Bonus Chapter 12

“The ducks are singing, and said, quack quack..”

“The ducks are singing, and said, quack quack..”

Johnny kept singing the song that he had learned several times while he was playing in the bathtub with the duck that I bought for him. We were in the bathtub with Andrius, and we were watching how lovable he was. He studied to sing for a week, and their school had a program that would teach them how to sing and dance. It was obvious in his movement, and his face how excited he was. I always made sure that I always watched him whenever Johnny was attending his school. He studied in a private school, and he was in the lower grade level because he was still young when I enrolled him.

“The ducks are singing, and said—”

I rapidly covered my mouth when I spoke the song suddenly without realizing it. I didn’t even know I had memorized that song! My face turned red when Johnny and Andrius laughed together. Because I always heard it every day, I didn't realize that I had learned every line that he said.

“Mommy, you are so great, you already know the lyrics of the song!” Johnny commented while giggling with so much excitement. I only laughed at myself because I felt that he was so cute whenever he was chuckling. Andrius rushed towards me and hugged me from behind. I also hugged Johnny who was in front of me.

“The ducks are singing, and said quack quack!” Andrius sang so we sang with him. It never came to my mind that I would sit in the bathtub with my future family. Finally, there was no room for pity in my heart. It was as if something was going to explode inside me.

“Mom and Dad! You both must not be late, and you should watch me!” Johnny was still having fun in the water as he tolsaidat. He was like a big boy who was captivated while talking. Next month was their program, so I couldn't be sick or late.

That's what I thought.

****

“Sir, does it take a long hour before the car finally moves?” I asked my driver when he came to pick me up. I hadn't had enough sleep yet because of the overnight ramp for my modeling. I felt that I was losing my mind because I didn't even know that there would be something wrong with the car. My time was busy, and now I needed to make sure that I wouldn't be late because I made a promise to Johnny that I wouldn't be late for his program.

My phone rang while I was trying to think about what I needed to know. When I saw that it was Andrius who was calling me, I rapidly answered it.

“Andrius!” My voice almost raised, and anxiety couldn't be hidden anymore when he didn't say anything and was still silent. Shit. I could hear that the noise from his background was noisy, but I was sure that it was the voices of his employees. My mouth parted in shock. Oh my! I don't want to think that he was still in the company.

“Andrius, where are you right now?” When I asked him, my tone became growled in irritation.

“That's exactly the reason why I called you. I want to explain to you that I'm still in my office today. There's a new problem that my company has been facing. The boards want to have a meeting.” I noticed that his tone was full of guilt, and I was even more frightened because I didn't know who was the one who was looking for our child at the time of his program.

“Honey, I might be a little late today but I will make sure that I will do my best to come early.” He spoke, and he didn't give me the chance to say what I wanted to say when he ended our call. My heart was pounding so fast that I couldn't breathe properly. If I could no longer go to Johnny's performance what would I do next?

I couldn't understand why Andrius decided to choose the company for our son. I was angry that he always prioritized his job rather than his son's first stage performance. I couldn't stop myself from feeling irritated, and my heart was full of fury because I did everything to make sure that I was available for Johnny. There was a ramp that I needed to come but I asked my manager if I needed to watch Johnny's performance. If I agreed to my work, then I wouldn't be different from Andrius who would always preoccupied with his work. When I turned to glance at my watch, slowly I became sad since the time was so fast, and I was still not yet in school. The road might be larger, and few minutes the traffic would finally come out. I hardly breathe and stopped checking my wristwatch. I didn't want to admit it but I slowly became a mess. I didn't even think about whether I would catch anyone.

I was panting when I was running towards the gate, I could notice that some parents and children were making their way back to the exit. I couldn't swallow properly because even though the program might be over, I continued convincing myself that I was still not late.

I wasn't wrong because I did miss Johnny's performance. When I entered the backstage, where they were starting, I saw Johnny sitting with his teacher, who was accompanying him while he was waiting for us. I felt that my heart stopped beating when I saw what he looked like. I already expected that Johnny was upset, and seemed disinterested in what was going on in his surroundings.

I realized that we might be his parents but Johnny might be thinking that we didn't have time for him, and we didn't even pay attention to him anymore because we had a lot of overload work that we needed to do. I slowly took a step to be close to him. Instead of crying, he only lowered his head to make me not see what he might feel.

His teacher glimpsed at me and stood up to come to me. She only smiled at me and patted my shoulder before I came forward to Johnnyz and sat where his teacher took a seat. Johnny seemed sad, and he didn't even bother to raise his head, and he was still wearing the duck costume on his body.

“I'm sorry, Johnny.” I apologized and tried to stop my tears from dropping. I held his hand even though he still didn't want to look at me even though he already knew that I was the one who was talking. “Mom is so busy at work,” I whispered.

He sniffed, and his voice cracked when he said, “My classmates are with all of their parents. And I'm the only one who isn't with you.”

I was stunned when I heard him telling those words. He was right. We were always busy and we didn't have time to see him. We didn't do anything to make sure that we would see his performance. He stood up and walked ahead of me so I only followed him while he was walking.

We returned home to find Andrius still hadn't returned. Johnny was asleep in our room so I went downstairs to wait for Andriud. When I heard his car was approaching, I didn't have to wait for long, I merely sat rigidly on the couch, my gaze locked on the floor below my feet. I saw the door open, my cold eyes immediately fell on him.

He moved toward me and tried to kiss me, but I kept my face moved away from his lips. I was so mad at him.