Rain Again (Completed)

Chapter 10

The boy's eyes widened in joyful wonderment as he suckled on the bottle, taking small gulps of milk as he watched Kate with undivided attention.

"You've finished the whole bottle, you hungry charmer." She smiled, removing the empty bottle from the boy's mouth and putting it on the table.

Mother Mary smiled at Kate sitting across the table. Other sisters and the maids, along with them, worked around in the vast kitchen.

"We've decided to vote to decide his name," Mary said.

Kate now had the boy upright against her chest, patting him gently on the back. She chuckled. "That would be a relief, mother. Otherwise, the children and the sisters would never stop their silly arguments."

Mary adjusted her glasses on her nose, her smile broadening into a grin. "Absolutely."

"You're a natural, Kate," Mary said after a short pause. "You would make an amazing mother one day."

Kate stiffened, her hand slowed down for a moment on the cooing baby's back. She drew in a short puff of breath and tightly held it in her lungs for strength. "You know it would never be," she whispered, nose pressed in the boy's cotton cloth-clad little shoulder. "I'm incapable of being a mother. That blessing was long taken away from me."

"Kate," Mary sighed, but her smile didn't falter. "You don't need to hold a child in your womb to be a mother."

Kate's unfocused eyes now focused on Mary, who was looking back and forth from her to the baby, who now burped pretty loudly and then vomited all over her shoulder and hair. The sisters who saw the incident laughed from different parts of the kitchen.

Nevertheless, Kate sat still there until Mary grinning broadly now, stood and walked around the table to help clean the vomit. Finally, Kate snapped out of it. She took the tissues offered to her by one sister and began cleaning up the boy's face, who in return tried to eat the tissue as well.

"Mother," Kate asked. "Can I? is it possible?"

Adoption. It seemed like a ray of hope in her lightless life.

"It is, very much. But that requires a long process and some necessary, crucial formalities to make it actually happen." Mother looked at her encouragingly.

It couldn't be helped. Kate's eyes filled up with tears. However, she was not sure yet if she should dare dream.

--

"Owen," Kate announced with pride and happiness.

Victor and Ellie smiled, sipping tea from their fancy tea cups.

"It was a nice idea - this voting," Victor stated.

"Got the kid a charming name," Ellie clapped her hands gleefully. "I'm dying to meet him. Aw..., his mere name suggests he's going to be quite a wooer when all grown up and will end up rescuing the ultimate damsel in distress and get married and have beautiful kids of his own..."

Victor rolled his eyes. "And you've gotten drunk by the Chinese tea."

"Nonsense!" Ellie sniffed the tea incredulously. "There're herbs in it, not alcohol, you moron."

Victor rolled his eyes some more in reply while Kate shook her head with a smile.

Victor and Ellie had dragged Kate to a traditional Chinese restaurant, getting sick of seeing her confined to work and her apartment. Besides Mary's Home, she hardly ever wanted to go anywhere these days.

Victor leaned a bit forward-looking at Kate across the table. "I'm so happy for you, Kate, that you decided to adopt... Owen. I hope they finish all the formalities soon so you can finally bring your son home."