Chapter 2: She's My Mother (2)
Mama? I wasn't able to say anything for a while. Did I ever have a baby? Did I lose my memory related to this boy?
However, the little boy was way too unfamiliar to say that. At least, if he was my child, something would have come to mind. I couldn't recall any memory with him, no matter how hard I tried. So I tried to comfort the child.
“Looks like you’ve got the wrong person, dear… I’m not your mom.”
I tried to pull away from the child. After all, it was not appropriate for an aristocratic child to be sitting in the arms of a beggar. If the real mother or father of the child saw this, I might be put to death.
“No," He shook his head, "You’re my mother.”
The harder I tried to get rid of the little guy, the closer he leaned towards me.
Why did this kid mistake me for his mother? Does his real mother look like me?
It was then that another sound of footsteps was heard. This time, the pace was a little faster and heavier, like the footsteps of an adult man. The footsteps stopped inches away from me.
I looked up and saw a new figure…
“Josh! I told you not to touch dirty things!”
The man’s deep voice scolded the child who was hiding in my embrace.
Josh.
It was probably the name of the boy hugging me.
No, wait. By dirty, did they mean me? I laughed in amazement. It wasn’t wrong, but somehow I still felt bad. The more I tried to accept the truth, the worse I felt. And I was indignant because I did not hug him first. He just suddenly came running and caught me by surprise.
Then the man's eyes fell onto me.
It was a surprise.
Since I was already looking at him, and our eyes met.
The man had black eyes. They were beautiful, yet they carried a sad emotion. Looking at the man’s gloomy eyes over and over again, I felt sad too. Strange thoughts appeared in my mind.
Who was this man?
Was he Josh’s father?
I obviously tried coming up with an excuse, ‘The child ran up to me first and hugged me,’ was what I was going to say but I couldn’t say anything at all.
The man’s eyes were shaking noticeably. An unknown agitation pooled up in his eyes.
“……Senna…?” The man’s charming lips spat out a name.
Senna.
The man’s voice was dripping with sadness. He grimaced as he muttered, "No, that can’t be…"
He looked away from me and asked the little guy named Josh who was still in my arms. “Josh, why haven't you moved away from her yet? ”
The man’s voice was quite heated. It was a far cry from the faint voice he used when he said the name 'Senna'. The man’s tone changed so rapidly that I wondered if I had heard it wrong.
The little guy, Josh, said, “No! How can I leave when my Mama is here?”
The child snuggled deeper into my arms. There was not the slightest bit of hesitation in the grasp of the child that hugged my waist. I couldn't push the child away, nor could I say anything to the man, so I looked at them one by one.
“Ha…” With a long sigh, the man came closer and bent on his knees. Soon the hands of the man were up in the air, reaching out for the child. He seemed to be trying to take the child away from me himself. The face of the man who faced me was threatening to explode with anger.
I had a hunch that the man would soon explode, but before the man was given a chance, my stomach exploded first. It was growling loudly, like thunder in the dry sky.
The child looked closely at my stomach, the source of the sound and the man curled his lips in dismay.
'I can’t help it', I wanted to say so.
“Mama, are you hungry?”
“I’m not your mom, but I’m starving.”
No, I’m not telling you anything. However, when I saw the smiling child, I felt obligated to answer him quietly.
The man thought, “Maybe I am overthinking this.”
Then he grabbed the child roughly and pulled the child away from me. I could not take my eyes off him. With his hands stretched …
“Mama! Mama!”