Chapter 8 - 7

"Enzo baby, are you hungry?" Aurora softly patted his head.

"Mama mama…," The boy kept on calling her in a low voice.

It was amazing how, at the age of four, Lorenzo was more intelligent and disciplined than his peers. He never threw tantrums, but he was always open to negotiation.

The money she got from her multiple part-time jobs was not sufficient to support both of them, and she always provided for him first, most of the time going without. It usually also meant that there was no extra money for him, to experience the other things kids usually have at his age, ice cream, candies, chocolates, and lots of toys.

Most of her extra money went to school and anything needed in the house. And it seemed like she was meant to have a hard life when she learned that her roof leaked whenever it rained. Tired and hungry, she would cry herself at night whenever she would come home, grieving her bad fortune. It's taking forever for her to dig herself out of her grave and it seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

She was losing hope when out of the dark, her son came up to her wiping her tears like she always did with him, "Mama… hung-gy… wet…," asking her the same questions she always asked him. This made her bawl out louder. He was such a sensitive and caring soul, and she had to be strong for him.

He had always been the driving force for her to achieve her dreams and was her strength throughout all her struggles. And it didn't matter if she was alone and she had a hard life, all that mattered was that she had him.

He had been a little too clingy lately, panicking whenever he didn't find her near him when he awoke in the mornings. Most of the time, she would be at the hospital working already by the time he woke up, but weekends are all for him, so she catered to whatever he wanted when she was home.

Aurora ruffled his hair, "Good morning Enzo! Mama is here. Did you sleep well, my angel?"

"Mama… my mama...kiss...hug...," he said in a demanding tone.

She noticed early on that Lorenzo had always been possessive when it came to her, he did not like it when she bestowed her attention on other kids. He would always try to divert her attention back to him.

She experienced this the first time when they went to the mall and Aurora smiled at the cute babies at the play area, he would come back to her and hold her face between his hands and make her look at him the whole time, to give him hugs or kisses. She laughed when he started doing it but when he wouldn't stop she got curious.

She wondered what was happening to her cute little angel? She noticed he did it only when she said hello or smiled at the other kids, it didn't matter if they were boys or girls. Was her baby jealous when she gave her attention to them?

"What is it, baby? Look, there are so many cute kids. Go, play with them. C'mon make a new friend for mama," she said.

He was sulking, "No! Mama mine. No look!" he pouted and crossed his arms. She laughed at his antics. "No! mama home!" he said seriously.

"Okay baby, let's go have lunch. We'll get your favorite food," she said as she kisses his cute cheeks. Getting his favorite food usually puts him in a very good mood. So they left the play area and searched for his treat.

What she did not notice was that it only escalated from there because she would always shrug it off, "He would throw tantrums because he was an only child," she would always think.

But one day, while Lorezonzo was playing in the park, Aurora saw a kid running by himself, he was laughing, and then he tripped. So she ran to him and helped clean his wound. And when she placed a band-aid on him, he thanked her by hugging her, and by instinct, she hugged him back. After a few minutes, the boy's parents came and thanked her.

When she looked back to where Lorenzo was supposed to be, he had disappeared. Her heart stopped, did she just lose her child? She started panicking, screaming out his name and asking people if they saw him. She saw him a few minutes later, hiding under one of the park benches.

She was so mad at him for hiding from her, but when she started to scold him, she saw his eyes were filled with tears. "Enzo what happened?" Aurora kneeled and asked in a worried state.

"Enzo want mama," Enzo could not control the big fat tears that fell down his cheeks.

"Mama is here, why are you crying baby?" Aurora wiped his tears and asked in a confused tone.

"Mama want boy… hug….not Enzo… leave Enzo," he said in between his sobs. She was dumbfounded that he would be jealous of her helping another kid. She felt like an awful mom, she went to help someone else's kid yet, she left hers behind.

"Oh my baby," she hugged him so tightly he started to squirm, "Mama just went to help the boy, he had a boo-boo, I gave him some hero band-aid, like you when you get a boo boo," Aurora explained.

"Mama hug him," he complained, "hug Enzo.. not boy."

Aurora sighed and said, "I'm sorry baby. I will not hug other kids again," She said as she took him in her arms.

"Mama not love Enzo," he pouted.

She felt so helpless, "That's not true. Mama loves Enzo. Always," she said as she kisses his cheeks again.

"Really?" he asked as he stared into her eyes, "Enzo love mommy. Always."

"Yes, baby. Always!" as she kissed his forehead.

"My mama," he said as he hugged her neck as tight as his tiny arms could hug.

She did not know how this feeling of possessiveness came about, but she felt the same way. There was no way they were going to be separated. She did not know how to remedy this situation, but maybe they should come out more so he could meet other kids, maybe he was alone too much, he needed friends.

"What do you want for breakfast?" her work always kept her away from him, that she always forgets the time.

"Ya pancakes!" Enzo requested. He was not a picky eater, eating everything she made, which she was thankful for, because lately, she has been experimenting on diverse dishes she finds on Youtube.

"You already had pancakes for breakfast yesterday, why don't we have that sweet potato hash I made for you that one time?" she said wiggling her eyebrows at him to make it seem like it was a fun idea. She was conscious about his diet, introducing vegetables to him, while he was young so he won't be opposed to having them later.

"Potato, potato," he said as he jumped on the bed.

"C'mon little potato, let's go make breakfast," Aurora held his hand as he jumped off the bed.