Rarae Aves

A/N: FLASHBACKS ARE IN PURPLE!

She was still crying. The thunderstorm became more intense, too. The wind was picking up, and the thunder became louder, more frequent. The rain poured heavily and could be heard falling upon the house’s metal rooftop. Her jaw was sore from crying and she was getting a headache. Amber looked over at her alarm clock; the digital, blue numbers read 7:45. It was too early to go to bed, yet that was all she wanted to do. She, like always, had homework, but she was too upset and drained, both emotionally and physically. A tear rolled out of each eye. She felt terrible and wanted to just crawl into a hole and hide…

... “I can’t believe you’re doing this!” a voice yelled. It was a male voice, but it didn’t sound like Keith’s. It actually sounded a lot like…her dad’s voice. It was coming from Delia’ room, except it wasn’t Delia’s room at this point in time. It was her parent’s bedroom.

“What do you expect, Jun-jie?” a female voice shouted back, “I can’t take this anymore!” Wait a minute…that voice…it was familiar. It was…her mother’s voice.

“Can’t take what, Jing-Yi? Can’t take what?” he asked loudly.

“Living like this anymore,” she shrieked, “I hate having to live like this.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jun-jie screamed, “We’re well off financially, we have a nice house, and we have everything we need. I don’t make you work. I don’t make you do anything! How can you hate living like this? Can’t you see how good you’ve got it?”

Amber whimpered as she buried her face into her pillow. Yes, her pillow was still there, along with the rest of her bedding. Her mommy and daddy were arguing, and it was scaring her. They never fought like that before; usually when they had a disagreement, they went in another room and complained in hushed voices, trying to remain as calm as possible. Now, they were having a shouting match. About what, Amber wasn’t too sure.

“I’m unhappy, Jun-jie,” Jing-Yi cried, “I’ve been unhappy for almost five years now. A little over four years and nine months, if you want a closer estimate.”

“Four years and nine months?” Jun-jie shouted, “Are you trying to tell me that the reason you’re unhappy is because of-” the 25-year-old man lowered his voice to a whisper, so no one outside of their bedroom could hear, “-because of Yiyun?” Yiyun was Amber’s Chinese name. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was Jing-Yi seriously blaming their child’s existence for her joylessness? How could she? Their daughter was so sweet, so loving, and so amazing. Jun-jie loved his little four-year-old daughter to death. She was an amazing blessing. Apparently, his wife thought otherwise. “I can’t believe you would say such a thing,” he hissed at her, still in a quiet voice, “That’s your child, your blood child. You carried her and gave birth to her.”

“Look, it’s nothing against her personally, or anything,” Jing-Yi spoke brashly, not caring who heard, “but, you don’t know how hard she is to deal with.”

“Shh, she might hear you.”

“What’s it matter?” Jing-Yi snapped, “She’s only four. It’s not like she really understands what we’re talking about anyway.”

Amber sat up straight on her bed when she heard that. Her mommy said something about somebody being four. She was four. Were they talking about her? What was happening?

“What do you mean ‘hard to deal with’?” Jun-jie asked.

“You don’t know!” yelled Jing-Yi, “You get to go to your nice, air-conditioned, high-rise office during the day. You know what I do when you’re at work? Raise your child all by myself!”

Amber squeaked. Yeah, they were talking about her. She grabbed Poopsie, her stuffed llama, and held him tight.

“All by yourself?” his voice boomed, “I help raise her, too. I have to work, you know.”

“Yeah, but during the day, she’s just so…look, I’m just tired of doing this, okay?”

“So what? Yeah, being a parent can be tiring at times, but you can’t just quit!”

“If you recall, Jun-jie, I never wanted to be a mom in the first place. I told you that when we first got married.”

“Well, sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes life has different things in store for us. I feel that you got pregnant for a reason.”

“Yeah, that reason being a cheap drugstore cond-”

“Don’t even say it, Jing-Yi! You’re obviously in some kind of messed up emotional state right now, and you need to just relax and think about all of this.”

It was so scary. Amber didn’t like it one bit. She wasn’t too sure what was happening, but apparently, she had done something bad. Her mommy was yelling about her, and she said that she never wanted to be a mom in the first place. What had she done to make mommy so mad? It must’ve been pretty bad if it caused the grown-ups to yell like that. Not to mention, they were calling each other by their first names constantly, which meant something serious.

“My emotional state is going to stay messed up if I have to keep living like this!”

“I don’t understand why you’re unhappy. I’ve given you everything!” her dad yelled.

Amber looked downward, feeling ashamed. She could feel her little face heating up. “I did something really, really bad, Poopsie,” she told her toy llama, “Mommy and daddy are fighting ‘cause of me. I think mommy’s really mad at me.”

Amber listened as they argued some more. Along with their voices, she could also hear other noises coming from their bedroom, like stuff was being moved around in a rushed pace. The sound of clothes racks clanking against each other caught the little girl’s attention. One of them was rummaging around in the closet in her parent’s bedroom, but why?

“Look, if you want to be single again, fine, whatever,” Jun-jie spoke, “but you shouldn’t blame her for your problems. She’s done nothing wrong.”

“I’m not saying she did anything wrong. I’m just saying that she’s a hassle, and I don’t think I can take it anymore. I don’t like being a mom. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

“Neither do I,” Jun-jie replied, “We’re first time parents, Jing-Yi. We’re still learning.”

“She needs constant attention, Jun-jie. It’s too much stress for me. This isn’t what I wanted. She needs too much time and care, and I just don’t have it in me. I’m not meant to be a mother. You should’ve known that. Remember how I acted when she was born, how I refused to even touch her? You took care of her for the first three weeks completely by yourself, because I didn’t even like being around her. All of the crying she does, all of the questions she asks, the way she always calls “Mommy, Mommy,” it’s driving me nuts!

“She’s a freaking child, Jing-Yi! What do you expect?”

“She’s just too much of a burden, Jun-jie, just like you,” Jing-Yi sighed, “I’m sorry, but I don’t like having to share my life with others. I just don’t want either of you in my life anymore. I want to be on my own, to be free.”

The four-year-old tightened her grip on her toy llama as her chin quivered. She knew she was about to cry. Her mom just talked about how her crying was annoying, but she couldn’t fight it. Her feelings were hurt. She was a bad girl, and her mommy didn’t like her any more. A tear rolled down the girl’s cheek as she heard a pop and a couple of clicks. This was followed by another pop and click combo, as well as another. Little did she know, it was the sound of luggage being closed and locked. She heard the lock on her parents’ door click and the sound of the door opening.

“Look, if you want to leave me, okay,” Jun-jie began, “but, don’t leave her, too. She’s your daughter.”

“So? You’re better with taking care of her, anyway.”

“Well, where are you even planning on going?”

“Somewhere far away and I’m never coming back.”

Amber could feel her heart skip a beat. Her mom was leaving? She wasn’t coming back? Oh no! She couldn’t go! She had to fix this; she had to go and apologize.

“P-please don’t do this,” Jun-jie whimpered, tears coming on, “We can make this work. I love you.”

“I’m sorry,” Jing-Yi huffed. She didn’t sound like she was.

“Please don’t go. I need you. Yiyun needs you. Please.” He grabbed onto his wife’s wrist, trying to make her stay. She jerked her wrist away and went down stairs. “Come on! Just stay,” he called after her, as he descended the staircase moments later.

“No, Jun-jie. As soon as I get my coat and my keys, I am out.”

“You mean, you’re running away from us in the car I gave you?” he questioned, now crying, “How can you?”

“For God’s sake, Jun-jie, you’re a damn man. Suck it up and grow a pair.”

“Well, excuse me for being totally heart broken right now,” he sobbed.

Meanwhile, upstairs in her room, Amber tossed her red crayon to the side as soon as she finished using it. She took the piece of paper she had been doodling on and folded it and put it in her pocket. She threw her door open and rushed out of her bedroom and down the stairs. She was always told not to run in the house, especially down the stairs, but this was an emergency. She had to stop her mom before she left forever. In her rush, little Amber missed one of the steps and ended up rolling down the staircase and landing flat on her face. Luckily, nothing bad happened, save for a few bruises and her knee bleeding because the carpeting on the staircase had rubbed against the skin so hard, it drew a little bit of blood.

“What was that?” Jun-jie asked worriedly, the loud sound of something crashing startling him and making him jump. That’s when he heard a small groan and also some crying. It had to have been Amber. Oh God, this couldn’t’ end up well. “Honey!” he shouted, running to come to her aid. “Amber, what happened?” he wondered, reaching to help her up. She rejected his help, though, and got up on her own, making a mad dash towards the living room.

“Mommy, don’t go!” she begged as she ran towards her mother, “Please don’t go! I’ll be good, I promise! I promise! Please stay!” Jing-Yi looked at her daughter’s face. The poor thing had puffy, red eyes, and her cheeks were sticky with stained tears. Snot started to drip out of her nose, which made Jing-Yi wince a little. The crying sound the child were so loud and awful, that it tugged at her heart strings a little, but only a little. Amber snorted back some of her snot in an attempt to open up the passageway in her nose because she has having trouble breathing. It was sad to see a four-year-old crying like this, but Jing-Yi had her mind set.

Jun-jie stood off at a distance, watching the scene unfold. He so desperately wanted to say something, like, “Look at what you’ve done,” or “See, your daughter is crying,” or something like that. He decided against it, though, because interfering might make the situation much worse.

Jing-Yi just looked downward and casted her eyes to the side, sighing. This was pretty sad, in all honesty, but she had to do what she had to do. She had her own life to live, after all.

“Mommy, don’t leave me,” the girl wailed, quickly embracing her mother’s left leg, and burying her face just below her left hip. “D-don’t leave me, p-please.”

After biting her lip and sighing, Jing-Yi simply commanded, “Yiyun, let go of me.”

“No,” cried the little girl, “Don’t go.”

“Yiyun, let go of me this instant,” growled her mother, growing impatient. Of course, Amber did the exact opposite and only gripped on tighter. “Liu Yiyun,” she grunted, attempting to tug her leg away, “Let-” Tug- “Me-” Tug- “Go!” Tug That final tug was all it took to get out of the child’s grasp. Amber whimpered as she felt her mom’s leg slip away from her. Jing-Yi grabbed her keys and coat, picked up her luggage, and went towards the front door.

“Momma,” sobbed Amber, “Momma.” Amber ran towards her and attached herself to her mother’s leg once again. “Why are you leaving? Please don’t go. I’ll be a good girl. I promise.”

“Yiyun, stop it! Just stop it!” screamed Jing-Yi, “Can’t you see you’re not wanted?” She pushed the child down.

“No, that’s not true, Momma; you do want me. You do!” Amber screeched from where she had fallen on the floor, “I’m sorry I made you mad. I don’t know what I did, but I take it back! I take it back!”

“You don’t understand, okay?” Jing-Yi told her, “This doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

Jun-jie bit the inside of his cheek, wanting to scream, “Understand?! What is there to understand? Why don’t you explain it to her, then?” He held his composure as best he could, though, tears still falling down his face.

“M-momma,” stuttered Amber. Her eyes were so glassy and red, that they had to have stung painfully. Her bottom lip was jutted out as she pouted and blubbered hopelessly.

“Look,” Jing-Yi started, bending forward until her face was only a foot or so above Amber’s level, “I sorry, Yiyun. I have to go now.”

“Nooooo!” bawled Amber, “Please, don’t leave me.”

Jing-Yi opened the front door and began to leave. She stopped when she was halfway through, looked back and said, “I’m sorry, Amber.” Then, she exited the house.

As she unlocked her car’s door, Jing-Yi heard, “Mom! Mommy, wait! Waaaaiiiittt!”

“Amber, go back inside,” she ordered, “Just go inside, okay?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sooorryyy! Mommmmyyy!”

“Amber, honey!” Jun-jie yelled as he came outside, running after her, “Be careful!”

“Just go to your dad, okay, and leave me alone.”

“But, Mommy, I-I-I have something for you. You have to see. It’s important!” The child reached into her pocket to pull out something.

Jing-Yi got in, rolled down the window and called, “You’ll be fine with your dad. You’ll be fine.” She rolled up the window, and drove off. Determined to not give up, Amber chased after her car.

“Amber, don’t!” Jun-jie yelled, trying to catch up with her. She ran down the driveway, but she was nowhere near quick enough. Jing-Yi quickly made a sharp, speedy right turn and got onto the road. She slammed on the gas, and she was gone. She was gone forever. Amber kept running; she just had to keep on running.

“Mooooommmm!” she screamed so loudly that her throat burned and became scratchy. She ran into the street, wanting to follow her mommy’s car, but it was nowhere in sight. When Amber realized that it was too late, she just stood there, in the middle of the street, weeping. “Momma,” she mewled, “W-why?” That’s when a van came speeding down the street, headed in her direction.

“Amber, get out of the road!” Jun-jie hollered.

“Huh?” the girl wondered, looking about. That was when she saw it; her feet became nailed to the pavement. She was scared stiff. Her eyes widened in horror. The van was coming closer, with no intention of stopping or slowing down.

“Amber!” Jun-jie shouted. The driver of the van honked their horn as it sped closer, closer, closer, and then right as it was about to completely massacre her…

…“AHHHHHHH!” shrilled Amber at the top of her lungs as she quickly jerked up, eyes wider than saucers. The teenager was sitting in her sheet-less bed, hair messy and her clothing and body drenched in a cold sweat. She looked around her dark room. “It-it was just a dream,” she uttered in a breathy voice, rubbing her face, “Just a dream.” Her breathing was heavy and her heart was racing as she tried to calm herself down. She nearly jumped out of her skin when her bedroom door was thrown ajar.

“Amber J. Liu, what the hell are you doing screaming up here like some kind of maniac?” Delia roared, a hard expression on her face.

Amber gulped. She was probably in some deep trouble now. “Sorry. I-I..uh…uh…n-nightmare,” she stammered.

“Well, keep it down, damn it. If I have to come up here again, I swear, I’ll take the damn box spring and mattress out of here, too. You want to sleep on the floor, huh?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” she answered. Did she just say she wanted to sleep on the floor? Delia arched a brow at her. Amber slapped her palm against her face at what she just said, “I don’t want to sleep on the floor, I mean. I-I won’t make any more noise. I’ll be quiet. Sorry.”

“Yeah, you better be,” grunted the grown woman before leaving the room, making sure she slammed the door behind her loud enough to make the walls vibrate.

Amber pulled her knees to her chest. That dream she just had was about the day that her mother had abandoned her and her father. It was almost a perfect recollection of what had happened exactly. She shuddered. It was true, what Delia said about her mother being annoyed by her. “Man, that dream was scary,” she whispered to herself, thinking about what happened before she woke up. She wiped at her suprasternal notch, the hollow at the base of her neck. It was sticky, moist with sweat. She lay back down, musing about what really happened that day…

… “Amber, get out of the road!” Jun-jie hollered.

“Huh?” the girl wondered, looking about. That was when she saw it; her feet became nailed to the pavement. She was scared stiff. Her eyes widened in horror. The van was coming closer, with no intention of stopping or slowing down.

“Amber!” Jun-jie shouted.

The driver of the van honked their horn as it sped closer. She was sure she was done for; she shut her eyes tightly and braced for impact. The sound of the van’s horn rang in her ears.

“Amber!” Jun-jie yelled again, right as he sprinted across the road, and scooped her up in his arms. He quickly made it safely across the street. He watched from the edge of the road as the van sped by, his daughter shaking violently in his grasp, wracked with tears. “What is wrong with you?” he growled at her, once the van was gone.

“…”

“Huh? Huh? You think it was smart, what you did, just standing there in the middle of the road? You liked to gave your old man a heart attack! You almost scared me half to death! What would I have done if you had gotten hurt? Huh?” Amber had never seen him act like this. He was yelling at her, barely pausing enough to breathe between sentences, and he was shaking her by her shoulders roughly. Was he mad at her, too?

“I…I…I...waaahhh!” she blubbered, feeling guilty. It was all her fault that mom left. Now, it was just her and dad, and he was mad at her, too, for driving mom away.

Seeing his daughter so broken was practically killing Jun-jie. She was already having a horrible, difficult day as it was, and then he just yelled at her. That surely wasn’t helping the situation any. The sounds of her cries were just pure heartbreaking. “Oh, oh, d-don’t cry,” he tried to calm her down, “Daddy didn’t mean to get upset with you. Oh, Amber, you just had me so frightened, that’s all.” He hugged her, eyes shinny with tears. “I don’t know what I would have done if something bad were to happen to you.” His tears fell as he held his one and only child. She buried her little face into his chest, still crying. He let her get it all out; he couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard and confusing all of this was for a child. He let out a sigh, just glad that in addition to losing his wife, he didn’t lose his little girl, as well.

“I-I’m sorry, Daddy,” Amber apologized once she stopped crying. She was still sad, but she felt empty of tears. Her jaw was sore, and she felt exhausted.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, thinking she was just talking about the scare she gave him. He realized she meant something else, once she spoke again.

“It’s all my fault Mommy left.”

“What?” he rejoined, shocked, “No, no, that isn’t true, baby.”

“Is so,” pouted the little girl, “She don’t love me no more, so she left.”

“Amber,” Jun-jie started, not sure of what to say. It wasn’t her fault, not at all. How was he going to be able to convince her of it, though? He couldn’t just say that Jing-Yi just didn’t want to be a mom anymore for personal reasons. He couldn’t bad mouth Amber’s mom like that. He didn’t know what to do. “Honey, it’s not…”

“…She didn’t even see what I made,” Amber interrupted, unclenching her fist, which had been holding a piece of paper the whole time. It was what she had pulled out from her pocket.

“Huh?” questioned Jun-jie as he saw it, “Let me see.”

Sniffing, Amber handed her dad the crumbled up piece of paper, a picture she drew. It read “I’m Sorry Mommy” at the top, and it had a dozen red hearts of all sizes on it. “I…I thought if she saw, she would stay,” Amber explained.

Sighing, Jun-jie closed his eyes and bit his lower lip. “Poor girl,” he thought, “How am I going to make any of this clear for her? She didn’t deserve this, not at all.” “Are you…Did you get hurt any? Like, when you fell down the stairs, or when I carried you across the street?” he asked.

She nodded. “I got owies here, here, and here,” she told him while pointing at her bruises, “And, I got a boo-boo here.” She showed him the scrape on her knee.

“Come on, let’s tend to that wound,” Jun-jie said, picking her up in his arms as he stood up to carry her. She hung onto his neck, still sniffling, trying to breathe through all the snot that was now in her nose. She couldn’t help but stare back at the road the entire time, still hopeful that her mom would change her mind and come back.

~***~

“Daddy, I’m sorry,” Jun-jie heard his daughter say as he put a bandage on her ‘boo-boo.’ She was sitting on top of the toilet lid in the bathroom as her took care of her wound.

“Don’t be,” he muttered, “Now, blow.” He put a tissue up to her nose. She blew her nose, like he had told her to. “There,” he announced as he threw away the mucus-filled tissue. Amber took a deep breath through her nostrils. She could breathe again.

“Am I bad, Daddy?” she queried, “Is that why Mommy got mad at me?”

“No, baby.”

“But, she said I wasn’t wanted.”

Jun-jie grinded his teeth. God, he had been so angry when Jing-Yi had said that. Being reminded of that really pushed him. Knowing that his daughter believed it, made him even more upset.

“Don’t you ever say that! Don’t say that!” he hissed, slamming his fist into the bathroom sink. It caused the four-year-old girl to jump and gasp. All of the adults were being so mean and scary that day. She felt a lump in the back of her throat. “She’s wrong, okay? You are very much wanted. I don’t want you getting stupid ideas just because of her.” The word ‘stupid’ was enough to make her start mewling again. She didn’t understand that he wasn’t actually calling her ‘stupid.’ “Don’t cry,” he still sounded angry as he spoke, “You are wanted, by me. You understand what I’m telling you?”

“S-stop yelling at me,” lamented the girl.

“Oh no,” he thought, “I didn’t mean to make her cry again. What am I going to do?” Jun-jie’s facial expression softened into a kinder, gentler one. “Oh, little one, I’m so sorry,” he apologized as he got down to her level. He reached to give her a hug, but she hopped off of the toilet and ran out of the room. “Oh, great,” he groaned, “Now she probably hates me. God, I’m such a jerk.” He went to go look for her. His search ended shortly when he saw her in her room, caterwauling. She was lying on the bed, on her stomach, and she had her pillow on top of her head. She was holding it down with her little arms, forming a dark, protective barrier to shield her from the rest of the world. “Hey,” he soothed as he walked over towards the bed, “Hey, it’s okay.” He placed his hand on top of hers. Her hand and fingers were so small compared to his, and her skin was much softer. He stroked her hand in back and forth movements. “I’m sorry for yelling. It’s just…this has been a hard day for both of us, okay. But, I don’t want you to feel guilty for any of this. None of this was your fault, okay?”

“Wahhh,” the little girl squeaked in between tears.

“Sometimes…let’s see, how do I put this? Well, you see…s-sometimes things don’t always work out the way we want them to. Neither of us wanted Mommy to leave, but she just did anyway. Not because of anything we did, but because…that’s just how things worked out in the end. Honey, you’re a little girl, and I know this is hard for you to understand. Someday, when you’re older, you will. I…I can’t fully explain what happened now, but someday I can. Right now, I’m still trying to figure it all out, myself. I know that doesn’t make sense…” Jun-jie kept rambling off like that, due to the fact that he didn’t know how to put his thoughts into words for her. All he could do was tell her that she wasn’t to blame and that things would be okay. Finally, after a few good minutes, he concluded with, “I just want you to know that I love you, and I’m not mad at you because of what happened. You did nothing wrong, honey.”

Amber lifted her head up out from underneath the pillow, and she rolled over on her back. “I love you, too, Daddy,” she mumbled, but loud enough for him to hear, “but…I’m really scared.”

“Why?”

“’Cause no mommy.”

“Oh…I know, dear. You have me, though. You have Daddy.”

“B-but, who’s gonna take care of me?”

At first, the question caught Jun-jie by surprise and even insulted him a little bit. What did she mean by that? He was going to take care of her. He was her father, after all. Besides, when he was home, he took up the most time with her, anyway. All Jing-Yi mainly did was sleep and watch television. Amber was too young to understand that, though, that her mom wasn’t really contributing all that much to her life in the first place.

“Honey, I will. I am your dad, after all.”

Amber shook her head, “You work when it’s daytime, Daddy. What about then?”

“You can start going to preschool,” he replied, “You’ll like it, I’m sure. You need to be around kids your own age, anyway.”

“Who’s gonna make me lunch?” questioned the little girl.

“You already had your lunch today, baby,” Jun-jie told her, before he realized she was referring to the fact that her mom usually fixed her lunches, “Oh, you mean…don’t worry about it. Daddy can do that. What’d she usually make you, sandwiches? I can do that.”

“Who’s gonna cook dinner and pick out the clothes I’m s’posed to wear? Who’s going to give me my bathie bath?”

Jun-jie wanted so desperately to roll his eyes, especially at the first question. What Jing-Yi did didn’t qualify as ‘cooking.’ All she ever did was heat stuff in the microwave, or throw premade meals in the oven, and make box dinners that came with instructions. He could do better than that, surely he could. He also remembered how much she would complain about having to give Amber a bath, saying it was exhausting. “I’ll do all of that, and so much more. I promise.”

Amber was pouting. She wasn’t too sure on how things would be without her mom there. Little did she know, she’d discover that she didn’t really need her after all. “It’ll be okay, Amber,” her father reassured her, “I’ll take care of you, I promise. You have nothing to worry about. We’ll be okay. We will be okay. I love you so much.” He wrapped his arms around her, and she returned the embrace. She felt safe in his arms; he was so warm. “You’re not mad at me, are you?” he asked her.

“No, Daddy.”

“No more tears, okay?” he spoke, “I don’t want you to cry anymore.”

“I’m still scared,” she rejoined, voice muffled because she was now burying her face in his chest.

“I…I am, too,” her father confessed. Amber pulled away from him, surprised.

“What do you mean, Daddy?” How could he be scared? He was a giant. He was big, and strong. Grown-ups weren’t supposed to be scared, especially daddies. Grown people were always brave.

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“I’m scared because, it’s probably just going to be you and me from now on, kiddo. I know you probably see me as some sort of hero or something, but I do get scared of things. Right now, I’m just as afraid as you.” A stray tear fell down his cheek.

“Don’t cry, Daddy,” Amber murmured as she hugged him again, “We can be scared together. Then, everything will be okay.”

“Aw, you are just so sweet, you know that?” Jun-jie said, gently pulling her away. He lightly tapped her nose, causing her to giggle. She was smiling; that was a good sign. Maybe things would be fine with time. Suddenly, his precious child started yawning and rubbing her eyes tiredly. “Oh, it’s past your nap time,” Jun-jie observed as the saw the time on the clock, “Come on; let’s get you in something comfortable to sleep in.”

“Daddy,” yawned Amber as he helped her change her shirt.

“Hmm?”

“Can I take my nap with you?”

“Sure thing, kiddo,” he grinned lifting her up, “Let’s go.”

“P-Poopsie,” muttered the child, reaching out towards the bed, where her stuffed llama was. Jun-jie picked up Poopsie, and they went to his bedroom. He got into something comfortable, himself, and he tucked his daughter in the bed.

“Love you, baby,” he whispered to her after he got in the bed.

“Love you, too,” she uttered, almost inaudibly, her voice slurry from sleepiness.

Amber snuggled in close to her daddy, Poopsie in her arms. Her eyes closed right before feeling a kiss being placed upon her forehead and hearing, a quiet, “I’ll always be here for you…forever.”…

…Amber, now fifteen, was lying on her side, remembering that day. The rain was still falling. She swallowed in an attempt to get rid of the hard lump she could feel forming in her throat. It was done in vain, for the lump remained. Thunder boomed loudly, and it made her body tighten. “I guess forever wasn’t as long as I figured it would be,” she concluded in a raspy voice as she became drowsy and drifted back to sleep…