“Corinne, could their kindergarten teacher mistakenly think this was Bryan’s clothes and let him wear it back? And it’s only just
now we’ve noticed the mistake?” asked Francine.
After thinking about it, Corinne thought it was possible. “Most probably. Let’s have dinner first. We shouldn’t make Grandpa and
Grandma wait,” she said.
“Okay!” replied Francine with a nod. She then reached out her hand to Christine, saying, “Come, Christine. Let’s go down to
have dinner.”
Francine’s voice snapped Christine out of her thoughts. The little girl jumped down from the bed and followed Francine and
Corinne out of the room.
...
During dinner, Corinne quietly observed ‘Bryan’ and noticed something odd about him again. He did not know how to use his
utensils properly.
All of her three kids were smarter than their peers, and she did not need to teach them how to use utensils since they learned it
themselves.
However, at that moment, it was like the boy’s fork and knife were fighting with each other. No matter how much he tried, he
could not pick up his food.
Corinne could not help but feel that it was very weird for him to behave like that. She finally opened her mouth when she saw him
giving up and choosing to use his hand instead.
“Bryan, don’t use your hand to eat!”
‘Bryan’ seemed to not have heard her. He did not even look at her. Instead, he shoved the barbecue ribs into his mouth with his
hand. He rarely had barbecue food at home, so this was his first time enjoying barbecue ribs.
Corinne was not at all happy at being ignored. She knocked on his plate and said, “Hey, Mommy’s talking to you.”
It was only then ‘Bryan’ realized Corinne was speaking to him. He looked innocently at her and said, “Mommy, this food is so
delicious!”
Corinne’s unhappiness immediately disappeared when she saw how cute ‘Bryan’ looked with his puffy cheeks stuffed full of food.
Nonetheless, she still said, “Even so, you shouldn’t eat with your hands. Look at your brother and sister. They’re both using their
utensils properly.”
‘Bryan’ looked at Joey and then at Christine. They were indeed using their forks and knives properly.
However, he did not know how to use those utensils yet. He tried, but he failed.
‘This pretty lady might realize I’m not her son because of this... No... I really like it here. I don’t want to leave just yet,’ he
thought.
He loved the food there as well and wished he could eat there every day.
“Sorry, Mommy. I was so hungry just now that I forgot my manners,” he said.
Francine felt sorry for him on account of how pitiful he looked, so she jumped in to defend him, “You should just let it go, Corinne.
He didn’t eat anything at the picnic ’cause all he wanted to do was to look at the kite. He must be very hungry. Why not just let
him eat with his hands since they’re already dirty? You can always teach him the right manners next time.”
‘She’s right. Bryan must be very hungry since he didn’t eat much just now,’ thought Corinne.