Our First Time as Moms

Chapter 1

Lena never imagined that the happiest and most heartbreaking day of her life would arrive at the same time.

The hospital room was silent except for the tiny cries of a newborn baby.

Miu stood beside her, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the little girl wrapped in a pink blanket.

Their best friend, Lila, had always dreamed of becoming a mother. But complications during childbirth took her life before she could even hold her daughter.

Before she passed, Lila had left a letter.

"If anything happens to me, please love my daughter the way you have always loved me. Let her know she was wanted. Let her know she was loved."

Neither Lena nor Miu could finish reading the letter without crying.

And so, a few months later, they officially adopted the baby girl.

They named her Lalee.

Being first-time moms was much harder than either of them expected.

Lalee cried at three in the morning.

Then four.

Then five.

Lena, who usually handled billion-dollar deals without stress, nearly cried herself while trying to warm a bottle.

"Why won't she stop crying?" Lena whispered desperately.

Miu yawned and took Lalee into her arms.

The baby immediately stopped crying.
Lena stared.

"She likes you more."

Miu laughed softly.
"She's a baby, Lena."

"Still."

As the months passed, their house became filled with tiny socks, stuffed animals, and endless baby photos.

Lena's phone storage was almost full.
Miu caught her one evening taking pictures of Lalee sleeping.

"That's the twenty-third photo today."

"Twenty-fourth," Lena corrected.
Miu shook her head.

"You are obsessed."

"I am a mother," Lena replied proudly.
--

One rainy afternoon, when Lalee was nearly two years old, she stumbled across the living room while learning to walk.

Miu held out her arms.

"Come to Mama!

Lena knelt beside her.
"Come to Mommy!"

Lalee wobbled uncertainly.

Then she took three tiny steps before falling directly into both of their arms.
The three of them ended up on the floor laughing.
For a moment, neither Lena nor Miu spoke.

They were both thinking about the same person.

Lila.

The friend they had lost.

The friend who had trusted them with her greatest treasure.

Miu kissed the top of Lalee's head.

"We'll tell her about you," she whispered.

Lena nodded, her eyes shining with tears.

"Every story. Every memory."

Lalee looked up at them and giggled, completely unaware of the promise being made.

But she was surrounded by love.

And perhaps that was exactly what Lila had hoped for.

Because although Lalee had lost one mother before she was born, she had gained two others who would spend the rest of their lives making sure she never felt alone.

And for Lena and Miu, that tiny little girl wasn't just their adopted daughter.

She was family.

She was home.