For a moment, I was flustered because I almost forgot there was another joyous occasion around the corner. Seconds later, I nodded and said, “Summer and I will be back soon.”
The children were equally thrilled when they heard my words of assurance.
On the other hand, Colin, who had been quiet all this while, broke the silence and queried, “Are you going to K City?”
Shaking my head, I stated, “Not for the time being.”
I never had the chance to bring Summer back to J City when she was an infant. Now that she was slightly older, I wanted to bring her back to visit Macy. I felt quite lost because I never mentioned Macy over the years.
Summer snuggled in my arms after we bade farewell over the meal and made our way home. She was melancholic because we would be leaving soon.
After I tucked her in, I called Anthony.
The moment he picked up the call, his hoarse and seductive voice could be heard. “I was about to call you, yet you got ahead of me. It’s almost like our thoughts are connected.”
I responded with a smile and looked out the window. Staring at the bright moon, I said, “I just resigned.”
“Well, it was inevitable since staying at that hotel would be a waste of your talent,” he replied nonchalantly as though he had been anticipating my departure.
I smiled, wondering whether his words counted as a compliment.
Once again, he broke the silence and asked in a gentle tone, “Where are you planning to go?”
“I haven’t made up my mind.” R Province might have much to offer. However, when I took Summer’s future into consideration, I thought she deserved better things in life.
“No matter where you’re going, I’ll always have your back. Don’t forget I consider Summer as my daughter,” he asserted in a calm and collected manner.
I was dazed for a moment before I nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Compared to the way we interacted with one another in the past, I enjoyed our current relationship more. Now, he wouldn’t make the call on my behalf and instead, he would simply provide his opinion and guidance.
After I hung up the call, I purchased the air tickets to J City. It took me an hour to reach the central business district to purchase the tickets because there wasn’t any airport in R Province.
In September, I brought Summer to J City with me. It was her first visit there. The moment she walked out of the airport, she swept her gaze around and shared her joy with me. “Mommy, this is such a huge airport!”
I responded with a smile and brought her to Glenwood Apartments. When I left the city, I bought myself an apartment and kept one of Macy’s apartments for Summer.
Since there were photos of Summer and me in the apartment, she returned with a photo after roaming around the house. She asked, “Mommy, who’s the woman beside you in the photo?”
Seeing how Summer had directed her question at me in such a sincere manner, I suddenly felt a heart- wrenching sensation.
I took over the photo and noticed the photo was taken in the year we graduated. Back then, Macy already started working in the bar.
After she got her wages, she insisted on having me join her for a photoshoot in a studio. She said we needed a photo as a keepsake of our best time in life. Otherwise, age would catch up to us soon and we would forget what we looked like in our prime.
I was grateful she insisted because the photo was something that could remind me of the most carefree period of my life.
“Mommy, why are you crying?” Summer asked in a mellifluous tone. I crouched in front of her and cradled her in my arms, shedding tears of grief.
“Summer, let’s pay this aunt a visit tomorrow, okay?” It had been four years since my last trip back. I couldn’t help but wonder if things were fine on her end.
Summer nodded and stared at Macy in the photo. Shortly after, she wiped my tears off my face and said, “Okay!”
Holding the little girl in my arms, I suppressed my emotion and announced, “Summer, she’s an important friend of mine and an important figure in your life. Can you promise me that you’ll address her as your mom instead of your aunt in the future?”
Confused, the little girl asked, “Why? Michael said an ordinary family consisted of only one father and one mother. If I’m addressing her as my mother, how am I supposed to address you?”
“Summer, we’re all special in our own ways. In short, you’re different from Michael as well. He’s a boy, but you’re a girl. He only has a mother, but you have two mothers. Macy is someone that’s important to me. Can you promise me that you’ll keep that in mind?”
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Summer she wasn’t my biological daughter, yet I was afraid of completely detaching her from Macy. She may not have any memory of Macy in the four years of her life, but from now on, I wanted her to know about Macy.
Summer was perplexed, but she nodded when she saw how serious I looked. “I’ll listen to you and address her as mommy Macy in the future.”
I nodded.
After we had settled down, I hailed a cab and brought Summer to the cemetery with me on the next day.
Compared to my last visit, the cemetery seemed to be relatively spacious. It must have expanded again.
Judging by the number of tombstones that were erected over the past four years, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people had lost their loved ones.
When the middle-aged florist in charge of the store not far from the cemetery saw us, she asked, “Do you need a bouquet of white chrysanthemum?”
Smiling, I shook my head and brought Summer into the store. “Is it fine for us to pick the flowers?”
The florist was stupefied for a short while before she nodded in return and asserted, “Of course!”
Macy once told me she was never a fan of chrysanthemums. She would get irked by the melancholic and monochromous colors. Instead, she was thrilled whenever she received sunflowers.
After I got a few stalks of sunflowers, I asked Summer to hold on to it because I needed to get Old Mr. Featherstone a bouquet as well. In the end, I got the reliable man a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums.
Grandma had always appreciated the bunch of celosia by the edge of the yard in R Province. The ornamental amaranth was no match for other species in terms of look, but it could brace itself through harsh weather and flourish in harsh conditions.
As a result of the cemetery’s expansion, there were a lot of stairs. Walking through the steps amid the heavy morning fog, I was grateful there were signs everywhere. Otherwise, I would have lost my way.
There were a lot of people there to visit their deceased loved ones on that particular day. After dropping by the two seniors’ graves, I brought Summer to visit Macy’s grave.
Another tall man with a callous look could be seen in front of her grave. After four years, he was no longer the gentleman I used to know.
People would mature at different ages, but most people would turn into gentle adults as they got older. However, there were also some cases where certain adults might develop the other way and fall into the vicious cycle of despair due to their awful memories.
I wasn’t sure if Jared was the former or the latter category. After all, after four years, I still had no idea the sort of relationship he had with Macy.
Staring at the bouquet of balloon flowers in front of the tombstone, I was dumbfounded for a short while.
Balloon flower had two kinds of meaning—eternal love and eternal despair.
At the end of the day, we would be overwhelmed by the things we owned in life if we failed to practice moderation in life. It would be better to appreciate things than constantly asking for more.
“Mommy!” Seeing how I was standing rooted to my spot for a while, Summer broke the silence. When she saw the photo on the tombstone, she asked, “Is mommy Macy dead?”
Her mellifluous voice caught Jared’s attention. He turned around and gave me a wide-eyed stare when he saw me.
When he noticed I wasn’t the one talking, he turned his gaze to Summer.
The man and the little girl exchanged glances. He pursed his lips with his brows furrowed. Perhaps they were meant to cross paths in life to sort out the complications behind their relationship.
A few seconds later, he looked at me and asked, “Is she—”
Before he could finish his question, I cut him off and instructed Summer, “Summer, can you please place the bouquet in front of mommy Macy’s grave?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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