Both Joanne and Iris were good cooks. They soon laid out a huge spread.

The sky gradually darkened.

The bright red lanterns and blooming fireworks welcomed the upcoming New Year. The street was astir with color and noise.

Joanne came out of the kitchen with the last dish and inadvertently saw the gorgeous fireworks. She quickly ran to the window and looked up at the sky-

The fireworks went off with a myriad of colors.

Joanne could hardly conceal her joy and her face was wreathed with smiles.

The fireworks were reflected in Joanne's eyes, and the light added a glow to her face, making her more charming.

Brian walked over and gazed at Joanne affectionately.

After a long while, Brian whispered, "It's time to eat."

"Okay," Joanne replied. She turned and met Brian's eyes. Seeing Brian's hands were empty, she asked, "Where is Aiden?"

"He fell asleep," Brian said. "I took him back to the children's room."

"Well, let's have dinner!"

As they were in the dining room, Joanne directly pulled Brian to sit down. At that time, Iris came over as well.

Joanne ladled soup into bowls. Before she handed them to Brian and Iris, Iris suddenly said, "It's a happy occasion today. Brian, how about we drink some wine?"

"Okay."

Brian put down the spoon and went to the cellar.

Right at this moment, Wendy called Joanne.

Maybe influenced by the festive atmosphere, Wendy was very happy, and her voice sounded very excited.

"Joanne, my mom told me that the dinner on New Year's Eve represents a reunion. Why don't we eat together? We can also call my cousin and cousin-in-law!"

Joanne smiled. "Wendy is such a child. Always acting on impulse," she couldn't help thinking.

She replied, "Wendy, don't forget what you'll be doing tomorrow. We will have many chances to have dinner together. As for tonight, it's better that we eat with our families. Aunt will enjoy you and Gavin's company."

These words enlightened Wendy that her mother should want to have New Year's Eve dinner with Gavin.

After all, this was the first time in the past 20 years that Dolly and Gavin spent New Year's Eve together.

She had overlooked it. Fortunately, Joanne reminded her!

Wendy nodded and said cooperatively, "Well, see you tomorrow!"

"See you." Joanne hung up the phone.

Right at this time, Brian brought the wine. He poured two glasses of wine for Iris and himself.

He didn't pour any for Joanne.

Joanne was still breastfeeding. She could not take anything with alcohol, including red wine.

Iris smiled and clinked her glass against Brian's. She did not forget to comfort Joanne, "Joanne, I will drink with you next New Year's Eve."

Joanne could only comfort herself that she had no interest in red wine or other wines!

She nodded and said, "Okay."

Iris took a sip of the red wine and savored it. Suddenly, she thought of something and shook her head, saying, "Not necessarily. You might be in the lactation period again next year."

It was impossible for Joanne to breastfeed Aiden and Romy for more than a year.

And Iris just said "again".

Therefore, the old lady meant that Joanne might have another baby next year.

Joanne was shocked and almost choked on the soup. She looked at Iris blankly.

Brian noticed Joanne's panic. He put down the spoon and said, "Mom, we don't plan to have another child."

Brian had made this decision when she gave birth to Aiden and Romy.

But he had never told Iris about it until today.

Iris looked at Brian and then at Joanne. Only then did she realize that they had misunderstood her.

She smiled and slowly took a sip of the soup.

"Don't worry. I'm just kidding. I am not urging you to have more children. And I'll listen to your opinions on educating children. I won't force you to do anything. After all, times are different. You young people can keep up with the trend. I'm old and I should live in comfort in my old age."

Joanne was a little moved and she let out a sigh of relief.

To be honest, she could understand why Iris would want them to have another child.

Most elderly people hoped to have bigger families as it would be livelier.

"Would Brian's direct rejection disappoint the old lady?"

As soon as the three of them finished dinner, Martha rushed down hurriedly and said that Aiden and Romy were crying hard. Maybe they were frightened by the sound of the fireworks.

Joanne stopped thinking about anything else. She ran upstairs and heard the cries of Aiden and Romy from a distance.

She sped up and picked up Romy as soon as she entered the children's room. The little girl grabbed her clothes and wailed, struggling hard in her arms. Obviously, she was frightened by the unusual noises outside.

However, the fireworks outside wouldn't stop in a short time.

Brian came in later.

Joanne looked at Brian and said helplessly, "What should we do?"

Brian was calm. He walked over to close the window and took out a remote control from the drawer. He pressed a button and the sound of fireworks was immediately muted.

Not hearing the sounds anymore, Romy's eyes widened and she looked around like an uneasy rabbit. After making sure that the horrible sounds had really disappeared, she rubbed her face against Joanne's chest and slowly calmed down.

Aiden leaned against Brian's arms and slowly stopped crying.

The two little guys were pacified and soon fell asleep again.

Joanne finally felt relieved. She looked at Brian and asked curiously, "What did you do just now?"

"The children's room is soundproofed," Brian said. "The fireworks will continue in the next few days. I'll insulate the room so that Aiden and Romy won't be disturbed."

Joanne breathed a sigh of relief as if she had solved a big problem in her life. She put Romy back in the crib and accompanied her for a while. After making sure the girl was sleeping soundly, Joanne returned to her room.

Fireworks kept exploding outside. Joanne opened the window. "Bang, bang-" The sound was louder, and the cold wind of an early spring blew in with a biting edge, stinging her face.

Brian walked in and closed the window. He asked in confusion, "Why are you so obsessed with fireworks?"

"Don't you think they're beautiful?" Joanne raised her head and seemed addicted to the fireworks in the sky.

Brian did not reply. He walked aside and made a phone call in a low voice.

Joanne could not hear what Brian said. She wondered, "You have work?"

"No," Brian directly denied it. "It's something else."

Joanne became even more curious and asked, "So mysterious. What is it?"

Brian caressed Joanne's hair and said, "You will know soon." After that, he took a pair of pyjamas and walked to the bathroom.

The bathroom door was quickly closed, stopping Joanne from asking any more questions. She pursed her lips and walked around the room, finding nothing special.

Finally, her eyes focused on a bag.

Brian's gifts were in it.

Joanne wanted to open it in the car when she received it. But she gave up the idea after being irritated by Brian.

Now, she was very curious about the jewelry Brian had picked for her.

Thinking about that, Joanne opened the bag and found two boxes inside which were printed with the same brand logos.

One of them carried an elegant watch with a black strap.

Joanne preferred watches to luxury jewelry. In the past, Chris would give her watches as birthday gifts when he had no idea what else to give. Watches were always pleasant surprises for her.

Brian also knew that she liked watches. Every time when the brands she liked launched new models, he would buy them for her.

This watch was also the latest model of the brand.

Therefore, the item in the other box was what Brian really wanted to give her.

Joanne opened that box. As expected, it was a piece of jewelry.

It was a simple-style necklace that she liked. It was not luxurious, instead, it was thin and had a classic look.

Even if Joanne was not so fond of jewelry, she couldn't help taking it out and placing it on her collarbones.

When Brian came out of the bathroom, he saw Joanne trying on the necklace in front of the mirror.

He came up behind her and helped her put on the necklace. He bent down, put his chin on her shoulder and asked in a low voice, "Do you like it?"

Joanne nodded and praised, "It's very beautiful. I like it! So, you don't have to make it up to me now!"

If she hadn't mentioned it, Brian would have forgotten what he said in the car.

However, since Joanne brought it up -

"Joanne..." Brian turned his head and whispered gently in Joanne's ear, letting out a warm breath.

Joanne could not stand Brian's teasing, and her face suddenly turned red.

Unfortunately, Brian's mobile phone rang at this time. He received a new message.

Brian remembered something. He checked the message and took Joanne's hand, saying, "Let's go."

"To where?" Joanne was stunned and looked at Brian with an odd expression.

Brian scrutinized Joanne's face for a moment and smiled, "Don't worry, it's definitely not what you think."

Joanne was speechless.