Chapter 102 – Family (3)
The three of them, awkwardly speaking, continued the conversation, but it did not go well. It was the biggest cause of Isabella’s shyness.
“Isabella. Nice to meet you! Let’s be friends from now on.”
Even though Mason smiled brightly and held out her hand.
“…”
Isabella barely grasps her fingertips with her hesitant hands,
“So what shall we play?”
She hesitates when asked about her intentions, then
“Hey, Isabella?”
“…”
Seeing her hugging the doll she was hugging with all her might, Lucia was worried that her doll might explode.
“…”
Lucia looked at Isabella with her eyes, a little disappointed in her. She wanted a friend like her younger brother who followed her well, not a stuffy kid like this. When a child’s short patience reaches its limit.
“Sorry. Were you uncomfortable?”
Her truly grown-up Mason, who couldn’t even compare to the image she wanted to imitate, was considerate of her and prevented her from spreading to her.
Thanks to Mason’s hard work, Isabella hesitantly emerged from behind her desk and quietly took Mason’s and Lucia’s hands and dragged them into the middle of her room. Isabella sat down in the center of her room, and her sister sat down with her.
“… Childhood… Play.”
“Okay? Shall we play house then?”
When Mason asked Isabella’s difficult play with her face lit up, she nodded her head with a slightly flushed face. Little by little, Lucia, who was getting tired of her lukewarm response, was also interested in her play. Because she liked playing house, as did her child at that age.
“Good. So, let’s start with the role. I’ll do it for you.”
When Mason played with Luciana and the other young children, she, as always, assumed the least popular part.
“Then I will be a mother.”
Naturally, she took on the role she always assumed herself to be. With the desire to become a wise and beautiful woman like her mother, she was at an age where she followed everything she did, so she was proud of being able to fulfill her role as a perfect mother.
“Then… , I’ll take my daughter.”
Isabella smiled slightly as she said that. That smile made both Mason and Lucia slightly stare at her. The pure smile that emerged from her unstiff expression made her innate beauty stand out even more.
It was only after the order of deciding the role and the toys neatly arranged in one corner of the room as household items followed that the full-fledged house play began.
“Then I’ll go to work!”
Mason stood up from her seat while imitating a thick voice saying “Ahem-“, And Lucia followed suit. Isabella lightly chided Isabella for her absent-mindedness.
“Really, Isabella! My father is leaving, so I have to say hello soon!”
“… ?”
Lucia felt that something was wrong with Isabella’s expression of incomprehension on her bruise. At her house, she always hugged her father when he went to work, and she used to see him off.
However, Isabella was staring at her as if she couldn’t understand Shiana. Looking at her like that, Lucia opened her mouth without thinking.
“Are you-“
Looking back now, it was at this point that she almost made her big mistake. And, as always, it was Mason who stopped her mistake.
“Kuhm!”
Mason cleared his throat, drawing their attention to himself. As their eyes turned to Mason, she spoke as Mason puffed out her shoulders as much as he could.
“Really madam! Bella, who is suffering from a cold, may not be able to see her off. Don’t worry! It’s not a big deal if I don’t say hello for a day! Anyway, I’m going!”
What broke the silence that had fallen for a moment was Isabella’s small ‘Collock’ sound, which gave strength to Mason’s story.
“… Sorry. I forgot.”
Deciding to fit in with her new hastily added setting, Lucia glanced at Isabella and hugged Mason tightly.
“Bye.”
“I’m coming.”
Lucia waved her hand, and Mason opened her door and pretended to leave, then began pretending to work in the corner of her room humming her song. Lucia pretended to close her door, then she sat back down in her seat and pretended to do her sewing.
But Isabella continued to sit on the floor, staring blankly at the two. Moving her gaze a few times from Lucia in front of her eyes to Mason working in her corner, and again from Mason to her Lucia, she tilted her head for a moment before turning her side to Lucia and her collar. Pulled the
“Uh, why?”
Lucia turned her head to Isabella in a friendly voice, completely absorbed in her part. Isabella shuddered, mimicking her awkwardly rubbing her belly with her free hand, she said.
“Mom, I am hungry.”
“Okay? Do you want to wait a minute? Mom will cook you a delicious stew soon!”
Lucia imitated tidying up, then got up from her seat and headed towards her kitchen, doing her best to imitate her mother cooking in front of an open fire. She mixes up her impersonations, such as cutting a knife or wiping the sweat from her brow.
Isabella, who took turns looking at Lucia and Mason working hard once again, muttered within a muttering.
“It’s not…”
Hearing her murmur, Lucia became angry. Dare I say that her acting is unconvincing? Or is she angry that her play doesn’t flow on her own terms? Lucia asked in a friendly voice, putting up with her irritation at coming up a little.
“What is it, my daughter?”
As if Isabella didn’t understand her question, she muttered with a strange expression on her face.
“Mom, I don’t cook or sew…”
At the time, Lucia, who did not know what she meant by her words, asked back out of pure curiosity.
“You’re stupid?”
As always, it was Mason who understood the situation before anyone else, as always, stopping a new spark from sparking between Isabella and Isabella, who first expressed her displeasure with her eyebrows furrowed at her question.
Of course, she too was a little shocked by Isabella’s remarks, so she reacted slightly slower than before.
So the game started all over again. Along with Mason’s scolding, who positively reflects Isabella’s opinion and says, “Let’s do what Isabella wants because she’s here as a guest today.”
“Then, unnie, you have to play house with me ten times later!”
At that time, the largest number Lucia knew was ten. If she told her that she hated Mason, she would use this as an excuse to fight Isabella again.
“OK got it. I’ll do it ten times, so this time you’re going to match Isabella?”
Lucia was at a loss for words at her willing consent, and in her embarrassment, she couldn’t properly understand Isabella’s gaze.
But now that I think about it, her eyes must have been-
Deep envy.
Lucia confided in Grace, and Grace hurried her story with an expressionless expression.
The house play that she started over and over again was the least fun of all the house games she had ever played.
When Isabella was given her lead, she took Mason and Lucia by the hand, dragged them back to the center of her room, and sat down on her floor. Due to her tugging, the two of them naturally sat on the floor, with Isabella in between.
“Yep.”
As if satisfied, Isabella nodded her head and smiled broadly as she sat between the two. It was the first time she smiled brightly, and it was such a beautiful smile that even Lucia’s grumbling faded.
“So, what are we going to do now, Isabella?”
To Mason’s gentle question, Isabella answered with a broad smile.
“Praise him while petting him.”
“Yes, yes, okay.”
Mason, like her father, imitated her solemn voice again, and gave her many compliments that a father would give her daughter.
“Oh my gosh Bella! So pretty! Whose daughter is this pretty daughter!”
Mason stroking her hair, acting so exaggeratedly, was so funny that she held back a laugh, but Isabella just laughed as if nothing was wrong.
Then, as she remembered that she had to give Lucia her part, Isabella leaned over to Lucia and took her arms.
Lucia didn’t know what this child wanted to do, and with her will, she let her do her own thing. Isabella whimpered and wrapped her arms around her own neck, clasping her hands with hers so she couldn’t easily loosen them, and looked at her.
“Please tell me you love me.”
Ugh.
She was the first thought that came into her head.
Of course, it wasn’t that she was stingy in expressing her affections. It was because her parents and her sister grew up in a family where they treated each other freely. However, no matter how beautiful and pretty Isabella was, it was because she was embarrassed to tell a child she was seeing for the first time that she loved her.
But Isabella only lifted her up with her still-freaking eyes. In her eyes filled with the innocence of anxious waiting and refusal.
“… Sa, I love you… ?”
With difficulty, as if threatened by some unknown force, Isabella whispered what she wanted.
Isabella smiled brightly and buried her head in her arms. It was a moment when the high body temperature of a young child felt exceptionally hot.
Isabella felt intense satisfaction at the body temperature of her two children surrounding her. Even when she was holding a soft doll, the soft bed and blanket felt as if they were about to swallow her body.
What struck her most of all was the absence of the anxious tremors she had felt when her mother hugged her.
That’s why Isabella smiled brightly.
She had the most agreeable laugh she could ever have.
