Four Years Later

"Milo Quinn!"

A burst of laughter echoed through the apartment. Aurelia looked up from her laptop just in time to see a small figure race past the living room.

"Milo!"

The little boy giggled and disappeared behind the couch.

Aurelia sighed.

"You know I can still see you, right?"

Milo didn't say anything at first. Then his tiny head slowly popped up.

"No, you can't."

Aurelia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

Milo immediately ducked back down. A second later, he peeked out again and this time he was holding a toy dinosaur.

The sight almost made Aurelia laugh but she wasn't about to let him think she wasn't serious right now. She still had work to finish.

"Come here."

Milo hesitated, then shook his head.

"No."

"What?"

Milo folded his hand with a slight frown.

"I don't want to clean up my toys."

Aurelia blinked.

"So you already know?"

Milo nodded once with his eyebrow still furrowed. Aurelia shook her head, closed her laptop and stood up. The moment she did, Milo gasped dramatically and ran but unfortunately for him, four-year-olds weren't very fast.

A few seconds later, Aurelia caught him and lifted him into her arms.

Milo squealed.

"Mommy!"

"Who told you to turn the living room into a dinosaur kingdom?"

Milo pointed at the toy dinosaur.

"Him."

Aurelia stared. Then she laughed despite herself and the little boy immediately smiled too.

Mission accomplished.

Over the years, since Rhys had abandoned them and sent that letter that she should forget him, Milo had been her only source of joy and he had even become very good at making her laugh.

"Come on."

She kissed his forehead.

"Let's clean up."

Together, they spent the next few minutes gathering toys from every corner of the apartment and by the time they finished, Aurelia was exhausted but Milo wasn't.

The child somehow had endless energy.

"Mommy."

"Hmm?"

"I'm hungry."

Aurelia narrowed her eyes.

"But you just ate."

"That was a long time ago."

Aurelia shook her head and headed toward the kitchen. A few minutes later, she began preparing lunch while Milo sat on the couch watching cartoons.

A bowl of crackers rested on his lap and every few seconds, he reached into the bowl without taking his eyes off the television.

Aurelia glanced over her shoulder, then paused. Milo was holding the crackers with his right hand but he was eating with his left. A strange feeling settled in her chest.

Her mother had been left-handed too. A small smile tugged at Aurelia's lips and she could almost hear her mother's voice again. The memory lingered longer than it should have and the smile slowly disappeared.

She thought about the life she had left behind and the life that had left her behind. 

It had been six years since she had seen her mother and six years since she had walked away from home.

Sometimes she wondered if her mother ever thought about her. The thought had barely crossed her mind when her phone suddenly rang and Aurelia glanced at the screen.

It was an Unknown Number so she ignored it. The call ended. But a few seconds later, just as she turned off the stove, her phone rang again and it was the same unknown number.

Aurelia frowned. Who could be calling her?

She ignored it once more. Then it rang for the third time and Milo looked at his mother.

"Mommy, your phone is singing."

Aurelia almost laughed. With a sigh, she picked it up.

"Hello?"

For a moment, nobody spoke. 

"Hello? Please who is..." 

A familiar voice reached her ears.

"Aurelia?"

Everything inside her stilled and her grip tightened around the phone. Years had passed but she recognized the voice immediately.

"M-mom?" Aurelia called as if she was uncertain, taking a step forward.

"Yes. It's me." Her mom answered. Aurelia let out a short breath and closed her eyes briefly. An awkward and uncomfortable silence followed after as neither of them seemed to know what to say.

Finally, her mother spoke.

"How have you been?"

Of all the things she expected, that question wasn't one of them.

How had she been?

She had been alone, heartbroken, pregnant, terrified, abandoned and struggling.But none of those words left her mouth.

"I'm... I'm fine." her voice cracked a bit.

Her mother exhaled softly.

"That's good."

Another silence followed and this one lasted even longer. Until Aurelia finally asked,

"How did you get my number?"

Her mother hesitated.

"Liota found it."

Aurelia wasn't even surprised because Liotta always had a way of finding things.

"Why are you calling now?"

The question came out colder than she intended. Aurelia could tell that her mother noticed.

Still, she answered.

"Liota is getting engaged."

Aurelia blinked, then nodded to herself. Somehow, that wasn't surprising either.

"That's wonderful."

Her voice remained polite. "Congratulations to her."

"She wanted you to know."

Aurelia let out a small humorless laugh

"Did she?"

"Yes."

Aurelia didn't respond but her mother continued anyway.

"The engagement ceremony is in a few days."

Still Aurelia didn't talk. Then, finally she said something.

"Mom."

"Yes?"

"Why are you really calling?"

A long silence took over.

Then...

"We want you to come home."

Aurelia froze.

"We?"

"Your father. Liotta and Me."

A bitter smile appeared on her face.

There it was. That was exactly the real and only reason they could have remembered her.

"We haven't seen you in years."

Aurelia laughed again and this time the sound was sharper.

"You mean six years."

"Aurelia..."

"Six years, Mom."

Her voice cracked further despite her efforts and she hated herself for it.

"I disappeared for six years."

Silence.

"And you never called."

Her eyes burned.

"You never looked for me."

"Aurelia..."

"I left because Dad threw me out."

The words came out before she could stop them but she had moved from where she was before to another side with her back facing Milo.

"He disowned me just because I rejected his selfish intent"

Her mother remained quiet because there was nothing she could say. All of it was true.

Aurelia swallowed hard.

"I almost died."

Her voice lowered and she could hear her mother gasp in disbelief. "Oh my gosh.. how... I didn't know..."

Tears gathered in Aurelia's eyes. "Ofcourse you can't. I mean none of you care..."

"That's not..."

"No." Aurelia shook her head. " There's nothing to say. I lost everything and nobody was there."

Her mother inhaled sharply.

"Aurelia..."

"But now Liota is getting engaged."

A tear slid down her cheek.

"And suddenly everyone remembers I exist."

The silence that followed was painful.

Finally, her mother spoke again.

"I'm so sorry. I...we didn't know." Aurelia didn't interrupt this time. " We thought you made your decision and were doing fine." her mom continued with a heavy voice. " But sincerely we missed you, especially Liota."

Aurelia closed her eyes again. She actually believed her mom about Liotta probably missing her. Though her younger sister had always been many things. Spoiled, pampered and their parents' favorite but never cruel.

"She asked for you herself," her mother added quietly. "She really wants her sister there."

Aurelia looked away as all her emotions tangled together. Both anger, pain, confusion and longing.

She didn't know which one was stronger.

"I have to go."

"Aurelia..."

She ended and the apartment fell silent except for the background sound from the television. Slowly, she lowered the phone and simply stood there for several seconds.

A tear escaped her eyes but she quickly wiped it away. Too late actually. A tiny hand tapped her leg from behind.

"Mommy?"

Aurelia turned and found Milo standing there, looking up at her with worried eyes.

Immediately, she forced a smile and scooped him into her arms.

"Hey, you. See your face." she chuckled and wiped the cracker crumbs around his mouth.

Milo didn't smile. Instead he touched her cheek.

"Why are you crying?Did someone scold you?" 

Aurelia was taken aback by Milo's question. For a second, she stared at him then she laughed despite herself. "Oh baby." She kissed his forehead. "Nobody scolded mummy. I'm fine, okay?"

Milo studied her face carefully before nodding. "So you have a mummy too?"

Aurelia smiled and pinched his nose gently. "Of course I do."

His eyes widened.

"Wow..." his little mouth formed a perfect O. "What? Did you think I fell from the sky?" Aurelia jokingly asked her son and he giggled. Then he wrapped his arm around her neck. " Can I meet your mummy?"

Aurelia's smile vanished.

She had no answer.

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang right on time. A small relief washed over Aurelia. Whoever it was had just saved her from answering Milo's question.

"I'll get it!"

Milo immediately jumped down from her arms.

"Milo...wait!"

Before Aurelia could stop him, he ran toward the door.

She hurried after him.

The little boy reached the door first and pulled it open.

His face lit up instantly.

"Soren!"

Milo threw himself toward the man at the door.

And the moment Aurelia saw him...her breath caught.