Chapter 39.2: Let me hold you a little while longer; just a little while more, alright

"What? I couldn't hear you. Could you please speak out louder, dear? Everyone's talking too..." Jason spoke a little louder for Daisy to overhear them while Ivy blushed even more before pinching lightly on Jason's right thigh. Jason grimaced as he threatened to tickle her before she willingly let go while snarling at him for teasing her.

"There's no need to be shy, Ivy. Make yourself at home. So how's the internship going on? Is my son teaching you well?" Daisy asked knowing Jason wanted her to pay attention to Ivy as after all, she was the one who invited her. Ivy cheeks went redder from blushing. Jason was enjoying teasing her while distracting her from enjoying more pork livers so that he could have more.

She cleared her throat a little as she nodded while reaching for her white wine. "Yes, he is. It's not too bad..."

"Good to hear… Take it easy, my dear. Am sure you would make your grandma proud. Are you staying with your parents? How are they?" Ivy was silent for a moment as she put down her glass of wine while Daisy continued on having some mango salad.

"No, I don't. I used to live with my grandma. You seem to know who my grandma is?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, oh yes! I loved her noodles very much, especially the spicy one. Auntie Soh learned well from her but not as well." Daisy complimented as it eased Ivy's dampened mood a little.

"So, you're staying with Auntie Soh?" Daisy asked as Jason felt her mother was asking too much of her background for his liking. He nudged Ivy and made eye contact with her to eat her meal before she could answer.

She nodded to Daisy without Jason noticing although she felt bad to lie, before she began to scoop a spoon of rice with some stir fried watercress and goji berries instead as she felt she had enough pork livers for the night.

"You must be missing your grandma, don't you?" Daisy asked as Ivy tried to munch her food faster to answer. She tried her best to swallow within five seconds to reply but choke in between as she reached out again for her white wine. Jason couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"Jason..." Daisy called out in an annoyed tone for being mean to Ivy. Ivy was trying to stop coughing as Jason helped her with a glass of water in front of her.

"Does he always bully you, Ivy? Always so naughty and mean. No wonder no one wants you..." Daisy teased.

"There, she wants me. That's why she's here." Jason dared himself to step out of his comfort zone.

Ivy nearly choked but managed to keep herself in control as she maintained a shy smile but was snarling at him in an attempt to pinch him a second time but he held her hand tight before she changed her face's reaction to answer Daisy's question earlier.

"Yes, I do miss my grandma. But it's fine. I have gotten used to being independent." Ivy smiled although the fact hit her on a moment of realisation that she had not felt this warm feeling of being surrounded by family ever since her grandma left.

The one refuge she held dearly of her grandmother was hoping she could hug her in her dreams every night and not to get caught waking up in a sleep paralysis. She took a sip of the white wine to fight her stinging tears as Jason signaled his mother to change the topic when Ivy wasn't looking.

Jason had felt bad enough to invite her like this for a farewell she didn't know but yet his mother seemed to be giving Ivy too much hope of accepting her into the family this fast. He didn't want to strengthen the relationship as he was still unsure how well Ivy could handle tomorrow when her biological family finally will come to visit her.

Daisy nodded and turned her attention to Jeremy instead. Ivy noticed a lot of pork liver was left but she felt like she had enough dinner.

"You know the routine here is to finish everything on your plate. Nothing left on the table too as it's rude." Jason knew it was a good chance to keep her distracted from the questions his mother asked earlier as he teased her in a serious tone while she pondered on how to finish her dinner.

"Are you serious?" Ivy felt very annoyed with him for the night as he continued to play plenty of childish tricks on her. He nodded and had no choice but to try and have some more pork livers.

Grandma was nearly done with dinner as she noticed Ivy was forcing herself to finish what's on her plate. "Ivy, save some space for desserts, darling! You don't want to miss Min's traditional mung bean soup."

"But he said the rule here was to finish everything on the table…" Ivy realised it was a trick by Jason while she explained herself as both Daisy and grandma laughed. "That was when they were younger... It no longer applied… It's a trick to get children to finish up and ensure they eat enough." Daisy explained as she snarled at Jason for tricking Ivy. Ivy was trying to control being upset as Jason couldn't help but to keep laughing.

After their desserts, Jason's grandma requested for Jason to come see her in her room with Ivy.

Ivy stepped in and was witted about Jason's baby and toddler pictures. There were plenty of family pictures around. His grandma sat with them over tea and talked about Jason's younger days. She spoke about her friends in the old folks who used to be their neighbors or close acquaintances. Ivy could tell his grandma missed them all and suggested visiting them together as they made plans for the future. Their enjoyable chat was interrupted when they heard a commotion from downstairs.

Jeremy's ex-girlfriend, Anna came to create chaos saying she was pregnant and demanded him to take this responsibility. Daisy had to be the adult to take charge of mediating the chaos.

Everyone including the maids in the house stood by as Ivy started to fidgets. Aside from her sleep disorders, she also often avoided loud arguments with wails and screams as she could feel the tension affecting her mentally which made her feel suffocated as though she had encountered too many arguments and confrontations before this. It was totally a different feeling from debating.

Jason, on the other hand, was enjoying the show while eating an ice cream he took from the refrigerator but he noticed Ivy sneakily slipped away, looking exasperated. He instantly knew something was wrong as he went to check on her in the garden. He found her with teary eyes while trying to get over her emotions as she tried hard to breathe.

He felt he had put her through a tough emotional roller coaster the night before as he embraced her but it didn't help her much.

"Hey…It's alright…" He cooed but she was breathing harder while holding on to his arms. He decided to distract her with music this time as he pulled her to the music room in the house from the back door.

He kept quiet knowing he should let her face her emotions first as she kept wiping her tears away in the quiet room. After a while, he decided he should play a few pieces to keep her mood lighter as he slammed on some fast notes before playing on the classic piece, "Canon" and signaled her to join on a quick tempo.

Fast pieces helped her concentrate and take her mind off things since she played by ear and he envied her for that. Later she switched to a slower rendition of what Lance once taught her to play which she often played when she was down. Jason tried to accompany her melody which made her feel a lot better as she smiled at the last note.

"Aren't arguments and confrontations your forte?" He asked, concerned. "What's wrong? Why are you reacting this way?" He persuaded her to tell him as he reached out to wipe away her tears earlier.

"If it gets too violent and loud I always have the sensation of feeling suffocated… I don't know why…" Ivy wiped her wet face with her hands as Jason pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

"I guess that's why I always preferred solitary and I always thought the air was better than a soul back then… But as I grew older, only then I realised, a soul is better than the air, especially when grandma left and no one was left to be called family…" Ivy explained as Jason listened intently to her with a very heavy heart.

"Air is better than a fake soul too… have you ever thought of finding your parents?" He asked as she nodded. "Who did you want to find the most?" He asked casually.

"My father…" She answered without hesitation. "Why?" He tried to pester further.

"I used to think I was the victim of their divorce but only to come to realise that he was... My mother was reckless and made lots of mistakes but he stood by her till he could no longer tolerate her irresponsible self that he had to leave me with my grandma to make a living. I could understand his point of view better than my mother's. Perhaps, she was looking for more attention and wasn't ready to grow up to take on the responsibilities. I don't blame her for that. Everyone has their own timeline. I wanted mine to be fast because I never wanted to be like her. Even then if I have a chance to meet her, I would tell her the best decision she ever made was to listen to her mother to deliver me…" Ivy smiled with teary eyes as Jason gently patted her arm to comfort her.

"Ivy… I want you to know that no matter what happens in the future, I will always be by your side… I have treated you as a genuine friend before…" Ivy sat up and stared at him as she could feel his words had hidden meaning behind them but she was also doubting it.

"…And I still want to be that genuine friend to you always…"Jason added while Ivy tears rolled down her cheeks as she nodded and smiled. In her heart, she knew at least she could count on Jason a little more these days and she would appreciate the days left with him before she had to leave him.

She placed her head on his shoulder trying to enjoy the comfort of his companion. Jason eventually let her ease into his arms with her face buried into his chest as she cried. Jason felt extremely horrible for the entire situation as he held onto Ivy for refuge this time.

"Jason… I will always stand with you…" Ivy thought to herself. "Jason… Thank you…" Ivy whispered as Jason.

"Let me hold you a little while longer… Just a little while more, alright?" Jason pleaded as he let his tears welled up. He could feel Ivy's hug tightened around him.

"If only… If only, time could stop…" He thought to himself as he sat by the piano, hugging her and not wanting to let her go.