I turned on the lights and there I saw a baby crying his lungs out. I wonder to myself if this baby is a ghost or a real human.
"How could a baby get in here?!", I shouted.
Aside from being confused, I am as well angry. I slowly went near to the baby. I gently touch its skin to make sure its indeed a human, and my intuitions are true, it is a human baby and not a ghost.
I slowly and gentle pick up the baby and when I did, a piece of paper fell. I didn't know where it came from.
"Where are your parents, darling?", I asked the baby sweetly as if it would talk.
I struggle bending down and picking the piece of paper that fell because I was carrying a baby, but I managed to pick it up anyways.
"And what's this?", I asked myself.
"Please take care of her"
Those are the words that was written in that note. I know who's handwriting it was. It was my brother's. Even though I don’t have any knowledge about raising a child, I still did my best to raise her properly. I named her Pauline.
“Why do some kids have a father and I don’t?”, 4 year old Pauline asked one day. I froze for a while because I don’t know what to say. She may be young but she knows about those stuff, she is indeed a smart kid.
I took a deep breath before letting out words.
“You have a father, kiddo”
“I have?”, she asked. Her eyes were twinkling with excitement as she heard me say those words.
“We all have”
“Then why I haven’t seen him even once?”
“It’s because yours just went far away. But he will be coming home, maybe when you’re older”, I lied.
I know giving her false hopes isn’t the good idea, but I don’t want to break her little heart by telling her that her parents are bad people.
Pauline let out a sigh “I can’t wait to grow older”, she said with a smile on her face.
“I will do my very best to protect you from them, my beloved niece”, I thought to myself.
One Tuesday afternoon I went to Pauline’s kindergarten to pick her up like I always did. I was confused because I did not saw Pauline at the usual spot she would sit on while waiting for me to pick her up. I started overthinking bad things inside my head. I park my car at the parking lot and went to her classroom hoping she’d be there.
“Someone already picked up Pauline”, that was what the teacher told me after asking her.
My eyes widened and my heart started beating fast. I tried staying calm but I can’t. I hurriedly went back to my car.
“Why now?!”, I yelled. Anger and fear are what I felt that afternoon. I was angry because I know who took her.
I started the engine and sped my way to my brother’s house. When I arrived, I saw my niece crying while Rosemarie was holding her wrist and shouting at her.
“What do you think you’re doing?”, I yelled.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, I am here to pick up my niece”
I slap Rosemarie’s hand so she would let Pauline go. I look at Pauline who is crying and terrified. She was yelled at by a woman she never met before.
“Are you alright, Pauline?
“Auntie let’s go home, I’m scared”, Pauline said softly as she hid behind me
I look at Rosemarie with a rage in my eyes. I badly wanna grab her hair and never let go of it until she’ll go bald but I don’t want to Pauline see me so violent, she might get scared of who I will become.
“Okay let’s go home”
“No, you can’t take her home! This house is her home?”, Rosemarie shouted. She walked towards us in an angry manner and was about to grab Pauline by her hand but I stopped her. She looked at me in the eyes and I can see she’s annoyed already.
“She belongs to me!”
“No, she don’t”
“I am her mother!”
“You are unfit to be a mother”
“Who are you to judge me if I am fit or unfit to be a mother!”
“YOU’RE MAD! A person like you will never be fit to be a mother of her”
“MAD?!”
“Yeah! As in crazy”
“I know what you meant, I ain’t dumb like you”
“Oh really?!”
“Give her to me!”
“Yeah in your dreams, b*t*ch”
After saying those words I quickly turned around and run as fast as I could. I took Pauline with me, obviously. She chased us but she was too slow to actually stop us because she was wearing heels. What a dummy, right? Thankfully, my car opened immediately and and the engine started right away. I drove as fast as I could and I didn’t look back.
When we arrived at our house I quickly went upstairs to pack all our things.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere far away from that woman”
“Who is she by the way?”
“She’s no one, Pauline. Forget about her, okay?”
Pauline just nodded as a respond.
I finished packing the things we need and I wasted no time, I quickly took the car keys and leave the place immediately. I don’t where we are going, all I know is I want to get away from this place. I want to be far away from the both of them, not to protect myself but to protect Pauline. I will do anything to protect her from those two because by doing so I feel like my guilt slowly fading away, the guilt I felt from turning my back on the twins.
Even though it hurts leaving my brother, I will do it. He isn’t the brother I have known anymore. He changed a lot after marrying that woman.