Best Defense

Bro

I was lying in my old room in the house that my brother was in, looking at Ben who was fast asleep beside me. Then I heard my mother's voice calling me from below.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I walked down the stairs and found my mother walking from her room to the living room typing something on her phone.

My mom turned, "Hey, did Ed tell you Sawyer was coming tomorrow?" he asked, then turned his eyes back to his phone.

Uncle Sawyer is my mother's younger brother, he and his family live in New Zealand. The last time I met him was when my grandfather died, about six years ago, when I was married to Nino.

"Uncle Sawyer? Ed hasn't told me anything." I stopped in front of my mother and kissed her cheek at a glance.

"Ah, tomorrow she comes," My mother looked at me with a faint smile. "Just the two with Rob. Invite your husband to say hello to them tomorrow, Sawyer would love to talk to him."

"Sure," I said with a smile and hugged her tightly. "He'd love to."

My mother hugged me back, when our embrace was released, I saw her smile also disappeared. "Next week is your father's birthday, we'll be watching him and mommy needs to take care of everything." she told me, and my smile faded with the sadness I felt.

I nodded slowly, "Oh, okay." I said, barely forgetting that it had been more than three years since his departure.

This should be his 68th birthday. Unfortunately, he had to die because someone irresponsible had already bumped into him. Until now we didn't know who that was.

A faint smile appeared in my mother's corner. He hugged me once more while patting my back gently, "Yes.well, mommy should leave now, the driver is already waiting in front."

I'm nodding. "I love you, mom."

She grabbed her bag from the couch table, then kissed me on the cheek. "I love you too, sweetie!" He turned and walked away from me.

I sat on the couch for a while, thinking about my father. Until now I can't believe that he had a tragic end to his life, exactly like my parents. It often comes to my mind that life is not always fair to everyone.

Since childhood abandoned by my parents in a painful way, then my father was the only man I knew as a father in my life also had to leave me, then my ex-husband betrayed me.

If I had to go back to those times, maybe I'm not sure I'd be sitting on this couch right now. The moment you lose someone is the most painful thing that will happen in your life, you will never be ready to face it even if you know that everyone will experience it.

Recollecting my childhood was not easy, and I had to spend years accepting the reality of my parents' departure. My trauma can not even go away until now, sometimes I still often feel scared especially when being alone like this, but as much as possible I always try to control myself so as not to act foolishly as I have done in the past.

"Panda, are you coming?" my brother's voice pulled my mind back.

I turned and found him walking around the room towards me. "Yes,"

He looked at me with a strange look as he approached me. "What's wrong?" he asked with a confused look.

I frowned, not understanding the meaning of the question. But I haven't said anything yet, he's talking again. "Did something happen? Why are you crying?"

I blinked, touched my cheek and realized I was really crying. I shook my head, feeling amused at myself. "Come here" I said as I patted the sofa next to me.

My brother squinted, but kept his ass on the couch. As soon as she was beside me, I immediately hugged her and kissed her cheek. "I miss Dad." I said slowly while leaning my body against his arm.

For a moment he was silent, but I knew he felt the same way when I heard his heavy breathing. "Yes, me too." the grunt agreed.

"Ed, do you remember when me and Dad took a rainy shower at Grandma's?" I asked, looking at a photo of our family attached to one of the walls in the living room.

A soft laugh could be heard from my brother's mouth. "After I destroyed your houses? How could I forget it."

We were silent for a while until my brother's voice broke the silence. "How was your pregnancy?" he said he was trying to change the subject.

I know we both miss Dad, but talking about him crying over his departure is not fun. It would be better if we remembered it with a more carefree mood, maybe we would laugh when funny events with our father crossed our heads.

I opened my eyes, looked at my stomach and rubbed it with one hand. "Well, he's very healthy, in four months we'll see him." I said calmly, already impatient to see him. "Hey, when did you get married?" I was curious, so far he has never brought a girl to be introduced to us.

She smiled at me, her mouth open to answer me, but the sound of Ben running down the stairs stopped my brother.

"Nutella!" Ah, that's my favorite, but he's not gonna eat that now.

My brother and I laughed and looked at her approaching us. "Not now" I said as he sat next to me.

Her adorable face was frowning at me, with somewhat messy hair. "Where's granny?"

I shrugged, "She's leaving." I said casually, knowing that he would ask my mother. But this time the angel was not here.

Ben turned his gaze toward my brother, putting on a look for help, but he didn't get what he wanted. "Sorry, kid," said my brother as he glanced at me from the edge of his eyes.

"Mom, please?"

"No,"

Ben lowered his head. "I want to call granny."

Alisku. "So you can get your Nutella?" I shook my head "Ben, that's not nice. You can't get everything you want at all times, sometimes you have to work for it."

I raised her face so I could see her expression, "Mommy doesn't like you acting that way, Ben. Your nutella's not going anywhere, you just have to wait a while until you get it again. You got it?"

He nodded, then hugged me. "I'm sorry, mom."

"Oh, don't be. Are we good now?"

"Yes, can I get an ice cream instead?"

I narrowed my eyes, pretending to think about her request while enjoying her curious expression, waiting for my answer. Then he lowered his head, as if giving up and guessing that I wouldn't allow it. "Take the biggest one and we'll share."

She looked at me with a big smile, "Yeah?" ask him again.

"Yes, go get it."

With a flash he immediately ran towards the kitchen to grab some ice cream. My brother and I looked at him laughing.

"Persis like you" my brother told me.

I nodded, agreeing. When I was a kid I used to act like that when I wanted to get something, seducing everyone to give me what I wanted. But the one who does it most often is the one who is next to me at the moment. On several occasions my brother was the one who best understood what I wanted.

I looked up, hugged his arm. "I love you, Ed. Thank you for taking care of me all this time." I murmured solemnly.

He laughed softly, extending his hand rubbing my head. "I love you too, sissy. I'm glad to see you like this, and I hope your life is better in the future."