch of a policeman, she reached her hand to touch Tristan's face. After confirming his temperature, she felt much at ease. In the following days, she lived with that memory and recalling him while looking at the few pieces of things that belonged to him.

Kate called Daisy. She had gone back to college to work on her graduation essay. Kate spoke straightly, "Do you still want to go to study abroad?"

Daisy didn't expect her to mention this again, and she was startled. Kate continued, "I will mail you something. It is for your studying abroad, but I have a condition. You know our elder sister has her family to take care of. So you and Max have to take care of mom and dad."

Daisy's attention was on the other thing, "So you plan to stick with him all your life? You cannot tell when he will…"

Kate interrupted her, "I don't need your support on my choice. If you want to go to Europe, then you let me know your decision. I know you don't want to owe me, so you can take this as trading. I will use this to buy me peace."

"I don't understand why you don't like him when he has everything. And now he is like this, and you want to stick with him."

"Do you know what a family is?"

The next day, Kate started to strive for her family.

She had b.r.e.a.s.t milk now, and it was quite abundant. So she collected it in a bottle and sent it to the hospital to feed her daughter every day. She went with Laura to her church to pray. Laura said she prayed that her son could be admitted to Harvard, and of course, her son was smart and diligent, so God helped her to have her wish come true. Kate believed God should grant her wish too.

***

The following days were spent in the same way until her daughter was dismissed from the hospital.

The little girl had substantial change. She had full gold hair and fair skin, sculptured facial features that resembled her when she was a child. She was still mini, but she was definitely a beauty. She wore the coat her grandma made for her and looked as cute as the pictures in the photographic studio.