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Mira was in the kitchen finishing the lunch dishes. This task usually fell to Romance, but that day he and Abby were out due to the Saja Boys' schedule of interviews and photo shoots for a brand. The only noise in the house was the quiet clinking of the dishes being washed and Kai's childish voice, humming a children's song in the living room while playing on the rug.
Mira would be lying if she said she had gotten used to having a child in the house, but she also couldn't say she didn't enjoy the little boy's company. Since her family evicted her nephew from their home, as if they were getting rid of furniture that no longer fit in their space, she, Abby, and Romance had done nothing but welcome Kai. Mira knew well what it was like to feel unwelcome in her own home, and she knew that kid didn't deserve such rejection.
Suddenly, Kai stopped singing. The sound of his hurried little footsteps going and then coming back was the last thing Mira heard before the silence. And if there was one thing Rumi and Zoey, -who were already mothers-, warned her about, and that she learned the hard way, it was that silence in a house with a child awake is very suspicious. The huntress took a deep breath before going to the living room and facing whatever that kid was up to.
"Hey, little troublemaker. What are you doing?" Mira asked as she entered the room, and the boy startled and sat suspiciously on the carpet.
His little arms were behind his back, ineffectively trying to hide the crumpled pile of paper towels behind him. The woman approached and motioned for him to stand up from the floor. Kai, who usually had a scowl or a mischievous look, had a frightened expression this time, but obeyed. A puddle of red paint on the carpet was partly smeared with paper and partly still completely wet. Clearly an attempt to hide the evidence coming from a child who isn't older than four years old.
"Kai, what happened here?!" Mira's tone rose slightly in surprise, causing the child to flinch. His little arms were tucked in protectively in front of his body, and his eyes were narrowed, as if bracing for an impact. The pink-haired woman understood why and immediately felt guilty. "Hey, what is this?"
"Don't hit me, please!" Kai pleaded, his eyes still squeezed shut. Mira's heart sank in her chest. It was as if a flashback from her childhood had materialized before her. As a troubled child with strict parents, of course she had also experienced physical punishment growing up. She immediately pulled him close and hugged him tightly, as her eyes began to well up. His little arms finally relaxed and wrapped around her neck as he sobbed. "I'm sorry..." Kai said, followed by a sob.
When he calmed down and the crying stopped, Mira slowly let go of him and held his shoulders, looking into his eyes. At that moment, she was grateful to have learned a thing or two from observing how her friends dealt with their own children. And the way she treated those children was the same way she wished she had been treated when she was little. With Kai, despite being a test of patience every day, it was no different.
“Do-hyun didn't like me when I misbehaved..." The little boy blurted out.
“Your father?” The pink haired woman asked. She also remembered the conditional love she received from her parents. And right before her was the confirmation that her brother hadn't become different from them.
“He didn't like me calling him that." Kai shrugged.
Ouch. The more she learned about his past, the more it hurt.
"I want you to listen to me, now. In this family, we fix our mistakes together.” She spoke calmly but firmly. "Got it?"
“Got it." The boy sniffed again, nodded, and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"Come on, let's clean up this mess." Mira stood up and held out her hand toward him. The little boy took his tutor's hand and followed her to the utility area to get a bucket of water, cleaning product, and a brush. Their work was silent, and Mira noticed how Kai's gaze still held traces of sadness for the rest of the afternoon, even after he had calmed down. She couldn't even imagine how his mischief was dealt with at her brother's house. It was no secret that his wife hated her stepson and that the rest of the family didn't care; otherwise, that child would never be in her house.
—------
That night, after dinner, Kai had already bathed and was getting ready for bed. After Romance combed the child's hair, Abby carried him in her arms to the bedroom, pretending he was a spaceship, which made the little one giggle loud for the first time in hours.
"Captain Dubu, landing at your destination for a good night's sleep." The man placed him on the bed and covered him with the duvet.
"Good night, Appa Abby. Good night, Appa Ro." The boy said to the men, with a satisfied smile.
"Good night, little man." Abby replied, ruffling the boy's hair, and receiving a displeased look from Romance for a brief second.
"Have sweet dreams, don't let the bedbugs bite you." Romance finished and handed the boy's old security blanket to him.
"Okay, time for you two to get out of here." Mira said, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. She might be outnumbered, but she was certainly the authority in that place, because the two men obeyed her instantly.
She entered the room and walked to the foot of the bed, Kai and she staring at each other.
"Are you feeling better?" Mira asked, and the boy nodded, with a small smile. "Can you tell me what you were up to earlier today?" Her voice was calm. The mess on the carpet had already been cleaned up (mostly), but curiosity about how the mind of this child, so similar to her, worked, still intrigued her.
Kai hesitated a little, but stood up, crouched on the floor and picked something up from under his bed. Then he handed Mira a pink piece of paper folded in half, with a red heart drawn in ink (the same ink that probably stained the carpet) on the cover.
"I learned about Eobeoinal at daycare yesterday and I wanted to make a card for you."
Mira opened the card; inside was a childlike drawing of a woman with pink hair and a boy holding her hand: her and Kai. Her eyes welled up for the second time that day. Damn it! Becoming a "mother" really does make you softer. Just like Rumi warned her.
"Thank you. I... really like it." She crouched down to his level.
"Don't send me back. I promise I'll never ever stain the carpet again." The boy looked down, fidgeting with his fingers.
"So, that's why you're quieter?" Kai nodded to her question. Sometimes it was hard to remember that even though he was so young and lived in a prosperous home, his life must not have been easy before he got there. And it was understandable that he didn't want to go back. "I would never do that. You're ours now."
"Even when I misbehave?" He raised his head, hopeful.
"Even then." Mira poked his nose. "But that doesn't mean you won't get scolded." Mira smiled and Kai smiled back, his little arms instantly clung to her for a tight hug, which she didn't hesitate to return. He now belonged to her, and she would protect him and not let anyone take him away.
"I love you, Eomma."
The woman's heart skipped a beat. Would she ever get used to it? Well, if that meant learning to live with a soft heart, then so be it.
"I love you too, little troublemaker." Mira returned the hug and sighed.