It's my birthday today, so to celebrate here are two chapters.
Carrying a souvenir, I visited my sister-in-law, as I had originally intended.
I had fixed up my appearance compared to yesterday, well except a haircut. I had mentioned visiting soon during our last chat, so it shouldn't be a surprise visit.
"Welcome home, Charles, I thought you would come."
Sister-in-law said as she greeted me with a gentle smile.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to greet you properly yesterday." I bowed my head deeply.
"It can't be helped. Charles must have been tired from the long journey."
When I lowered my gaze a little, there I saw my cute niece, Claudia, who had appeared in my conversation with my sister-in-law yesterday, and who had grown considerably larger since the last time I saw her.
"Welcome home, uncle."
Claudia, the only daughter of my
"Oh, I'm home, Dia."
I bend down to meet her gaze and gently stroked her head.
Claudia narrows her eyes and accepts it comfortably.
"Your hair is getting longer. Are you growing it out?" Claudia asked me this when she saw my hairstyle, which had changed a lot from when we last met. As she said, my hair is quite long, and if I don't tie it up, it gets in the way.
"No, I'm just lazy and haven't cut it, I'm going to get a haircut soon."
"Is that so? I think uncle with long hair is also nice." "Thank you, Dia. But it looks like I'll be working here from now on. I need to be careful about my appearance." "Are you going to work in this country?" Claudia asked back, hearing the unbelievable words coming out of my mouth.
"Yes, that’s right. We'll talk about that in detail later.''
Let's talk about it slowly after things calm down, rather than just standing around like this.
Before that, I have something to do.
"I’m sorry, Dia."
Yes, I decided to start by apologizing.
"This time I came back in a hurry, so I couldn't prepare any souvenirs.''
Normally, I would have prepared souvenirs since I would be traveling to various countries, but this time I was in a hurry to return home.
I didn't want to carry any unnecessary baggage, so I headed straight for my hometown of Braidea.
Since I was returning home for such a reason, I had no choice but to give up on the souvenirs, although it was a bit of a pain for me as well. As for her response to my words. "No, I received the best souvenir, my uncle returning home safely. There is nothing more wonderful than this for me. Welcome back once again, Uncle Charles." "Dia...!"
I exclaimed.
These are the words of my niece, who is not yet ten years old.
To reply so sensibly...
"Sister-in-law."
Saying that, I turn and talk to Claudia's mother.
I said, "At this age, Dia has grown into a fine lady who would not be embarrassed to appear anywhere. This can only be said to be the result of her parents' education.'' "I agree." My sister-in-law nods at my words. "Dia has grown into a truly capable daughter who is too good for us." "No, I'm still not good enough, I always cause trouble for mother."
''Not at all. When I was about the same age as Dia, even if I stood on my head, such sensible words would never have come out. I don't mind telling you that I was a very unreasonable, cocky little child.''
"That's right. I met Charles for the first time about eight years ago." My sister-in-law starts talking nostalgically. "He was a really naughty boy when we met."
"It's embarrassing. Ah, I'm really sorry that I had to grab one so close to home, but this is a souvenir."
To hide my embarrassment, I handed the still slightly warm paper bag to my sister-in-law, as if I had just remembered it. "Thank you, Charles. You bought it for us at the usual bakery. It's a good deal, so let's have it right away while it's still warm with some tea."
That's how my sister-in-law leaves to prepares the tea.
"Both of you please wash your hands."
Meanwhile, she encourages me and Claudia to wash our hands.
When I finished washing my hands, the bread I had bought and the steaming white tea my sister-in-law had just brewed were on the dining table.
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