STIGMA

I gulped nervously while Miss Evergreen’s eyes widened with shock at Edward’s harsh and direct

comment. I guess in her years of being a teacher, she had never experienced a situation like this with

her student’s parents before. One glance at Edward confirmed that he was truly upset and offended by

what the teacher had just said. If I don’t try to halt this now, this whole parent-teacher conference will

blow up.

“Umm…sorry about that. I’m sure that Edward is happy to learn that his children are…very smart…” I

replied vaguely as I plastered a diplomatic smile on my face. Very smart…not geniuses. They are just

very smart.

I grabbed Edward’s hand under the table and squeezed it tightly. I hope he understands how weird and

rude his comment was just now. However, Edward didn’t seem to get my message at all or if he did, he

didn’t care too much for it. He didn’t look at me or acknowledge my attempt to stop him. His eyes were

glued on Miss Evergreen and those were not friendly eyes.

“I meant every word as I had just said them. My children may be smart, but they are not geniuses, and I

don’t need anyone saying that they are,” Edward repeated bluntly, his tone cold.

“Edward…” I whispered his name desperately as I yanked on his hand. What is he saying?!

While Miss Evergreen was stunned and didn’t know how to react to Edward’s words, he just continued

to stare at her with unamused eyes. It didn’t seem that Edward was willing to back down on this issue

and I could sort of understand why…

Miss Evergreen was clearly uncomfortable with what she was hearing and didn’t know how to respond

as Edward clearly thought her words were offensive. Edward was usually so good at handling

conversation with people and so I never saw this coming. He was usually very diplomatic and knew

how to handle all sorts of people in all sorts of situations; however, it seems like he has decided on a

very harsh approach to our current situation.

“My children are normal,” Edward repeated stubbornly.

Ok. I know where this is all coming from, but Miss Evergreen doesn’t so…let’s just give her a break ok?

“I’m so sorry, Miss Evergreen. Thank you for all that you’ve done for us today, but we should be taking

our leave. If there’s anything else, please don’t hesitate to call me directly,” I said while trying to sound

as pleasant as I could.

“Yes, Madame. Thank you for your time,” Miss Evergreen replied after snapping out from her state of

shock. Her voice shook so much when she spoke, and I pitied her that she had to deal with this version

of Edward.

I stood up and pulled Edward to his feet as I pushed him towards the door. I made sure that we both

left that room as fast as possible before anything worse would happen. Edward didn’t say anything to

me, and he seemed absorbed in his own thoughts. We walked together in silence to the car. I held

Edward’s hand all the way and I could tell that he was very upset and frustrated. I decided not to press

him to explain what had just happened to me because I knew that he would tell me when he was ready.

“Are you ok?” I asked with worry once we were alone in the car. I didn’t need to details if he didn’t want

to talk about it but I needed to know that he was ok.

“Yea…” Edward replied vaguely.

“I think I know how you feel but that’s not a good excuse to say the things you just did the way you said

it. Miss Evergreen isn’t to blame. She doesn’t know anything, and I think it was just a wrong choice of

words…” I said seriously as I turned to look directly at Edward.

Edward was silent for a moment as he seemed to figure out his own emotions and thoughts. I watched

silently as he struggled with his own demons. Suddenly, he turned to me and grabbed my hands in his

own and held it tightly.

“Natalia…our children, they’re normal, right?” Edward asked in a shaky voice. He was clearly upset like

Miss Evergreen’s word had struct a cord within him.

“Yes. I’m sure our children are normal. There’s no need for you to worry,” I replied reassuringly.

To be honest, I did not know whether our children were normal or not. I had no expertise to detect if a

young child was a genius or not and our children have not taken any tests. However, the chances of

someone being a genius was very slim, so I was quite positive that our children were normal. It wasn’t

like the twins would be geniuses just because their father is one.

Edward pulled me into a tight hug as he wrapped both his arms around me and held me tight. I rested

my head on his shoulder as he hugged me and leaned his head on mine. I hugged him back and felt

his body quivering in my arms.

“I want our children to be normal…” Edward whispered. I could sense the fear, the doubt, and the

desperate plead in his voice.

In other words, Edward didn’t want our children to be geniuses like him. Given what he’s been through,

I could understand where he was coming from…however…

“I’m sure our children are not geniuses, Edward. Even if they are, we are here to protect them, right?

We’ll do everything we can to keep them safe and ensure that they can live a normal life of their choice,

right? What happened to you…will never happen to them…” I said as I rubbed his back to comfort him.

“I don’t know…” Edward replied softly. I was sure that rationally he understood that what I said was

right; however, he wasn’t ready to deal with it emotionally.

“Should we…get them to take some tests?” I asked. Perhaps the test results would put his worries to

rest once and for all.

“No. I think you’re right. It doesn’t matter if they’re geniuses or not…we’ll protect them no matter what,”

Edward said, and I hugged him a little tighter.

“That’s right…” I said encouragingly and I stroked his back. His body seemed to relax a little in my

arms.

“Thank you, Natalia. I…love you,” Edward said as his voice shook with emotion. I couldn’t help smiling

a little.

I couldn’t see his face, but I believed that he was crying at least a little back then. I hadn’t properly

acknowledged it until I held Edward’s trembling body in my arms, just how much being a genius had

been a burden to him in his life. He’s been through too much suffering for something that others would

consider a rare gift.

“I love you too…” I replied softly and honestly.

Our past will always be a part of us and the best that we could do was to move forward. We can’t go

back to fix the past, but we could put our experiences to use for a better future for us and for our

children. Despite what we’ve been through or perhaps precisely because of what we’ve been through, I

was more certain than ever that Edward and I were ready to support our children on their own journey

in life.

--To be continued…This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.