The tired leader went back home one day to find a little kid standing outside her doorstep. On the little girl’s neck hung a coral-colored necklace, with a little note sticking out by the side, ‘Your 28th birthday present from Sian-ta.’

 

“What is the world coming to?? Am I a joke to you?” The lady shouted loudly into the air out of frustration. Earlier in the day, her colleagues had an orange-peeling contest and after they were done with it, they started sticking orange skins back to the manager of the company. “For fun~~”, they said. 

 

After waiting outside for around 15 minutes with no one coming to pick up this forsaken child, she had no choice but to bring her in. Who knows it will be the start of misery from the moment she enters the house of the older woman… 

 

---

 

“Mummy I’m hungry.” The girl with doe eyes stared at the woman while she was changing. 

 

“God-dammit, I should’ve locked the door just now. Do you mind waiting while I go cook now?” The woman hastily put her dirty clothes to the side of the bed.

 

“No, I want it now.” The little girl insisted, before threatening the woman of eating her puddings in the fridge. 

 

“Okay, now it is..” The woman cannot believe her luck today. When she was adding salt for the final touches, the girl who was eating her 5th pudding of the day suddenly blurted out a statement that made the forever-single woman blush profusely for the first time.

 

“Mummy, you are the prettiest while cooking. I can’t wait to eat.” The girl was almost done eating while off the plastic spoon for any leftovers.

 

The woman just stared at the kid in awe. How can a girl of around 6 years of age say such a cheesy line without any remorse or hint of embarrassment shown on her face? The only conclusion the woman can make is that she had too much cheese ingested in her just now. Yes, the puddings were cheese-flavored.

 

“Hey, you’re eating too much pudding. That’s why you’re saying such things.” The woman put her arms out to collect the about-to-be-eaten 6th pudding from the girl’s hands before realizing another thing.

 

“Did you just call me ‘Mummy’?? And what do you want to eat?” The lady became a frozen statue in her spot for quite some time.

 

“Mmhmm…” The girl just kept chewing on her favorite pudding.

 

“Hey, answer me kiddo!” The woman doesn’t want to jump to conclusions quickly but she had to ask to make sure she was on the right track.

 

“Mummy..” The girl looked up and stared at the woman with puppy eyes, making the older woman retreat back in shock. 

 

“I want to eat your food.” The little girl answered truthfully. 

 

“...”

 

“Of course, you wanna eat the food I cook.” The woman let out a sigh.

 

“Stop thinking dirty, Mummy.” The girl frowned at the older woman with disapproval. The woman then cupped her face and asked the kid a question in a very serious tone.

 

“Did this so-called Sian-ta teach you funny things?” 

 

“She didn’t say anything to me except that I’m born from your wish. After that, she simply dropped me from up there.” The girl pointed her finger towards the sky.

 

“Wha-” The woman couldn’t wrap the sudden information given to her right now as too many things happened after one another from the minute she saw the kid. She can only release her hands after taking in the absurd answers from the little kid herself.

 

“Mummy, don’t put your hands away. I want you to hold me tight.” The girl continued saying lines after another, causing the flustered woman to leave her in the guest room while she did the dishes.

 

Indeed, the girl made her way back to the older woman and hugged her from behind despite her small size. 

 

“Mummy, I want you to hug me too..” The girl pleaded.

 

“I’m not Barney though.. And I’m busy now.” The older woman didn’t bother to look down.

 

“But Barney rhymes with Mummy and I can wait for Mummy to finish doing the bowls.” The kid isn’t backing down easily.

 

“This Sian-ta person or whatever is getting on my nerves. Can’t she give me a lover instead of a kid… I wished for a lover.” The woman didn’t pay attention to her surroundings and was quite taken aback when she felt a tug on her pants.

 

“Mummy, do you hate me?” A soft whimper can be heard down at her feet.

 

“No.. that’s no-” The woman wanted to dismiss the girl quickly since she was afraid of the girl pulling jokes on her again but she stopped whatever she’s doing when she saw a tear fall down the kid’s cheeks.

 

The child then quickly left the apartment before the woman could do anything. 

 

“Wait.. I’m sorry for saying mean things to you and not believe what you said 'cause this is all too sudden for me..” The woman hurriedly put down her things as she chased after the girl.

 

After 10 minutes of futile searching, the woman was about to give up before she heard a familiar voice coming from behind the bushes. 

 

The very girl she wanted to find is now standing in front of another lady. As if noticing the woman is around, she boldly blurted out the same word to the other lady in a cheerful manner.

 

The woman felt a mix of anger and betrayal stemming from her chest when she heard it. She didn’t know where it came from, except the fact that she was very turned off by it when the girl said that to another stranger.

 

Without further ado, the woman walked towards the two figures and hastily claimed the girl while apologizing to the other lady. 

 

“I am really sorry about this, I’m sure she was just joking.” The woman hugged the child in her arms while facing the lady.

 

“Oh.. I thought she was abandoned and all that. I almost wanted to pick her up. I guess she was someone’s else after all.” The lady gave a nervous laugh.

 

“Yeah, she really likes to pull pranks like this..” The woman’s hug became tighter when she heard what the lady said. She wanted to run away from the situation as she doesn’t like it one bit.

 

Thankfully, Sian-ta heard both of their prayers and to their surprise, another kid popped out of nowhere in front of the two older women. 

 

“Wow, did someone just hear my prayers?” The lady was confused for a second.

 

“Somebody must have done so…” The woman gave an awkward laugh, before waving goodbye to the lady and her newfound child.

 

While on the way back, the girl who was in the older woman’s arms smiled widely as her wish was fulfilled. She then planned for what’s to happen later. 

 

---

 

“It’s getting late, you should wash up. You know how to bathe on your own right?” The woman brought the kid into the washroom and was about to close the door after placing some spare clothes in the basket for the child to change to when she’s done.

 

“No. My guardian never taught me anything, except to speak.” The girl looked onto the woman. 

 

“... Fine. I’ll just wash you.” The woman was prepared to get wet but to her surprise, the child stayed still for the entire time.

 

“Where did her playfulness go? What if she swapped personalities with the other kid..?” The woman thought deeply. 

 

“No, I don’t want Mummy to hate me, so I’m being good. That’s what my guardian said.” The kid answered her question in a loud and defined manner.

 

“Look Mummy don’t hate you. Mummy just needs some time to think about what happened.” The woman gave a reassuring smile to the girl as she patiently dressed the girl up in her nightwear with a little modification.

 

“Ouahh~~” The little girl gave a yawn. 

 

Realizing that the girl had nothing to sleep on, the woman offered her bed while she noted that she will sleep on the floor. After cradling the girl to sleep, she was about to lay some blankets on the floor next to the bed while a small hand gripped onto her clothes.

 

“Mummy, sleep with me…” The girl whispered.

 

The heart rate of the forever-single woman was once again out of control and she softly declined the offer put up by the child. Annoyed, the child uses her whole strength to pull the older woman close to her side and her efforts paid off.  

 

“Plomf!” The older woman fell onto the bed with a loud thud, but before she could respond, her entire body was wrapped around by a small figure...

 

“Hehe, Mummy. You’re now mine.” The girl giggled while the older woman blushed. She was never the small spoon throughout her entire lifetime, but this night will be the one to change history.

 

“Hey, are you done yet?” The woman caressed the younger being with her motherly-like hands. 

 

“No… Mummy, I want to hug you forever.” The girl was talking in her dreams.

 

“How cute... I shouldn’t have let her run wild. It was certainly the biggest mistake I’ve made today.” The woman paused before speaking again.

 

“Thank you Sian-ta for the best birthday present, I’ll treasure her forever too.” The last words were heard by the spirit from the heavens and she eventually allowed the woman’s wish to come true. 

 

---

 

“Hmm.. yesterday sure was a long night..” A girl of around 20 years of age woke up in an unfamiliar bed. She looked around her surroundings and to her shock, an older woman was sleeping next to her with a peaceful look. She was about to kiss the woman when the latter opened her eyes while their lips are around 1 mm apart.

 

“What do you think you’re doing? That’s ual harassment!!” The older woman quickly defended herself before noticing the girl in front of her starting to tear up.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to..” An arrow struck her mind.

 

“Where did that cute girl go to?” The woman jumped out of bed and started searching through the entire apartment to make sure the girl wasn’t hiding.

 

She was almost flipping the entire house when the girl finally spoke.

 

“Wha-” The woman wanted to clean her ears on the spot when she received the message. She immediately put down all of her things and went to the washroom to wash her face and smack herself awake from all the jokes she’d been through since last night.

 

“No! You’re lying, that girl couldn’t have grown up so well over a span of 13 hours..” The woman wanted to make sure the girl wasn’t lying. But once again the scene unfolds before her very own eyes once more.

 

This time, the girl was smiling to the woman’s neighbor and she was about to say the magic word before the woman pulled her from behind and quickly locked the front door.

 

“I’m the only one you’re allowed to call ‘Mummy’” The woman chided the girl.

 

“Oh.. Are you perhaps feeling jealous, Mummy?” The younger girl can’t help but chuckle at the now flustered woman. 

 

“That’s not your problem.” The woman hastily turned her back but a hug from behind almost weakened both of her knees.

 

“Mummy, I still want a hug..” The girl pleaded once more.

 

“Yeah fine, whatever. Just don’t ask for hugs from other women. I’ll chop your head off if you do that.” The woman threatened.

 

“Of course, Mummy’s hugs are the best.” The girl snuggled comfortably in the arms of the older woman as the two of them stayed in that position for a long time.