Bella seemed to see her son’s dislike of the room from the look in his eyes.
She could only smile sympathetically at him while gently stroking his hair. Then, she leaned closer and whispered, "Baby, can you just accept it... And pretend that you like the room?"
Bella worried that Tristan would be disappointed if Dax were honest with him. She could sense happiness flash in Tristan’s gaze. Besides, she also felt touched by his effort to quickly provide this room for their son.
Dax blinked, looking at his mother, trying to understand her meaning.
"—Well, at least your daddy already made an effort to create this special room for you, dear..." She gently continued her words, trying to convince him.
"Hmm," Dax nodded and smiled at his mother before gazing at Tristan. "Dad... I like it," he said, smiling even though it seemed forced.
"I’m so happy you like the room, my son," Tristan said while ruffling Dax’s hair lovingly. "—All right, you can look around..." he continued before approaching Bella, who was standing near the window with her back facing them.
Tristan stood beside her, following her line of sight to the garden behind the house. When Bella looked up to see him, he turned to meet her eyes.
Looking at her calm gaze made Tristan say in his hushed voice, "He didn’t like this room, right?" The corners of his lips lifted, revealing a faint smile.
Earlier, he could see the dislike in Dax’s eyes, but he just pretended not to be aware of it.
Bella was rendered speechless. She felt sorry for him and could only nod slightly in response.
Tristan tugged his hand in his trouser pocket, sighed deeply, and turned his gaze back to the garden outside.
After a few more seconds, Bella said, "I told you before, he is different from the children the same age as him."
Bella follows his line of sight.
"Hmm, I just remembered that. Well, at least I still have another surprise for him. I hope this time, he will not be disappointed."
A smile slowly graced Tristan’s face again. He had already thought about it, so he prepared a backup plan to make his son happy.
Bella was surprised to hear his words. She turned to look at him in a hurry, "Another surprise?" she asked, puzzled.
Tristan nodded with a mysterious smile gracing his handsome face. Bella narrowed her eyes at Tristan, suspicious about what he had prepared for Dax.
Worry this man will disappointed again, she said, "Tell me before you give it to him. Afraid you will make a mistake again."
However, Tristan shook his head and refused to tell her.
Bella grew more suspicious. Before she could ask further, Dax approached her.
"Mommy, is my bag still in your car?" Dax asked. He wanted to check his iPad and contact his gaming friend.
"No, but it’s in my room. Baby, wait a minute, let me get it for you..." Bella immediately left the room.
Not long after, she reappeared carrying a black backpack and handed it to Dax.
"Thank you, Mommy..." After receiving his bag, Dax went straight to the study table in the corner, pulling out his iPad.
....
"What’s that?" Tristan asked curiously, seeing his son looking enthusiastic about his backpack.
"His laptop and iPad," Bella answered while glancing at Dax, who was busy behind his iPad.
Then, Bella looked at Tristan. "I told you before, our son is different from other children his age... You still remember it, right?"
"Yes. Can you tell me more about it?"
Bella nodded, inviting Tristan to follow her to the two-seater sofa near the window.
She began to explain after Tristan sat beside her.
"When Dax turned one, he could speak with good articulation, although not yet perfect, and his vocabulary was still limited, but he spoke well. By age two, he could speak clearly and had a wide vocabulary; even Aunt Noora and I were amazed to hear him speak..."
Tristan was stunned. He listened to Bella while his eyes never left Dax, who seemed immersed in his iPad, ignoring them.
"When he was three... One day, I lent him my cell phone to watch a cartoon. However, I was shocked to learn that he didn’t watch cartoons. Instead, he started to play a few games I had installed on my phone."
Bella shook her head, smiling as she remembered when she found out Dax could play a difficult game.
"What game?" Tristan asked curiously.
"Minesweeper and Chess. What shocked me was that he beat my best record, even though I never taught him how to play those games..."
Tristan was shocked. He knew the game was challenging even for adults and required strategy to play.
"Since then, I bought an iPad for him. With strict usage limits for children, of course..." Bella emphasized the strict limits for children to reassure him.
He smiled at her.
"I only installed a few games that could hone his cognitive skills. And every day, his abilities surprised me. He mastered all the games I installed for him in a short time. Last November, on his fourth birthday, I gave him a laptop. Since then, he has started to study a few things about coding. And I signed him up for online coding lessons..."
Tristan was once again stunned to hear that. "He’s interested in coding? Did he perform well in his coding lesson?" he asked.
"Hahaha..." Bella couldn’t help but laugh.
She leaned closer to Tristan and whispered, "—He actually stopped taking online lessons, even though I had already paid for a year’s package for him."
He frowned, "Why? Wasn’t he interested?"
"He was interested, but he said his teacher taught him the material he could learn on his own. He got bored and didn’t want to study there anymore. He downloaded all the materials and studied them. All by himself. He could master their one-year curriculum in an hour..."
Tristan was even more amazed to hear that.
"And he is just four years old..." Bella said, smiling proudly as she saw her son.