“Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, my sugar,
Happy birthday to you. . .”
Familiar baby blue eyes came into the line of vision of his sleepy chocolate orbs. Despite the afflictions this face had been going through, a blinding smile still graced her face.
She couldn’t let the torment she had been going through to ruin the day of happiness of her son, even if it meant masking her grimace of pain behind fake rays of the happy sunshine as her ribs ached from the beatings and punches she had had to endure the night before.
For her son, she would force the fake rays to be filled with genuine joy. She would make her son happy on his special day even if it meant crawling to hell and back and it did pay off when she saw the look of sheer admiration and bliss in his beautiful chocolate brown eyes.
“I love you, mom,” he grinned as he pulled her in for a hug.
“I love you very much as well, J,” she gladly reciprocated his hug, trying not to wince when he accidentally squeezed her bruised ribs.
“Mama. . .” an excited coo interrupted the mother and son bonding moment and both figures moved their attention to the five year old toddler sitting comfortably on her mother’s hip, quietly sucking her thumb as she watched the display of affection between her mother and older brother.
Seeing that she now had both their attention, she cooed even louder as she stretched her chubby hands out to her brother while adorably pouting her small pink lips; her plump cheeks which still had their baby fat were tinted pink.
“Jojee. . .” she called out, flailing her arms eagerly.
Chuckling lightly, her brother picked her up into his arms while playfully ruffling her shoulder length sandy blonde hair. Her winsome demeanour made both her mother and older brother behold her cheerful face with smiles of admiration, affection and immense love.
Yvonne, their mother watched on as her two lovely children conversed disarmingly with wide smiles on their faces. Her son babbled along with his kid sister as though they were having an actual conversation. Sometimes, even she would watch intently in amusement, wondering if they could actually understand each other.
A sad smile played across her lips as she continued to watch them. Her blue eyes darted towards the scar at the bottom of his face. Her gaze followed the line that ran from the left side of his lower lip down to his jaw and tears welled up her eyes.
She couldn’t help but blame herself for it. If it weren’t because of her, her son would’ve never experienced such hardships at such a tender age. Only God knew how many scars he had on his body that he was hiding from her.
“Mom? Is everything ok?” she heard him ask as she hurriedly gulped and blinked back her tears before letting her lips stretch into a tight smile.
“Of course it is,” she looked up into his concern filled chocolate orbs before letting her gaze glide across him to her younger offspring who was busy with her brother’s sable and raven strands.
“How ’bout I take Carol and we can start up on your birthday breakfast while you freshen up and meet us downstairs,” he nodded to which she stood up from the edge of his bed before reaching for the toddler who protested and whined until her older brother placed a kiss on her little button nose, causing her to let out a squeal and a giggle.
“Sometimes I feel like she loves you more than she loves me, her own mother,” Yvonne laughed as she began walking towards the door before stopping abruptly.
She turned around and saw her son already out of bed, stretching. She took in the countless marks that marred his flawless back. The stretching of his back muscles seemed to strain the scars, making them more prominent for her eyes to behold.
Her son was growing into a man. She was very proud of him. Of how much he had matured at such a young age over the years. Of how brave and courageous he was. Of how protective he was of his loved ones. And mostly, of how passionate, kind and caring his heart was.
But she didn’t know. She had no idea that she would be deprived of the opportunity to watch him grow into the fierce and brilliant man he was today. She wasn’t given the chance to see her two lovely kids mature into the beautiful, delicate yet strong masterpiece they had been forced to shape into by the hardships of life.
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Jordan’s eyelids peeled open before dropping lazily again, his long lashes softly brushing against the delicate skin beneath his eyes. The sequence repeated itself for a few times before he was successful in keeping his lids from going slack again.
His dark chocolate eyes skimmed through the moonlight deprived room. He laid still for a few minutes as he let his eyes adjust to the lack of light.
When he felt like he had gathered enough strength, he propped himself onto his elbows only to wince in pain and immediately lay back down as the agony shot up his right arm, spreading from his upper arm-the vantage point of the pain-to his shoulder and down his forearm.
He groaned and inhaled sharply before attempting to try again but this time around, he rested his weight on his good arm before sitting up properly and resting his back against the cold wood of the headboard. Only then, did he look down at himself to notice that he had been lying half naked with only his black jeans on and his injured arm wrapped up in bandages.
Clearing his dry and scratchy throat, he suddenly felt thirsty and he looked around the unfamiliar room for any source of drinkable water before thankfully, he stumbled upon a bottle of water sitting idly on the nightstand and like a thirsty camel that had been touring the Arabian deserts, he gulped down its contents, breathing out a satisfied sigh.
Shutting his eyes again, he rested his back and let his mind process his thoughts in the much needed serenity the darkness provided until his ears finally caught the shallow breaths of another living being in the room.
His eyes slowly opened to behold the sleeping figure of the person that laid by the edge of the bed. The figure of the person who seemed to be a female-due to the few long strands of her hair sprawled out around her face and on the white sheets of the bed-was seated on the floor with her hands cradling her head which rested on the soft material of the bed.
She looked uncomfortable.
Squinting his eyes to get a better glimpse of the person’s face in the darkness, he could finally make out the familiar face.
Coincidentally, a gentle wind blew into the room, triumphantly leaving the curtains open in its wake as consequently, the formerly reprobated rays of moonlight happily spilled into the room and onto her peacefully sleeping figure, casting her serene face in its celestial glow.
He continued to stare at her sleeping figure and unexpectedly, his hands began itching to tuck away the strands of her golden hair that were plaguing her dreamland. And so, that was what he did.
He moved his uninjured arm, albeit, it was quite difficult since she was lying directly beside his injured arm, he struggled and was ultimately able to move them out of her face, subjecting the full view of her tranquil visage under the mercy of his intense gaze.
His hand lingered on her face and he found himself caressing her cheeks, her skin soft and tender beneath his rather callous palm and to his surprise, she leaned into his touch while gently breathing out a content sigh.
As he continued to caress her face, a ghost of a smile lingered on his luscious lips.