Chapter 4: I Don't Need Anyone

Chapter 4: I Don't Need Anyone Else

Yvonne

I parked my car in the parking lobby and went inside the mansion.

"Mother!" I heard my favorite voice before I saw my little bundle of joy running down the stairs, directly into my arms.

"Be careful, my prince." I said gently, ruffling his hair and picking him up, smiling widely and kissing his cheeks, his nose and forehead.

"I missed you so much, mother." He said and circled his small arms around my neck, kissing my cheeks.

"I miss you more," I chuckled at his energy and hugged him tightly. A warmth spread throughout my system inhaling his baby scent.

"Hey, Yvonne." Samuel came behind him and kissed my cheek, giving me a bear hug.

"Hey, thank you for taking care of Ryan today." I said to him, grateful that he was here.

"Don't mention it, it is nothing and I love to spend time with him as well." He replied, ruffling Ryan's hair.

"Oh, uncle Samuel, stop doing that would you?" I am not a five-year-old boy anymore!" He voiced out seriously with a complaining voice.

"Hey buddy, your mother just did the same a few minutes ago and you didn't say that to her." Samuel whined with a complaining voice too.

"Because she is a mother, she can do anything. She is my superhero and I love her too much." He snorted.

"Does it mean you don't love me enough?" Samuel's voice rose higher in almost a dramatic pitch and he put his hand on his heart, faking a hateful expression.

Ryan gave him a side glance, as if looking at a two-year old boy throwing a tantrum before he shook his head and released a long sigh.

"Okay fine, don't be so dramatic. I will let it do it sometimes." Ryan said in a very serious tone before he buried his head in my neck as if dismissing the topic at hand. Samuel and I laughed at his childish voice sounding so serious.

"My prince?" I cooed softly to him in my arms and sat on the couch. Samuel sat beside me casually, asking me how my day was and we discussed how our families were doing and when they would come over.

"So where does my boy want to go for the holiday?" I asked softly after talking to Samuel for a while.

"I want to go to an aquarium with you, mother. But later in the evening, you need to rest now, you have been working so hard.

"Oh, my boy." I kissed his forehead and took him in my arms again.

He was really a sweet child, sometimes it really surprised me to think about how smarter he is compared to his age. Compared to the other children of his age, he was extremely intelligent and smart. He learned things too fast and his teachers were often amazed at his ability to absorb information. I felt bad seeing that it was hard for him to make friends because his level of maturity doesn't match with others. He is way too advanced for his age.

Although I knew he was bored in elementary school because he had already learned everything they taught, he never complained, not even once. He was a very considerate and patient child, he never demanded anything from me like normal children do with their parents. Instead, he always made sure to do little things within his power and capability to make me happy.

He has this distant aura around him that made it hard for people to connect with him, only when he was with me or my parents did he show affection and talk a lot. I wished he could make friends like other children and it broke my heart sometimes to see him so isolated from others.

In the evening, we went to the aquarium to spend the rest of our time. He was really excited the whole time, exclaiming and telling me about the names and origins of the fish around us. I was amazed that he knew so much about wildlife creatures and their worth. At such a young age, he was like a walking encyclopedia.

Samuel was also excited, taking pictures of me and Ryan who was holding my hands but I told him to join us for pictures as well. While we got some to take pictures of us, I noticed a stern looking man, standing a little away from us and taking pictures too. But something seemed odd about him because his camera was facing our way. I looked towards the lady that was taking the picture of us when she instructed me to face the camera. And when I glanced at the man's direction again, he was gone.

'Was that taking pictures of us and why?' I shook my head, dismissed the thought and thought it was absurd for a stranger to take someone's pictures. And the woman took a picture before smiling.

"You have a beautiful wife and a very cute son." She said, Samuel putting his hand around my shoulder as the lady spoke.

"You are right, my wife is really beautiful. We look great, don't we?" He smiled at her, she nodded happily and returned the camera and I slapped his arm after she left.

"Stop playing around like that." I reprimanded him playfully, referring to his earlier drama session. He laughed and then gave me a boyish grin.

Afterwards, we went for dinner and then for ice cream. We went for a walk in the park as well to digest the food while talking about various things. I noticed that Ryan had been silent for a while, he seemed really excited before but now he looks like he was a little distracted and down. However, I could see that he wasn't ready to talk.

Samuel went home after dropping us off, he lives just across the street. I helped Ryan to talk his bath and tucked him into bed before changing into my nightmare and laying beside him. He immediately scooted over to me, I smiled and engulfed him in my arms and he muzzled his head into my chest.

"Is everything okay, Ryan? Did you have a lot of fun today?" I kissed his head, trying to know what was going on in his little mind.

"Yes, mother. I love every moment I spend with you." He said softly and it melted my heart immediately. I cupped his small chin and raised it a little to have a better look at his face.

"Then why does my prince seem sad?" I asked, stroking his hair and encouraging him to speak.

He seemed to be thinking for a while, observing my face before he spoke in a small voice.

"I…I want to know about…."

He paused, the last words escaped from his mouth were more like a whisper. It was as if he was talking to himself, shaking his head and then looked up at me again and smiled.

"Nothing, mother. I just got really tired. Playing all day but I am really happy that you are with me. I don't need anyone else, I love you, mother." He said, yawning and nuzzling closer again, closing his eyes.

"I love you too, my prince. Good night and sweet dreams." I kissed his forehead and a few minutes later, I could hear his even breaths, indicating that he was asleep now.

'I want to ask my father.' Although he didn't complete his sentence, I knew what he wanted to say.

To be honest, his question caught me off guard and I didn't know what to say. I thought I still had time to come up with something to tell him about his father. But he is growing up too quickly and I don't know what I am going to tell him.

I looked at the sleeping face of my son and my vision turned blurry as tears rolled down my cheeks.