"Can you sayyyyy... HELLO?" Freddie asked his daughter eagerly. She was so small seating on his chest, she weighed like a feather to him.
"Yello..." Elle cried back. Alice leaned to the side of the door, a grin formed on her face. Freddie could comm...
For dinner, The Mercurys were in Soho having dinner at Yoona's Kitchen, a local korean restaurant. All three of them sat on a pillow, cross-legged on the wooden mat floor. Freddie sat at the corner next to a wall with Elle seating opposite of him, cornered by Alice to the side.
"Dada manhi meogo (Dada are you eating that)?" Elle leaned forward looking tentatively to her father. Freddie accidentally ignored his daughter as he took a mouthful of naengmyeon, one hand holding the bowl and the other holding a pair of chopsticks.
Elle looked to her Dada longingly, trying to hint to him, "Dada manhi megeochanaaaa (Dada you ate so much~)."
"Nei baepulloyo (Yes I am very hungry)..." Freddie replied back confidently in Korean. Alice glanced to him, impressed.
"Kojitmal hajimaaaa (Do not lie please)..." Elle muttered with a pout looking down to her empty plate. Alice was too engrossed flipping over the meat on the grill to notice Elle's plate was empty.
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Freddie snickered at his daughter. Using the chopsticks, he pulled up some noodles and leaned forward to feed her. Elle looked up with her mouth open, slowly Freddie lowered the noodles into her mouth. She started giggling when Freddie purposely joke around feeding her sloppily so the last bit of noodle landed on her nose instead. Her laughter caught Alice's attention who saw the whole scene thinking only Freddie can make a noodle situation a sweet joking affair with his daughter. Freddie glanced to Alice and smiled like a fool at his daughter's giggly reaction.
Alice looked to Elle and her lips curled into a reluctant smile. That laughter, that giggle, if it was not for Elle and the baby in her tummy, she would not have given Freddie a second chance. But he had to work for it, he is back in Garden Lodge but they were not sharing a bed. Freddie would sleep in one of the guest bedrooms but most of the time he'd always curl back to her bed citing the other room was too cold, or he has a fever hence he needs to cuddle. Alice would be too tired to put up a fight and they'd sleep with Freddie spooning her until the next morning. In front of Elle, they'd act as if nothing had happened, to her it would take time before things could go back to normal and for Freddie, he took it as a chance to win back her affection one step at a time.
He was thankful regardless, in Roger's optimistic words, fake it til you make it. With Elle around he could sneak a reluctant peck from Alice, hugging her from the back, anything. If it meant that at least they would stay together under the same roof, that was good enough for him.
An idea occurred to Freddie, he spoke to Elle coyly, "Elle baby, look Dada will eat from this end of the noodle, and you will eat from this end." Elle listened to her father and nodded, wiping her sticky mouth. Freddie then strategically pulled upwards a few strand of noodles from the bowl and pinched the other end delicately.
"Chunbihaseyooo (Get ready...)," Freddie declared leaning forward so he could put the opposite end of the noodle to Elle's giggling lips. Alice looked to the father-daughter duo amused, she was more impressed at the amount of Korean Freddie was speaking. He had improved so much ever since moving back into Garden Lodge.
