Chapter 216 - Sadness(2)

At the airport, Xie Eun raised on her tiptoes and kissed her husband hard on the mouth as she whispered goodbye to him. She hated staying away from him and could already feel nervous jitters in her stomach at the thought. She absolutely hated staying away from him. And she felt even more nervous at the thought of handling little Aika alone. She looked at the sleeping baby in the stroller and rolled her eyes," Tough luck kiddo. You are going to have to make do with mommy only for the next few days."

Feeling sad, Xie Eun shifted Aika into her cot and to distract herself, started to work. Her work had suffered a setback as she had concentrated on her studies and motherhood. As she worked, the night slowly got deeper and she started to feel unsettled. Leaning back in her chair she closed her eyes to give them a rest. She wondered if she should try to sleep but her empty stomach reminded her that she had yet to eat.

Walking to the kitchen, she heated her food and prepared a bottle of milk for Aika, all the while whistling a tune as she thought of the little angel that was her daughter, unaware that her life which was just getting back on track was about to be turned upside down. Xie Eun ate her own food and while feeding the baby. Once Aika was burped and freshened, the mother daughter lay down on the bed. Xie Eun talked to her daughter happily as the little princess kicked up her legs and waved her arms about. But soon she realized that she could not hear or see her father, which resulted in an enormous cry being raised.. Xie Eun who was about to fall asleep, woke up and that is when another test began. the test of motherhood. As Aika went from a full blown crying tantrum, undoubtedly treating Xie Eun as a villain for sending her daddy away to soft pitiful cries looking for her father to finally falling into an exhausted sleep only to wake up every hour, repeating the same process. Finally, after an exhausting night, both Xie Eun and Aika fell into a deep sleep clutching Yu Seok's jacket to them.

As the sun rose high in the sky, Xie Eun woke up with deep circles around her eyes. Slowly, she shifted so that little Aika who was sleeping on her arm would not wake up and then froze in horror when the baby stirred. Finally, when the baby continued to sleep, Xie Eun slowly got out of bed and then 'ninja' walked her way to the washroom to take a shower. 

As the flowing water refreshed her, she continued to hear the sounds of a crying baby which caused her to keep peeping out of the bathroom again and again. Finally after a five minute 'long' shower, Xie Eun tied her hair up in a messy bun and walked out of the bathroom, praying that the little girl would stay asleep a little while longer. Rubbing her eyes, she walked to the nightstand to check her phone and complain to her husband but could only frown when she noticed the black screen. The battery had run out! Putting the phone to charge, she walked out of the room. Just as she entered the kitchen, the doorbell rung, making her frown as she glanced worriedly at the door. And just as she had feared, the sound woke up the sleeping Aika. Ignoring the door and whoever had created problems for her, she raced back to her room and picked her up in her arms trying to soothe her before she broke out into a full fledged tantrum. As she hugged the baby, she suddenly realized that the baby was too hot. Soothing her and fearful that Aika had a fever, Xie Eun walked to the door and seeing the visitor almost started to bawl herself. Holding the now calm Aika in one hand, Xie Eun hugged Aunt Su hard almost collapsing in her arms. 

Aunt Su clucked her tongue at Xie Eun's look and consoled the girl hugging both the baby and mother in her arms. Guiding Xie Eun to a nearby couch, Aunt Su gestured for Xie Eun to stay quiet and rest and without a word, walked to the kitchen not letting Xie Eun explain anything.

Going in, she made egg porridge, immediately placing it in front of Xie Eun and taking the sleeping child from her arms. With moist eyes, Xie Eun looked at the peaceful baby and then at the food before she said in a low voice," Aunt Su, my Aika is sick! I did not even take care of her for a single night. I made her sick. Aunt Su I am a bad mommy.."

Patting her little girl's head who was so grown up, Aunt Su calmly said,"Eun-a! You are just like your father. He would also panic like this when you used to get sick! She is not even warm. It is just you being way too worried and scared. He too Your Aika is perfectly fine! Sometimes children are restless and cranky. That does not make you a bad mommy. And sometimes a mother's tiredness seeps into the babies also. You are both missing your man! And you both need rest...This is the time for you to bond. And when Aika is all grown up, you can tell her how she missed her father and raised hell. Now eat and then both of you can sleep some. Good thing Yu Seok asked me to come here for a few days! Or else you would have driven yourself crazy!"

While Xie Eun felt reassured and ate the porridge, Aunt Su fed the baby with a bottle of milk, burped and then cleaned the little one. And soon the mother and daughter had both been tucked into bed. Aunt Su dimmed the light and watched as the little baby snuggled with her mom.