CHAPTER 354: CHAPTER 354: DON’T SLEEP TONIGHT

Phoebe put down her cards and said to Lucian, "Mor, could you pour me another glass of juice, please? Thank you."

Lucian wasn’t one to fuss over such trivial matters, so he reached out to take the empty glass that Phoebe handed him and turned to pour her some juice.

While Flora was playing cards, she glanced over in the direction of the barbecue grill, initially wanting to see if the next batch of meat was almost ready. But suddenly, she spotted a familiar face near the barbecue stand.

She was startled for a moment, thinking that this person was just behind her a minute ago. How did he end up over there?

Curious, she glanced over at where the juice was being poured, then back at the barbecue stand, looking back and forth several times. Was she seeing things? Why did these two look the same?

Faye and Morgan didn’t hold back at all, standing in front of the barbecue grill and digging in as soon as the skewers were ready.

It took a couple of chiding words from Shane for the two of them to stop, and when they left, they each took a skewer with them.

Seeing that Shane was struggling to manage by himself, Arthur rolled up his sleeves and came over to help.

As night fell, the sky turned a deep blue.

One of Norman’s classmates began strumming a guitar, and everyone got excited. Audrey and a few of her friends started dancing on the grass to the music.

Their dance wasn’t exactly graceful, with a hint of playful humor, but everyone was having a great time.

Shane sat at the table, holding a glass of wine, his gaze fixed on Audrey.

As long as he saw her smile, he didn’t want to worry about anything else. No matter what the outcome, he would accept it.

Everyone had classes the next day, so the party didn’t go on too late.

At ten o’clock, they sang the birthday song, cut the cake, and started winding down the night. Audrey waited until everyone had left before she and Shane headed home.

Sitting in the passenger seat, she began unwrapping the gifts everyone had given her. Suddenly, she said, "You are such an unqualified husband."

Shane glanced at her, as if asking what had displeased her now.

Audrey pouted and said, "Everyone gave me birthday gifts, except you."

Hearing this, Shane chuckled, "I’ll give it to you when we get back."

"Did you even prepare anything? Or are you just going to grab some jewelry from your display case and call it a day?"

"How did you know?"

Audrey rolled her eyes at him and muttered, "I knew it, you don’t care about me at all."

Shane smiled softly without saying a word, listening to her mutter complaints throughout the drive. Yet he knew she wasn’t really upset with him; whenever she unwrapped an interesting gift, she would proudly show it off to him.

When the car stopped in front of their house, Shane got out to take out some ingredients that her mom had prepared and some fruits they picked from their orchard.

Audrey, holding the box of gifts, got out of the car and opened the door to their house.

After placing the gift box inside, she came back out to help him carry the items.

"I’ll handle this; you go take a shower first."

But Audrey couldn’t stop thinking about the gift, "Give me my gift first."

Shane put the groceries next to the fridge and led her upstairs.

When they reached the bedroom, Audrey watched as he walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a long black velvet box.

Curious, she moved closer to take a look as Shane handed the box to her.

"What is it?" Audrey took the box with a beaming smile.

"See for yourself."

Eagerly, Audrey opened the gift box and found a silver necklace inside, with a pendant shaped like a small leaf, resembling a sycamore leaf.

The design was simple, nothing particularly distinctive, not even as attractive as those in his display cabinet.

Yet, Audrey was satisfied. She took out the necklace, turned her back to him, and held it up, saying, "Help me put it on."

Shane took the necklace and unclasped it, gently asking her, "Do you like it?"

Audrey replied, "Of course, I like it. It’s not every day you give me a gift."

Then Audrey grumbled again, "But isn’t the design too ordinary? Did you design it yourself?"

Shane’s response left her a bit puzzled, "Sometimes, the most ordinary things are actually the most special."

Audrey looked down at the necklace around her neck, lightly touching the little leaf pendant with her hand, smiling, "You’re right, anything you give is special."

Shane just smiled, refraining from further explanation, and gently fastened the clasp of the necklace.

She immediately ran to the full-length mirror, admiring herself, "This simple design actually looks quite nice."

"Go take a shower and get some rest."

"You haven’t wished me a happy birthday."

Shane shot her a look and said as he walked toward the door, "After I finish cleaning the kitchen, if you’re still awake, I’ll handle you."

Watching him go downstairs, Audrey admired the necklace in the mirror one more time before contentedly taking her nightgown to the bathroom.

After her shower, Audrey went downstairs, grabbed a glass of water, and wandered around the kitchen, watching him tidy up the fridge.

Shane stood up and glanced at her, asking in a neutral tone, "Can’t sleep?"

Audrey gazed at him in adoration and nodded.

Shane remarked, "Then don’t sleep at all tonight."

Audrey watched as he started unbuttoning his shirt and immediately backed down, clutching her glass as she dashed upstairs, "Suddenly, I’m feeling sleepy!"

Shane chuckled at her retreating figure.

He was just feeling a little warm.

By the time he finished cleaning up and went upstairs, she was lying in bed looking at her phone. When he emerged from the bathroom after his shower, she had fallen asleep.

He initially thought she was faking it, but after he kissed her and she didn’t react, he realized she was really asleep.

Shane didn’t disturb her further. He adjusted the air conditioning, turned off the overhead lights, and switched on the desk lamp to deal with his work.

The next day, Audrey had classes in the afternoon, so she didn’t leave with Shane in the morning.

She watered the flowers in the garden at the back of the house and sat on the swing soaking up the morning sun.

Everything felt perfect, except for the fact that her belly showed no signs of life.

Since she friended the owner of a perfume shop, she often saw updates about the owner’s children on social media.

The two kids were so adorable it made even those who weren’t married want to get married just to have children.

Audrey looked at a photo of the little boy and thought he resembled her third brother.

Out of boredom, she saved a picture of the boy and sent it to the family group chat: Mom, can you guess who this is?