You smile in my face
You're a fake creature
Fabricating these lies, speak like a vulture.

Mona's POV

Later in the evening, I laid silently on the couch with my tablet, focused on my farm game while Mihai played Uno with Raiden on the floor. He came over for a bit to see how I was, but because I was still in a bad mood, so Raiden was mainly entertaining him.

A quiet hum from the TV, like a hummingbird, filled the background as I furiously tapped the screen, still lost in thoughts from earlier.

"That's not fair!" I heard Raiden moan loudly, "Y—You cheated!"

"I didn't cheat, you just got unlucky," Mihai snickered.

I glanced as he started picking up a lot of cards as Mihai couldn't stop laughing as dark red colored his cheeks like cherries. Raiden stuck his tongue out and stood up. He went up to him and landed little punches on his arm.

"Why do you like choosing violence like your mamă?" Mihai said. He then gently tipped Raiden over by his forehead. He yelped and stumbled onto the ground. Mihai cackled with laughter looking at him and tickled his feet.

Raiden walked back to his spot and picked up his phone. The blue screen reflected off his chubby face as he tapped on it. "Mami, Reina asked if it's okay for her to come downstairs now."

"She can if she wants," I replied, staring dead at my screen. "I'm not stopping her."

"Okay, I'll tell her."

"Why is Reina upstairs?" Mihai asked, turning to me. "is she in trouble?"

"Keep asking questions she has no business asking," I muttered as coldness coursed through my words. I gripped my tablet captive in my hands, not wanting to discuss it further.

"Reiny told me she asked about our—our..." he hesitated as his eyes flicked to me, meeting my sharp glare that pierced his quivering lips with a warning. He dropped his cards and made his way towards the door.

"Our dad..." he finally said and grabbed the knob. "And Mami started screaming at her."

"Oh..." Mihai mumbled under his breath. Raiden looked back one more time and ran out of the room. I huffed and returned to my farm, tapping peacefully, but I could feel Mihai's gaze on me.

"So Reina asked you about her dad?" he said, plopping down next to me. I nodded and emitted a low growl, remembering the constant, non-stop questioning.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

I scowled and slammed the tablet down. "Little girl would not shut her mouth about her dad. Have I not done enough that she needs to go asking for that good-for-nothing monster!" A scream erupted out as I grabbed a cushion and launched it across the room. It knocked a vase off and smashed it to pieces as I felt some of my anger sizzle away.

"Everyday I give them everything they need," I complained while flaring my arms and paced around. "What has he ever done for them? Besides killing himself and leaving after using me!" I bellowed and kicked the table over, causing him to jump but he quickly settled down.

"But Mona, Reina doesn't know about that," Mihai said and came over to me. Tears streamed down my face to the rug as an animalistic groan escaped my lips. My legs trembled, and I collapsed onto the floor.

"I'm sure she really loves you and this wasn't a personal attack," he said and patted my back, while my tears rained out of my shaking body. My chest heaved as I just sobbed in response. But he continued, "Maybe she just wants to know more about her dad since he's been dead all this time."

I hissed through my clenched teeth and looked away in disbelief. But his words pierced me like spikes of truth, breaking through my clouded temper.

"I know their dad treated you horribly, but remember that Reina has1 no idea what your relationship was like." He pulled back his hand, giving me some space.

I blew out a harsh sigh, rising my gaze like a sunrise. I admit I had been avoiding talking about Xavier until they were much older. Because I didn't want them too disturbed at their age by the things he did. But I guess I didn't anticipate on them asking questions before the time I decided.

"Da you have a point. Sometimes I forget that they have no clue," I said and forced myself to sit up. My tears had now stopped flowing, and I was left with strained and sticky eyes. I peered up at him and hitched a breath, as guilt started slowly creeping in and squeezing my chest, making me wince.

"I was definitely too harsh on her," I admitted. My eyes watered again, thinking of how her face scrunched in terror,

"Da you was," Mihai said and bent down next to me. "I can't imagine how scared Reina must be if the way you just screamed now, was also how you screamed at her. Even I was a little afraid," he said and ruffled my hair. "Little drama queen," he chuckled. I elbowed him but also laughed along, which released some of the heaviness I felt.

Mihai then got up and pulled me to stand beside him."Anyway, I'm going to go now and let you be. See you Mona!"

"Pa, Pa!" I said bye, and we exchanged cheek kisses before he left. But when I closed that door, the heavy weight that settled inside was still there. I cast my eyes down in shame as I felt so bad for how I completely lost my temper at Reina. I really hope I haven't scared her away forever and I can still make it up to her.

But I made my way upstairs, holding my breasts as they were too tender to move freely.

When I was in my bedroom, I reached under my bed and pulled out a dusty photo album. There were some cobwebs stuck to the heart-shaped cherries in the corner. I blew away all the debris so I can see the heart cutout in the middle. This had all the pictures when I was still with Xavier. Well, a few.

Last time I flicked through this, I nearly tore out everything. I hated seeing Xavier's jolly face while looking at me, knowing he had me like a puppet on strings. It only fuelled my anger to hurl it across the wall. But that wasn't enough.

Some pictures slipped out, so I set them all on fire and watched his face burn away until it was nothing but a crisp. They fell from my eyes like dead flies and I only stopped at my favorite ones and my kids' baby photos.

I opened to the front page and my heart warmed when I saw the first ultrasound scan I had placed there. Seeing it for the second time was one of the rare moments I smiled during my pregnancy. I even wrote 'My Babies' in cursive underneath. Like how I got told my mother used to do for the things she cherished the most so I can feel a sense of closeness to her.

I went through the pages, thinking of which picture to choose. I guess one little story wouldn't hurt for tonight. I'm in a much better state of mind to look through this, anyway.

When I found the perfect story, I called my kids in while keeping the page open. I was quite excited about this specific one because it was a fun experience.

They popped outside my door and Raiden rushed in and sat beside me while Reina slowly walked, avoiding my gaze.

"Come Reina, come here." I patted the space next to me and pulled her up when she was close enough.

"I'm really sorry for getting angry at you earlier," I said, holding her palms within mine and traced soft circles. "I didn't mean to yell at you. It just—" I paused and looking away, feeling a sudden heat of embarrassment creep up my neck. But I rubbed it quickly and continued focusing on her. "It's just that the relationship I had with your dad wasn't all what I thought it was, so I don't like thinking about him because he wasn't good to me."

"O really?" Reina said, her voice springing to life before she finally met my gaze. "I'm sorry if my question upset you Mamă," she mumbled while toying with her fingers.

"It's fine Reina. You don't need to be sorry for asking that. I know you were just curious. But if you like, I can tell you and Raiden one story but only this once because I don't want to do this again, until I'm ready to talk about it more."

"Serios?" Raiden exclaimed, pulling the hood off his messy hair.

"You don't mind doing that Mamă?" Reina said.

"Nu I don't my dear," I said, making her smile with relief and lean on my arm. I brought Raiden closer, brushing some hair behind my ear, and showed them the picture of the brown teddy wearing a pink shirt and denim skirt.

"So this was taken after my maternity shoot when I was still pregnant with you guys," I said and kissed their foreheads several times. "But I was a bit upset, so your dad let me choose what we can do next. And I chose to go to Build a Bear because I've always wanted a teddy there."

"How comes you never took us to Build a Bear?" Raiden asked, glancing down at the image and then at me.

"Um, it never crossed my mind," I muttered and awkwardly coughed.

"Is that your picture Mamă?" Reina asked and pointed to the picture on the page beside.

"Da it is..." I murmured as I cast my eyes on it. I was seated in front of a snowy backdrop, holding my bump while smiling up at the camera. Some snowflakes dangled down from my crown wreath.

"Why were you upset when you look so pretty?"

"Multumesc honey," I said but almost laughed because just minutes before having the picture taken, I was bawling my eyes out, feeling the exact opposite. I couldn't help feeling very self-conscious looking down my pregnant body.

"So when we got there, I was so excited that I just dragged your dad around, squealing at the little outfits," I said through a brightening smile while explaining. "Then we got to the making, and I had a hard time picking out the perfect outfit because everything seemed to fit her so well." I sighed. I felt like a little kid again being in that workshop, it really managed to turn my day from dreary blues to sunshine.

"Do you still have the teddy bear?" Raiden asked.

"I think I do..." I murmured, slowly closing the book and looking towards a box. It was under my windowsill, accumulating a carpet of dust on top.

"Let me see. I'm pretty sure I brought it with me," I said and got off the bed. I went to the box and started rummaging through it. Most of the things in here were stuff I didn't bother taking out while unpacking, but fortunately, I saw a furry ear peeking out, meaning my teddy was among these.

I quickly pulled her out and held her in the sparkling light. She still had on her pink hat and striped scarf that I picked and she looked so adorable with it.

I brushed my nose within her brown fur, inhaling the sweet, faint aroma of strawberry. Yep, exactly how I remembered.

"Guys, this is Daisy." I went back to my kids and showed her to them.

"She looks very cute!" Reina exclaimed.

"And she smells good," Raiden added, pressing his nose to her fur.

"Multumesc, she's very precious to me," I said and sat between them. I then pressed Daisy's tummy, making her say 'I love you!' causing a tear to run down my cheek as Xavier was the one that chose that sound. But I wiped it away and smiled.

"Tell you what. Would you like to see a real bear?"

"Serios Mami? Can we actually?" Raiden asked.

"I mean, I can look up some national parks that have them and we could go to one in the holidays."

"That sounds so cool! I hope that we'll be able to do that," Raiden said and bounced up.

"Me too honey." I chuckled and closed the book. "Did you guys enjoy that?"

"Da Mamă, thank you." Reina got up and hugged me.

"Your welcome honey." I hugged her back and they left my room. I laid Daisy safely on the pillow. Now that I had her again, she'll be sleeping with me from now on to keep me company, for now.