109 iv. Family Day Care

She was folding some laundry and stacking them up on his cabinet when she noticed a card neatly folded in between his clothes.

It was self-made, just a coupon bond folded in half. When she opened it, she saw a stick figure of a family. She nearly laughed since the stick figure for dad was made bulkier than the other stick figures and had the two other stick figures on his waist level. This definitely is Dominus, she smiled.

She looked at the hair and eye colors and realized it was Dominus and his family. Meaning Dominus, his wife, and child. She looked at what was written below, it says invitation.

She looked at the attached formal letter from the school asking the parents to be there on family day. She frowned as she noticed the date written on the invitation was for today.

Dominus said he has an important meeting to attend to. She dialed his number and wait for it to ring.

He immediately answered her call and asked if anything was wrong. She asked him about the family day and inquired if he will be coming.

He said he won’t be able to go but the child’s mother will be attending. She expressed her dissatisfaction with him choosing to attend a meeting.

He sighed and told her to stop thinking about it. Besides, he would rather avoid the woman. He was called back to the meeting and that was that.

She paced back and forth in the room thinking about the boy and the invitation. She couldn’t understand why she has grown quite concerned about the child.

.....

She has always felt like she will be just more bitter towards the child. But with Dominus giving him all his attention she started to actually push him to give some as well to his son.

She couldn’t understand it, but she loves hearing about the child. There was a certain unexplainable fondness that she has developed over time.

Even she couldn’t understand it, how the bitterness she once had for the child has been replaced by such emotion so easily. Because of this terrible motherly instinct she had for the child, she couldn’t rest.

She took her car keys and promised herself she will just look from afar. However, when she arrived there her heart sank seeing the child teary-eyed as he bit his lip.

No one was there with him. No one was there to accompany him as he stared at all the other children who were with their parents.

She didn’t think, she couldn’t be expected to just look and watch as the unfair situation unfolded around her. She got out of the car and walked towards the child who was sitting on a blanket, trying to stop his tears.

“Hi,” she smiled at the child who looked at her with his father’s eyes.

The child blinked back his tears, already prideful at such a young age. It made her feel sad that he needed to toughen up so early.

“Hello, I am Jiro,” he said simply, staring blankly at her as if asking her what she was trying to do.

“Hi, I am Mary, your auntie. I’m your father’s older sister,” she introduced herself and offered her hand for a handshake.

“Really? I have never seen you before now,” he looked critically at her, making her feel panicked.

It was as if he was about to call on her teacher, or worse Dominus. He has already warned her to stay away from the child, saying it will only make her feel bad about their situation even more.

She admitted initially that was the case, but there was a sudden shift in her emotions as the child grew up, resembling his father even more.

There is something about this child, that simply made her heart melt. She couldn’t explain what it was. Maybe because she has agreed to give their child’s name to him, or because his eyes are exactly like his father’s.

“Yes, we were not exactly on good terms. That’s why I tried to avoid him as much as possible,” she couldn’t tell the child the truth.

If she did, he will just reject her outright. And that was not what she wanted. What she wanted was to spend the rest of the afternoon with the child.

“Then why are you here?” he pouted as if he has already decided she was up to no good.

“I just wanted to fill in for your parents, while they are not here yet, of course,” she offered.

He looked quizically at her, a five years old who already talks and acts like an adult. Her heart melted even more. He was exactly like how Dominus was at his age.

“Suit yourself, my parents are not coming anyway,” the child moved a bit, as if offering for her to sit beside him.

“What did you say?” her heart sunk even more. She couldn’t understand how anyone can disappoint such a lovely child.

“Don’t worry, I have expected that much,” he said, trying to look as if he was not affected.

“Expected for your parents not to come?” she felt pity and an unspeakable emotion grip her heart.

“Yes. My parents do not care for me like other parents care for their child,” he said dismissively.

“If you must know, my mother’s only concern is to get my father’s affections. And my father’s affections sadly were reserved for someone else. Then, none of them have any space in their heart for me,” he explained.

She felt guilt rack through her as she joined him and sat and stared at the other children and their family members. She knew the teacher won’t say anything, the pack members are careful around her.

They knew that even though she didn’t have any title, she have the alpha’s protection. They knew that it was enough to just ignore her existence and pretend she was air.

This kind of treatment is actually advantageous during moments like this. She sighed. This child is suffering because of her, and here she is trying to console him.

“You look more depressed than I am, auntie,” he pointed out.

She tried to smile and pat his hair, “Do you want to participate in any of the activities?” she asked.

“No, not really. There was nothing that interest me in this class. My classmates are dumb and the syllabus is boring, so is this activity that has been lined up,” he took out his laptop and opened it.

“What are you going to do?” she inquired, peeking in. He didn’t seem to mind so she continued to watch.

“Coding,” he said simply as he opened a folder and started typing in some numbers and letters she couldn’t understand.

There was a character in the background. It seems to be doing some arm movements, later it becomes clearer, a sword appeared and the character started moving his arms and limbs.

“Swordfight!” she said, amazed. It was at least what she was able to understand.

“Yes, for a game I’m developing,” he frowned in concentration as he typed more codes.

She looked at the brilliant child and felt envy and aggravation in her heart. If only this was her child, then she would not let him feel miserable.

“What is it about?” she asked, excited over the change in his mood. This game really is something that makes him happy.

“About swordfights, witches, knights, and a queen,” he answered, completing the scene he coded and adding some dialogues.

“A queen,” she smiled. “What is she like?” she inquired.

“She is beautiful and kind that is why the knight fell in love,” he stopped and smiled.

“She actually looks a bit like you,” he smiled when he realized that, it was as if a live model of the female lead was in his presence.

“Ohhh,” she blushed. This child seemed to have inherited a talent of Dominus as well, making her blush.

The boy smiled, “It will be weird though, because my model for the knight is my father. It is the playable character here.”

She patted his hair, “You missed your dad so much, don’t you?”

The boy simply shook his head, “No, how can I miss someone I barely know. It’s just he is the alpha and everyone seems to either really like him or hate him to the core. I like my game to be a success, so I chose someone like him as the playable character.”

It is exactly what Dominus will say given a similar circumstance. She patted the child’s hair even more, making his smile grow wider.

“It will be a waste to give you to such a guy. He is too uptight, barely conversant, extremely selfish, and has no love to give. My mother has been suffering all her life because of trying to win his affections. I have given up a long time ago in gaining theirs. I realize, emotions don’t do me good. I can’t care for people who don’t care for me, or I’m just going to be hurt,” he explained.

“I’m not as good as you think too,” she lowered her head.

“I’m sure you are far better than my parents. Those are ice blokes around me,” he continued to code, making an auburn-haired woman with blue eyes appear.

“It’s my model, see how similar you both looked,” he pointed out.

She nodded, “She does look stunning, I like her.”

His smile grew sheepish, “It’s like saying you like yourself.”

“Say, aunt, what kind of royal robes would you like to wear? It will be weird for her to dress up like the other characters, but I haven’t figured out yet her outfit,” he continued.

“It should be something regal and simple if it were me. I do hate constrictive outfits. I want to be able to move around easily and be comfortable,” she mused.

He began coding again, his concentration making her have a sudden feeling of wanting to hug him. He was such a good child.

“Well, what do you think?” he showed her his design and tilt his head to the side, making her smile.

“Yes, I think it is exactly the kind of a royal gown I will wear if I was in her shoes,” she agreed, mesmerized by his remarkable design.

“What color do you want your gown to be?” he asked, making the character curtsy.

“A silvery white flowing gown will be nice,” she nudged.

He coded and frowned again as he tried to come up with the gown’s perfect color, “Like this?”

“Yes, exactly like that,” she agrees.

He saved his progress and shut down his computer, staring at her now, “Do you still want to join the activities?”

She nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, I think we should also participate. Even you might learn to like it, or gain a friend through it.”

“I doubt both of what you said, but yes. Let’s join, auntie,” he stood up and offered his little hand to help her up like any perfect gentleman would.

She accepted and smiled happily as they joined the other parents and children. They greeted her politely but she tried to ignore their distance.

historical

She felt like she couldn’t let their judgmental secret stares affect her. She has a child to protect now. Jiro.