Meet My Brothers by Red Thirteen

Mia was surprised when Ginger addressed Timothy as her dad. She'd never thought it would cout from her that easily. That wasn't what Ginger used to call Timothy back then, after all.

A pang of frustration shot through Mia when she chanced a glance at Ginger's expression. She could tell that Ginger was very fond of Timothy. She'd always been close with him, be it when Mia mistook Caleb as her ex-husband or when she finally cleared up the misunderstanding. Was this the bond of blood relations at work? Timothy went up to Ginger and stroked her cheek. "Are you afraid?" "I'm not. I'm a big child now, and I'm not afraid of anything." He handed her a stuffed toy. "This is for you." Holding the toy, Ginger glanced over at the boxes piled up on the floor. "Are these all for me?" Timothy nodded. "Yes. You can open them and see which one you like." Seeing the clutter of toys in the room, Mia immediately intervened. "Ginger has never been short of toys ever since she was born. You didn't have to buy that much." She also noticed that the toy in Timothy's grip appears to be the one that he bought with 500 dollars at the mall. It certainly held a different meaning to him, given that it was bought when he was at his lowest.

Timothy replied calmly, "It's fine. She can keep the ones she likes and discard the ones she doesn't like." Mia winced at the lavish display of his wealth. Did he think he could buy Ginger's affection with these toys? Ginger had been treated like a princess in the Lane family ever since she was young; she had every toy imaginable.

Caleb began, "Ginger, let's unwrap the presents." Ginger scrambled off her bed in glee, following Caleb on her way to pick out her presents. Meanwhile, Timothy turned toward Mia. "Cwith me. I need to talk to you." Mia nodded, exiting the ward with him. She knew what he was going to talk about.

They cto a halt in front of a window in the corridor. Mia glanced at him and asked, "You want to ask about Ginger's condition, don't you?" Timothy nodded. "She looks fine to me. It seems like she's doing well for her recovery." A stab of guilt pierced through Mia.

The reason why Ginger looked like she was in the pink was because skę wasn't even sick at all, thus there weren't any signs of her ailing. However, Mia simply couldn't tell him that. Clearing her throat, Mia answered, "Her treatment has been processing smoothly. Now that you've seen her, please leave Nord City." "Are you in such a hurry to driveaway? Or are you feeling guilty for hiding something from me?" "To be honest, Timothy, it's not that I'm in a hurry to drive you away. I'm doing this for the sake of your safety/Do you still want to experience getting beaten up and ending up homeless in Nord City, even sleeping on a hospital bench. alone?" Mia certainly wouldn't admit that she was indeed keeping him in the dark. She didn't want him to find out about Sage, at least now. Timothy took a step forward and chuckled. "So, you do care about me." "Don't read too much into it. It's not that I care about you; it's for the sake of our child. I don't want her to lose their father at such a young age." "Oh, is that so?" Mia recoiled a few steps, regaining her composure as she met Timothy's eyes. "What else were you expecting? Do you think I still have feelings for you?"