Chapter 23 Chapter 23
Today, I didn't send Aurora to school. I was afraid of yesterday's event.
Lucien will definitely try to reach out to her again.
I cannot take the risk, but I cannot keep her at home as well.
I don't know when things are going to be normal in my life once again.
"Mumma... Mummaaa..."
I immediately rushed to the bed when Aurora started crying in her sleep.
"Yes, baby. I am here," I cooed and stroked her head.
"Mumma"
Slowly, she opened her eyes and held my hand. I pulled her into my arms and made her drink a few sips of water.
"What happened, baby? Are you alright?"
She looked up at me with wide eyes before nodding her head and shifting away from me.
I felt a sharp pang in my heart when my baby turned her face away from me.
I deserve it.
I deserve it for the way I treated her. I was wrong because I took out the anger and frustration of Lucien on her. She is too small to understand right and wrong. She just accepted his help when he offered.
“Aurora…” I whispered, brushing my fingers through her messy curls. “Look at mumma.”
She didn’t.
Oh, my poor baby.
"Please, Aurora. Mumma is sorry. Mumma shouldn't have shouted at you like that. Please forgive Mumma."
And then slowly she turned her face. Her lower lip quivered.
"You know mumma can't see you crying."
I rubbed the tears from the corner of her eyes with the pad of my thumb.
"Still, you made me cry," she sniffed.
"I am really sorry, baby. Now don't punish Mumma like this. Please."
She kept staring at me for a few seconds before hugging me.
I closed my eyes and hugged her a little tighter. When she is with me, life feels a little light.
"Do you want to have a strawberry shake made by Mumma?"
Excitedly, she pulled away, but then a small frown appeared on her forehead.
"What happened?" I asked.
“We don’t have strawberry,” she said in her tiny, serious voice.
I smiled wider.
“We do.”
She sat up a little.
“No, Mumma. Finished.”
I chuckled and brushed her cheek. I know that behind me, she finished all the strawberries yesterday, as she was craving them a lot.
“I already ordered them,” I told her with a soft smile.
“You did?” Her mouth parted slightly.
I nodded.
“I can’t see my baby sad.”
"You are the best mum in the world."
And this time she hugged me tightly. Very tightly.
"And you are the best daughter in the world."
I kissed her forehead, happy to see her happy.
I lifted her in my arms, walked to the kitchen, and made her sit on the aisle. She moved her legs back and forth while singing her rhymes for me, while I made her shake.
Her eyes shine like stars when she grabs the glass of her shake.
"Mumma, one sip," she offered.
And I took it.
She giggled.
I ruffled her hair.
I started making dinner while she enjoyed her shake.
“Mumma, can I ask you something?” she asked innocently in her baby voice.
“Yes, baby,” I said, looking at her from the corner of my eyes. “Anything.”
She tried to lick the chocolate off her mouth, but it still smeared around the corner of her lips.
She is taking extra advantage of my leniency today.
“What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?”
I didn’t even have to think. I just leaned down and tapped her nose.
“You.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. I tickled her and she started giggling. The sound filled the room with warmth.
“But Mumma,” she said seriously, holding up two tiny fingers, “I am the second most beautiful thing.”
I frowned a little.
“Who said that to you?”
“Ad,” she replied instantly and had another bite of her chocolates.
My fingers froze midway.
"Once, I asked him," she said with her mouth still full of chocolate, "what is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, and do you know what he replied?"
"What?"
She took her time chewing the chocolate before gulping it down.
“He told me…” she smiled proudly, “…it is your smile.”
The smile slowly vanished from my lips.
“And I second him,” she added quickly, nodding like she had made a very important decision.
I stroked her head gently, trying to hide the heaviness that suddenly settled inside me.
“It’s because you love me, baby,” I whispered.
She tilted her head.
“That means AD also loves you?”
She asked it so innocently, as if love were the simplest thing in the world.
But love has many forms, and for now she understands only one.
“That’s enough,” I said softly, reaching for the chocolate she was holding.
She gasped. “Mumma!”
“You already had enough,” I scolded lightly. “You’ll throw tantrums during dinner.”
She pouted before hopping down from the aisle and running into the living room. Suddenly, a storm came into the home when she started throwing her toys all around to play.
She kept shouting and running around while I cooked dinner for the three of us. Today, I have cooked Adrian's favourite food. I hope he likes it.
"Dinner time"
The moment she saw me with her plate of food, she ran faster.
I chased her across the living room, calling her name again and again while she squealed in delight, hiding behind the sofa, then the table, then my legs.
It took me almost half an hour to finally make her eat her dinner.
She complained about every bite.
Too hot.
Too cold.
Too big.
By the time she finished, both of us were exhausted.
She climbed back onto the bed, curling up like a sleepy kitten. I changed her into her nightdress and tucked her in.
“Mumma, a story,” she murmured, already half asleep.
I picked up her favourite book and started reading softly. And somewhere between the princess finding her way home and the moon blessing the child, Aurora drifted off to sleep.
I didn’t even realise when, while lying beside her, the sleep claimed me too.
The sharp sound of the doorbell startled me awake.
I blinked, disoriented, with my arm still wrapped around Aurora’s tiny body.
She was sleeping peacefully.
Careful not to wake her, I slipped out of bed.
My gaze moved to the clock.
It must be Adrian.
Softly, I closed the door of the room and walked to the main door normally, expecting Adrian to be there.
I froze for a second when I saw a bouquet of daisies in one hand and a basket filled with strawberries in the other.
A small smile made its way to my lips. Adrian must have brought them to lift Aurora's mood. He knows how much she loves daisies and strawberries.
I opened my mouth to welcome him when he lifted the bouquet off his face.
But I froze, and my breath hitched in my throat.
“Lucien?”