"Waahh--! My poor little baby--! Wuuwuuwuwu!"
Excuse me? Mom, I'm a turning 26 years old guy. I believe I'm not a "poor little baby".
Even Sean laughed at Mom because she was crying and felt pitiful about me.
"Keith, are you eating well? Do you need money? My son... hick, hick, wuuwuuwuwu..."
My mother was like a crying child right now. Even her sobs were uncontrollable, she was sniffing too.
"Mom... Let's go to the house first."
I looked at my two brothers and they averted their gazes. Based on their expressions, they were defeated by Mom's constant nagging.
If I look at this from a different view, I knew the one responsible for the news to break out.
If I'm right, Sean slipped his tongue. Sean had a strong chance of doing that.
Then, Mom would start asking Jeremy. Out of all of us, Jeremy was the most mature and honest. He could not deny Mom's pestering.
That was probably what happened. So... I have to blame my two older brothers.
'Yeah, I'll try to make it up for you next time.' Sean replied using his gaze.
'I will give you another car.' Jeremy answered.
Now that was surprising. I didn't know that giving a car was the best way to make things better. However, I would never decline that. The pick-up truck was too small for us. The kids have to sit next to us.
I didn't even ask for a thing yet they were already prepared to give me something. Perhaps they felt guilty.
We took the visitors into the house. Mom was crying the whole time.
As for my two brothers, they tried to soothe Mom's feelings.
"Are you okay, honey?"
I asked Penelope. I helped her prepare drinks for the visitors.
I sensed that my wife was acting awkward. Perhaps she was still scared of my parents.
"I- I'm fine. It's fortunate that your Father didn't show up... I'm scared of him the most."
Dad said something traumatizing to Penelope. Almost to the point that Penelope broke down and cry.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." I held her hand.
"We are both adults and my parents can't separate us. Not anymore. Besides... I think Mom likes the kids."
I looked in the living room, Mom was hugging Sophia. She was still sniffing and sobbing but not that severe anymore.
"Gwandma, don't cwy."
Being an emotional support, Sophia immediately became close with my Mom.
"Oh my God, I can't believe that I have a granddaughter! Wuuwuuwuwu, I'm so sad that I was not there for you. Your name is Sophia, right? I'm going to try my best to be your grandma!"
"Is that so? Gwandma can you buy my cake and chocowate?"
My Mom easily agreed.
I was speechless because Sophia easily manipulated my Mom. Almost as if she created the scenario so that Mom would promise her something.
"Yay! Thank you Gwandma!"
"Sophia, stop disturbing Miss Leah. I apologize for my daughter's mistake. "
Penelope and I showed up and gave them drinks. Penelope smiled awkwardly.
"I- It's fine. Your daughter is so cute!"
Penelope bowed with respect. It seemed that she was still afraid of my mother.
Mom smiled forcefully and decided to change the topic. She knew that Penelope was still not sure about this relationship.
"Oh, why didn't you contact me? I only heard you from your two ungrateful brothers! I can't believe that they hide this from me!"
She glared at Sean and Jeremy. My two brothers sighed in defeat. They didn't have a choice but to accept that they were wrong.
She started berating them.
I guess Mom was not sad anymore. She was not crying.
"Keith... Please return to the house. I miss you, we miss you. I believe your father misses you too."
As expected, the conversation would reach into this.
"I'm sorry, Mom. My family is with Penelope and the kids."
"You can take your family too! I will make sure to take care of the kids... Especially your cute Sophia."
Sophia giggled as my Mom pinched her cheeks. I guess Mom easily fell in love with Sophia.
"Mom, I'm sorry but I have to reject your offer. I will not change my opinion."
"... I almost forgot, you're stubborn too."
My Mom sighed. She was disappointed that I didn't agree.
"Well, I'm already happy that you are doing fine. Keith, Mom really misses you so much."
My Mom gave Sophia to Penelope. Then, she approached me and hugged me tightly.
"You have to remember that I will always love you. I want to find you but I'm scared that you will escape again. So Sean decided to contact his friend to give you a job in his taxi company."
I didn't know that. What the hell?
"But when I saw you earlier, I became nervous and excited. I want to see you, my son."
Instead of being mad, I started crying. I hugged my Mom and cried in his arms. We both started crying, turning the atmosphere into a sad one.
Even Sophia became sad.
"Wuuwuuwuwu, Dajjy, and Gwandma are cwying. Wuuwuuwuwu."
We giggled when we saw Sophia's cute cry. After talking about so many things, Mom calm down and smiled happily.
She was sincerely happy to see me again. She kissed my forehead as if I was a little child.
Honestly, I was embarrassed...
Even Sean and Jeremy snickered. Now I'm getting more embarrassed.
"What are you laughing at? You two kids! I can't believe that you will keep this a secret from me."
Mom started slapping their shoulders. Jeremy and Sean accepted the beating since my Mom had weak arms. They probably didn't hurt.
We invited them to dinner and Mom happily agreed. So tonight our house was lively.
However, I felt like Roman was quiet the whole time. As if he was thinking about something.
After dinner, my Mom and two brothers left the house. Mom promised that she would visit my shop tomorrow. She wanted to see our livelihood.
Suddenly, before going to his room, Roman called my name.
"Why do I feel like my grandfather is an asshole?"
I didn't expect his statement. I didn't even know how to explain it. Because I knew that my father was a bit of an asshole. He had a noble mentality as if our family didn't start from being poor.