Joseph heard how determined Kate was to make their relationship work; he squeezed her hand tighter and smiled.
Cassie saw every little sign of affection the two had for each other. In fact, she had been thrilled from the moment she saw Kate in the kitchen. She made sure to keep a serious look on her face, though to test her son's sincerity for Kate. Cassie was aware that most mothers would defend their son, but she wanted to make sure that Kate would not be hurt.
"Don't make any promises this soon. The days will be long, and there is no guarantee that you will be together for the rest of your life. I only hope that since you have chosen to try again, you should be responsible for each other from now on. I also hope that you will consider my feelings, my heart is not very strong, and I don't want to see you…" Cassie didn't want to say break up; she knew it might discourage them, so she turned her head away.
"Mom, don't worry about us. We will be okay, and we won't give you a reason to worry about us anymore," Kate promised.
Joseph quickly agreed, "Mom, I will love and protect Kate; after all, she was the perfect daughter-in-law to you. I know you don't want your son to be a bachelor his entire life."
Knowing Joseph said that just to make her happy, Cassie laughed, “If you had been this insightful before, you wouldn’t have made so many detours. If… well, let’s forget about the past. You two enjoy the present, get married soon and have a baby. I want to have a grandchild!”
Joseph and Kate looked at each other when they heard Cassie now wanted a grandchild. Joseph replied, "Mom, I understand what you are saying but Kate and I are just falling in love. If you encourage that kind of commitment right now, we will feel overwhelming pressure."
"Hit the iron while it's hot! Haven't you ever heard the saying?" Cassie questioned. When she saw Kate's expression, she waved her hands in the air, "Kate, I am not in a rush. I want you to enjoy your own life first and then consider having a baby. I am just excited!"
Kate appreciated Cassie’s honesty and patience. She was aware that if she were any other mother-in-law, she might push the topic without realizing the consequences. Kate had felt pressured before to have a baby, but it was only because Joseph’s status in the Smith family was threatened. With a huge smile on her face, Kate said, “Thank you, Mom!”
Joseph whispered in her ear, "Are we... going to work today?"
"Mom, do you have any other plans today?" Joseph asked.
"No other plans, I came to see you today. However, I didn’t expect such a big surprise. I won’t be doing anything else today but stay with you for a while.”
Joseph said bluntly, "But your son and future daughter-in-law are going to work, so we can't spend the day with you."
As soon as Joseph finished speaking, Kate hurriedly buried her head in fright. His words obviously meant to drive Cassie away and though Cassie was not easily offended, Kate still worried that she might be angry.
"What did you call Kate? I need to correct you right now; Kate is not my future daughter-in-law! She is my daughter-in-law, the only one!" Cassie snapped.
Joseph was happy to hear this and hurriedly agreed: "Yes, Kate is your only daughter-in-law, my only wife!"
"When did you become so casual? You seldom spoke before, but now you are so talkative. It seems that Kate has changed you a lot."
Then, Cassie turned to Kate and said, "Kate, please help me teach my son. Remember that in love, both parties are equal. Don’t let him bully you like before. If you encounter problems that you can’t figure out, then come to me.”
"Okay!" Kate nodded happily and raised her chin at Joseph, "Did you hear that? I have a strong backing. You can't bully me!"
"I would not dare to!” Joseph smiled.
"Okay, I know that you are all busy, so I won't delay you. Go to work and we will talk again soon,” Cassie said as she stood up. She walked toward Kate and kindly whispered, “Discuss any problems with me. We are family!”
Kate nodded and hugged Cassie.
When Cassie left, Joseph offered to drive Kate to work. As she got in the car, she looked at the burn on her hand. She had been so nervous talking to Cassie that she forgot about the pain, but it had become really red.
Joseph glanced over and saw the wound then immediately pulled the car over, “Is that an allergic reaction?”
She answered, "No, I just hurt myself when I turned off the stove."
"Why didn’t you tell me?" Joseph wrinkled his forehead with worry and anger.
"Don't be angry. It's not a big deal," Kate was about to put her hand down on her lap, but Joseph quickly grabbed her wrist.
His heart hurt when he knew she was in pain, “It may not be important to you, but it is a big deal to me.”
Quickly, Joseph did a u-turn in the road and drove in the direction of the hospital. Kate snarled, “What are you doing? We are already late!”
"Nothing is more important than you," Joseph said and dialed Cooper Brown's number, “Kate needs to move your meeting to 2:00 p.m.”
"It's unnecessary..." Kate tried to interrupt, but Joseph had already hung up with Cooper.
"What if it was me who got burned?” He asked her.
"You..." After thinking about it standing in his shoes, she understood his worry, "Okay."