I saw the kid’s headphones fall off; they were
a very expensive brand.
And looking at the kid’s designer outfit and
his fancy accessories, he didn’t seem like he
was trying to steal anything.
I pulled my son behind me, and I asked him,
“Where are your parents? Why are you
stealing my son’s bag?”
The kid didn’t say anything with his head
く
bowed, and I tried to suppress my anger,
getting the bag back.
My son wasn’t hurt, the other kid’s parents
weren’t around, and I didn’t want to make
things difficult for a kid who seemed to be in
his teens.
As I took my son by the hand to leave, the kid
suddenly said, sounding very wronged:
“Mom, I got hurt too. Aren’t you going to look
at my injuries?”
Chapter 2
As the crowd heard those words, it began to
disperse.
“So they’re family? Maybe some influencers
are here to film a video or something.”
く
“Yeah, it looks pretty staged.”
The kid finally raised his head. I saw a familiar
face, and I said in disbelief, “Alex?”
“Why are you all alone here, where’s Jake?”
He picked up his headphones, putting them
back on with red eyes.
“Jake doesn’t care about me.”
I started to say something, asking, “Where’s
Sarah? She’s your mom…”
Something seemed to have set him off, and
he angrily shouted: “She’s not my mom!”
Seeing how upset he was, I took the two of
them over to an empty bench to sit down.
<
My son looked at him warily, jutting out his
lips, as he gave me his smartwatch to look at.
“Mom, dad said that he’s going to pick us up
at the science museum soon.”
I ruffled his hair, doting on him, and said: “Got
it.”
My son was happy.
He turned his head, staring at me in shock.
“You’re really his mom? You were married a
long time ago?”
I nodded: “Yeah. He’s my son, thanks to your
time machine.”
He was at a loss for words, and his face went
く
from pale to white, as he finally lowered his
eyes to play with his fingers.
I was confused, and I asked: “Why are you
trying to steal my son’s backpack?”
“I didn’t want to steal his backpack, I just… I
just wanted his dinosaur key chain.” Alex said,
his voice growing quieter and quieter.
Dinosaur key chain?
When my son was five, I made him a dinosaur
key chain with green yarn, following a tutorial
I found. I put a keyring on it and hung it on
his backpack zipper. He loved it.
I remembered making one that was exactly the same and giving it to Alex. However, the
poxt day I found it in the mouth of a strav
<
next day, I found it in the mouth of a stray
dog outside the apartment complex. I thought he had dropped it, so I chased the dog for a long time to finally get it back.
When I gave it to Alex after cleaning it, he
threw it away in front of me.
“My classmates all say that thing is cheap. I already threw it away, why did you get it
back?”
Even if it was just a memory, that scene still
made my heart ache.
Confused, I asked, “But you didn’t want it?”
Alex’s face looked even worse, as he bit his
lip hard.
<
At that moment, my son tugged at my hand:
“Mom, look! Dad even got a cake! Later, we
can blow out the candles together.”
Following my son’s gaze, Chris was walking
towards us with long strides, looking relaxed
and casual.
He was holding a white box carefully, and
when he saw me, he tilted his head slightly,
looking like a college student secretly
meeting up with his girlfriend.
He naturally took my hand and teased my
