Cayenne has a class the next day but she wasn't worried. She could just join the class through a zoom meeting, instead of going there. She will not be marked absent but her points will be deducted. It didn't matter to her. She just needed to get higher scores than everyone else in the class.
She had breakfast in the hotel with Stefan and the bodyguards. After their meal, they went home so she could study properly and for Stefan to open the gifts that he has been looking forward to.
When they arrived home, Stefan saw a big box in the living room and it was wrapped simply with brown paper. There was no message or anything but Martin assured him that it was nothing dangerous. He even asked Autumn to sniff the package.
"Who sent this?" Stefan asked, still not confident to open the package in front of him. "I'm telling you, Martin. If there's something dangerous inside and it puts my wife in danger, I will cut you to pieces and feed you to my dogs."
"I know you would, sir. So, there's nothing dangerous inside. Just open it."
Cayenne rolled her eyes while looking at these two buffoons in front of her. "Why won't you just tell him that these are the gifts coming from all of you?"
Stefan's ears perked up and his doubts were cleared in an instant. They knew that Stefan wouldn't care about the wrapper so, their helpers decided to wrap the box with brown paper which was probably from the times they bought groceries. Practical.
Yet, the things inside this simple box were the ones that give Stefan happiness in life. Looking at his wide smile, Cayenne's nose stung and she had to blink her eyes several times to stop her tears from falling.
In the past, when she realized that Stefan developed this obsession with gifts, especially matching items, she talked to Dr. Oliver about it because he knew that the man wouldn't dare tell talk to Stefan on his own initiative. She didn't want to talk to Dr. Simbajon because she felt awkward talking to him about her husband since both of them knew each other.
"Why is Stefan obsessed with gifts and matching items? I don't want us to have a problem in the future if I tell him not to buy this or buy that. It seems not normal to me. I mean, I understand that most couples like to have matching clothes or something but not to the point that their whole wardrobe will be full of matching things. Isn't that weird?
I just want to make sure that I won't cause my husband to feel uncomfortable in the future."
Dr. Albert was silent on the other end of the line but Cayenne could hear the faint noise of him scribbling something on a paper. He must have placed his phone on his desk and turned the speaker on.
"Do you have any idea if something has happened in his past? Like maybe, he never received birthday gifts. I think that's impossible since he's rich. Or maybe, he wanted to share his gifts with someone in the past but couldn't do it so, he's fulfilling these subconscious wishes with you."
"Yeah. There are many cases wherein a kid didn't get what they were supposed to receive as a child. As they grow older, they would try to forget these things but deep in their mind, they have these notions that they needed to do it or get it because they weren't able to in the past."
"Oh. I see. Thanks. I think I get it now."
"No worries. My sister sends my regards to you."
"Likewise. Take care of your family."
Now, watching her husband having that blooming smile every single time he receives a gift, she couldn't stop herself from feeling sad for him. Stefan may not know this but it was probably his inner child that acts up when he receives something.
His family was lacking in this field as he grew up and when Alexander died, he probably felt that there was no need to receive gifts because the person special to him was long gone. He didn't have anyone he can show his gifts to, or share them with.
Then, after meeting Cayenne, the thing that he buried in the deepest part of his mind was showing up without him realizing it.
"Hon, look at these!" Stefan exclaimed as he raised a new pair of mugs. It was The Boss and The Real Boss couple of mugs with their names on them. Obviously, Cayenne was the real boss.
If you were to receive mugs almost every time there is a special occasion, you will start wondering how to use all of them. But not Stefan. So far, they received six pairs of matching mugs including the one from their helpers and they use all of them. He aligned them neatly inside the cupboard for mugs alone and they use one pair of mugs every day.
When they use it, he won't allow anyone to wash it after. It was either him or Cayenne; most of the time was him washing the items because he was afraid that the helpers would break them. How expensive is a pair of mugs again?
There were matching satin pajamas, passport holders, bathroom slippers, tumblers, customized spoons, and many more. It was a heap of matching items. Then, Stefan's expression changed when he picked up the last matching items. There were four pairs of matching mittens. Two big ones and two small ones. Obviously, the other two mittens were for their babies in the future.
He raised it in front of Cayenne but they couldn't tell whether he was happy or not with this gift. "Babies should have their own style," Stefan commented which made everyone burst out laughing.
Everyone: 😶 [Sir, aren't you subtle in saying you don't want your children to have matching items with your wife?]