(...Mom?...His...mom?...Chris'...mom? Mom? Mom...Mom?!)

The girl realized there was a mistake. Something wasn't right. After all that she said to make her understand who the girl was to the boy, Chris told her the woman was his mom. Normally, one would just apologize, but for the girl, there was one thing she didn't understand.

(...What is a mom?)

There is no information about "mom" in her memories. A mysterious character appeared before her and now she didn't know how to deal with the woman!

If it was a stranger, it would be easy.

If it was a friend, she knew how to send her off.

If it was a lover, then things would get a bit serious.

But a mom! Of all the things, it needed to be his mom! There were no moms before, how could this be called fair for the girl?! Since the moment she was created, the girl didn't know about a character!

(Wait! It wasn't true!)

Mom...mom is another way to call someone...but who? There were a few times the others said mom, but what were they referring to?

Teacher? No, that is another name. Co-worker? No, that is not it. A veteran? It wasn't that either! It was for someone older...a person that took care of someone...but what is it? If she recalled correctly, it was something that formed a family together with a father and-

(...Mother!...Mom...is...mother!...That woman...is...Chris'...mother!)

She remembered it now. There may not be a mother before, but the others did mention that name in their dialogues.

Getting all the information from what they said, a mother is one of the most important persons in a family! From what one of them had said, nobody could fight versus a mother or they would never be accepted into the family!

And the girl just tried to win against one! Chris' mother on top of it all!

Luckily, the woman...his mother hadn't reached the girl yet. There was still time to think of how to follow-up and turn the situation around for her. The girl's eyes were looking around the room as she calculated what kinda of interaction would be successful for the situation.

But when the girl realized, the boy's mom was right in front of her, leaving no more time for her to think! Her hand was approaching the girl, a movement she thought of was the time limit to act, and if the hand reached her, Game Over!

So, from all the lines she remembered, the one the girl thought it would result in the best ending possible was to bow to his mother and say:

-Mother, I know I'm inexperienced but I will do my best to care and love for Chris for how long we stay together, so, please! Take care of me!

[][][][][]

Imagine yourself on Christmas day as a child and your parents didn't let you go out of your room until they told so.

Naturally, you couldn't control yourself and was very anxious about what presents you would find under the pine tree, but your parents also said that if you exit the room, Santa Claus would switch all your presents with coal, leaving you no choice but to wait until the time comes.

Right now, Chris was feeling exactly like one of those children. After hearing what the girl had said, his mom said to him wait in his room while she talks with her.

Chris tried to object his mother and wanted to stay too, more to stop anything else the girl would talk and solve any misunderstanding, but his mother wouldn't let him, after giving one good reason for it which he couldn't respond:

-Chris, while I did some measures for your broken shoulder and gave you that sling to place your arm, you also need to rest in order for it to heal. You go to bed and rest while I talk with this girl or mother will be really sad, ok?

Looking at his arm-sling, the boy couldn't do anything but sigh in worry on his bed as he recalls what his mom said. Even with her mad at him, she didn't neglect to attend her son before questioning him.

(...Just how things turned out like this?)

He managed to convince his mother about the case and it was all going well until that girl showed up and ruined everything by spitting lies about them. After hearing all of that, of course, his mother would be angry. Not only her son lied to her about what happened but she also thinks he was hiding his girlfriend from her.

(No, it would probably be better if it was just being a girlfriend...)

The biggest problem for Chris wasn't the fact the girl was saying things like the two of them were lovers but what else would she talk. If for example, she started to say where did she came from or when did they meet for the first time, his mother would definitely start having doubts about the girl's sanity.

The suspense of not knowing what is going on downstairs was killing him, but there was nothing he could do right now to prevent his mother's judgment from the situation. All that was left for him was wait and see what would be the result of all this.

Then, ten minutes later, it was finally over.

His room's door was opened and his mother entered without saying any word and just walked in without looking at her son. Seen her like this, Chris knew something went wrong between the two and his worries grew in his heart.

His mother sat in the computer's chair and turned her sight to him with a serious face. There was nowhere to run now, Chris felt he can't lie anymore to escape this situation.

Confirming he was paying attention to her, his mother breaks the silence of the room.

-Chris, let me say this first before all...

It was a tone he had never heard from his mother before, which made the boy flinch from nervously.

-I'm very sad, you know? Not only did you lied to me, but also hid this girl from me all this time. As a mother, it breaks my heart to know I'm not trusted by my own son.

He knew she would say that, but being told that by his mother made the boy ashamed to how he acted before.

-You know...if you only had told me beforehand, I wouldn't have to come to this conclusion but now...you left me no choice but...

(Here it comes!)

Prepared for the worst, Chris closed his eyes and turned his face to the other side scared from what his mother would say like it was a fist coming straight for his face and he wanted to evade it.

But there was no way to avoid it, as he mother said:

-To make her our new family member!

...

......

.........

............

-...Huh? Came again?

(What? I thought I heard something like she being in our family but...)

-Oh, sweetie, how could I put out such a lovely girl like this out of the house after everything you two passed together!

His mother was smiling like it was the happiest day of her life.

-And she is so cute too! If I hadn't seen her with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe my son had met such a beauty, on top of that making her fall for him! As expected from my son!

-Wait a minute, mom! How did it come to this?! Isn't she a complete stranger for you?!

-Chris...how could you say that...mother is even sadder now...

His mother cries in pain from the words of her heartless son.

-Mom, I'm being serious here!

-And so am I. How could you say such a thing about my cute daughter? I didn't remember raising my son to be like this...

His mother had tears in her eyes from what he said.

-Who is your daughter?! How could you easily say something like she is our new family member on your own without talk-

-She doesn't have a home, do you want me to abandon her in the streets?

Without letting Chris finish, his mother said the truth in a single breath for him. Noticing his mother using her serious tone again, the boy waited shocked by her words.

-The last place she said it was her home was an alley. You know how cold it was in the past days? It was twenty-three Fahrenheit.

Words by words, his mother spoke the harsh life of the girl.

-I don't know if she told you that, but right now she doesn't have anybody to look after her or a place to stay.

In her mind, there were many situations of how the girl ended up like that, but she wouldn't tell her son anything about it.

-If I was in her position, I wouldn't talk about it either, especially to someone I care about to not make them worry. That is why I wanted her to be with us, wouldn't you agree with me?

...

He never thought about how she was doing. After all that happened, there was no way for him to think more clearly about everything that was happening. It was so surreal that a part of him was still thinking of this as a dream, but this is the reality right now. There was a girl without a place to stay in his house.

Seen her son making a worried face, the mother smiles satisfied and stand up from the chair.

-Well, it's not like I'm going to decide this alone. Think about it and we talk tomorrow, ok? Either way, that girl is staying today.

She walked out of his room and was about to close the door when she remembered something to tell him.

-Oh right. Since you are hurt, I will bring your dinner in a while, ok?

The boy nods to her words not having the will to respond to his mother. Happily, the woman closes the door, leaving Chris alone with his thoughts.