Chapter 5

A Mother and Daughter's Bond

Her head was throbbing. She did not sleep well last night because Serena had been waking up every hour, crying. She had to wake up, too and fed her with milk to let her sleep again. She was always half-awake. When she was about to have her deep sleep, Serena would cry again. 

She massaged her temple to lessen the pain in her head. Even her eyes were also painful. "You hungry, baby?" She asked with her one eye closed. Tatiana played with her daughter's nose using hers. Serena soundlessly cried that made Tatiana chuckled weakly. She pulled her shirt up and exposed her breast. "Here's your breakfast, ma'am." 

Serena fastly fed herself from her mom's milk. She was thirsty for it. 

The mother could not help herself but to stare at the little blessing in her arms. She promised herself that she would love her more than she could give. She would protect her with all her might. And she would grow into a fine woman. She would give her the things that she did not experience from her mom. 

'Please guide me from heaven, mama,' she prayed in her mind. 

Nothing could measure how hard it was to be a mom. That was what Tatiana realized. From the pregnancy, to the delivery until growing a child. It was surely a painful and depressing battle, especially because of her situation. But the happiness that it brought her outweighed all of it. Even though she was still young and clueless to be a mother, Athena did not leave her side with the help of Aunt Lolita, the head maid, and her daughter, Maida. They were the ones who helped and taught how to rightfully take care of a newborn. And she could not ask for more. 

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by the light knocks on the door. 

Seconds later, Athena peeked at the door. There was a bright smile on her lips. She mouthed, "Can I enter?"

Tatiana smiled at her then nodded. 

Athena entered the room and excitedly ran to their bed. It became her morning routine to go to her best friend and her child's room when she woke up. She carefully laid her body down the bed and used her one arm as her pillow to peek at Serena. "Good morning, Serena," she greeted her as she kissed the back of her head. Then she looked up to Tatiana. "Good morning, bestie."

She smiled and greeted her back. 

Athena noticed how tired Tatiana was. She saw dark bags under her eyes. She also witnessed how tired her eyes were. And how she grimaced because her nipples were already sore. "You know what?" She boredly rolled her eyes. 

Tatiana looked at her wondering. 

"I think I don't want to have a baby anymore," she commented. 

Tatiana laughed at her. "And why is that?"

Athena licked her lips then she made a popping sound. "Duh! I don't want to get old," she answered dramatically. 

Tatiana laughed again. "People get old, Athena."

"Yeah. I know." She rolled her eyes. "But being a mom will immediately make me old. And I don't want that." 

Tatiana knew Athena as a body conscious person. So she understood why she said that. "You're saying that because you still haven't given birth. Motherhood is indeed hard. But the happiness it can bring to you is priceless," she seriously said. 

Athena pouted her lips and fully laid on the bed. "I swear I'm not gonna have a child. I have my niece now. That's enough for me," she blabbered then closed her eyes. 

Tatiana felt like they exchanged attitudes for this moment. She looked at her best friend. 'We'll see, Athena,' she thought. 

Minutes later, they decided to get up and went downstairs. 

"You sit on the sofa first. I'm gonna help Aunt Lolita to prepare breakfast," Athena said. 

Tatiana nodded. 

She was now left in the living room. Instead of following Athena, her feet walked outside the mansion. Outside the door she had stepped out was the mansion's garden. She could already see the beautiful and colorful flowers. There were also several trees there. The flowers were adjacent to each other. There was also a mini fountain in the middle. On the left side was the hanging egg chair that she would always sit on every morning and afternoon.

While walking down the few stairs, she heard someone talking. 

"Yes, Manuel… Make sure to deliver the 200 kilos of sugar tomorrow. Mr. Cain is expecting that… Yes… Yes… Bye."

Hades was sitting on the chair of the garden table at the right side. There were papers and a laptop on it. There was also a cup of coffee beside them. He had just finished a call with one of his men about their transaction. 

The lady, carrying her baby, decided to walk towards the man and greet him. She reached in front of the table. She suddenly felt shy when she was already in front of him. It was just a morning greeting. Why would she need to get shy? She scolded herself. "Go—" She could not finish her line because Hades looked up to her. 

There was a knot on his forehead. He was wondering why the lady was in front of him. 

She hemmed to gather up her voice. She forced a smile. "Good morning, Hades."

She was expecting feedback from him but he was just staring at her. Her forced smile faded. She felt her intestines twisted because of the man's blank stare. She bit her lips out of anxiousness. Her knees also turned jelly. And before she lost balance, she looked away. "We-we'll just go there." She looked at the hanging egg chair. 

He just nodded. 

Tatiana walked away from him. This was the first time she saw Hades after weeks. Athena said that Hades would leave early in the morning and come home late at night. She did not want to assume but she felt like the man was aloof with her. Did he not like them staying at their mansion? But he did not seem to be rude at her, at them. He was just quite everytime. Even when Athena was around. 

She unintentionally turned her gaze to where Hades was. 

He seemed to be engrossed with his work. He was typing fast on the laptop's keyboard and was checking his phone from time to time. His Adam's apple looked sexier whenever he drank his coffee. 

Tatiana's mouth watered. She roughly swallowed then looked away. Why did she feel like that whenever he was around? He was not doing anything but his effect on her was fatal. Her knees would weaken and rats would run and scratch around her heart and stomach. She was usually shy towards everyone and would feel nervous but not this much. And she did not want it. 

She tried her best to divert her attention away from him. She stopped herself from glancing at him. She looked at the flowers that were a feast in her eyes. She had always loved taking care of flowers. They had a small backyard at their house and she filled it with different kinds of blossoms and herbal plants. She used to water them everyday. It became her stress reliever when she was still pregnant. And when her father was not busy, he would help her. 

"Papa Ramon," she whispered in the wind. Her eyes welled with tears. She missed him so badly. She missed seeing his smile. She missed the feeling of being taken care of by her father. He was all she had. But the sudden revelation tore them apart. She wanted to be mad at him for abandoning her but she could not. She knew how he loved her and he was sure heart broken as fuck when he learned about the truth. She wanted to return to him and ask for his forgiveness for not being his biological child but she could not afford any more rejections from him. It could be her end. 

In the end, she decided to just stay here and would raise Serena. She would leave and pay them back once she would find a job. They would start anew. 

A loud cry interrupted her tears. She wiped them and sniffed. "Shh, baby… Mommy's here." She rocked her to calm her but she still did not stop. She also tried to feed her but Serena was rejecting that. She did not know what to do because her mind was in distress. She ended up tearing up again. "What do you want, Serena?" She asked, crying

Serena just continued crying.

Because of panic, it took a minute before Tatiana could feel a presence at her back. She turned her head and found Hades intently staring at her. She immediately looked away and wiped her tears. "W-what do you need?" she asked. 

"Give me the baby."

Tatiana was startled. And before she could react, Hades was now kneeling before her and had Serena in his arms. 

"Shh…" Hades stood up. He rocked and lightly tapped the butt of Serena.

Serena's cries started to fade away. 

Haded started to walk. But stopped and said, "Don't break down in front of your daughter. She could feel your sorrow. Spare her with your pain. A mother and daughter's bond is strong. You must know that." 

She was left there dumbfounded.