Heart Slime Doll
Greg and Rachel had gone home.
After bathing the children, I spread a blanket in front of the sofa and sat down, quietly exchanging stories about everything that had happened that day.
Then, out of nowhere, Reni went and fetched the rabbit doll he had only ever left lying on the bed, set it down beside the slime doll, and took his seat.
"You brought the rabbit doll too?"
"Yeah, the rabbit... if it's just the rabbit alone in the room, it'll get lonely."
"Aww."
I patted the back of that thoroughly good-hearted little boy, and Reni rested his head against my leg as he spoke.
"I like Dad's office."
"Really? There's nothing there yet."
"But still, but still. Because we go together every single day."
I bent down and pressed a kiss to the child's soft hair.
"Yeah. Let's go together every day."
As I answered, I glanced over at Luca.
Luca was still at the age where if his big brother got one kiss, he had to get one too.
But Luca only lay there with slightly sleepy eyes, hugging his attachment teddy bear and staring up at the slowly spinning ceiling fan.
Oh, please just fall asleep like that.
"Hehe."
This time Reni leaned against me as he sat, smiling brightly.
He didn't particularly have anything he needed to say; he simply seemed to love this quiet time of resting together at the end of the day.
"Is our Reni in a good mood?"
The child rubbed his face against my side and answered radiantly.
"Yes! It's like a diaper!"
Hmm. So our Reni thinks Dad is like a diaper.
No matter how I turned it over in my mind I couldn't make sense of it, so I stroked the child's head and asked,
"Is that so? But what does being like a diaper feel like?"
"Umm, the one babies love—our house's diaper! The fluffy one!"
Reni explained by singing the jingle from the diaper commercial.
"Ah, so the soft, fluffy feeling feels good?"
"Yes!"
Just opening the terrace door and leaving the living-room ceiling fan on was enough for a gentle breeze to drift through. On top of that, after a refreshing bath and clean new clothes, that was how he expressed the feeling.
It was such an utterly adorable night that I couldn't feel the least bit of fatigue.
"Tomorrow's already Saturday."
"Ah, that's right."
Fortunately, Reni no longer looked for his mother on weekdays. Life here had filled the child's heart so completely that simply getting through the day in front of him kept him busy enough.
It was a relief that there was no empty space left in that small heart.
Because he was still growing, I wanted each day packed so tightly that feelings like loneliness would find no crack to slip through—so that the warm, shining heart could grow strong enough that even if dark, cold emotions seeped in someday, he would be able to overcome them.
"It'll be fun going to the church tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. With the sister, and Mom. Ah, and Jennyfer and..."
Like Luca, Reni's eyes began to flutter shut. I kept gently patting his back.
If he fell asleep like this, I could simply carry him to bed.
Then suddenly Reni's eyes flew wide open. The child spoke in a flustered voice.
"Dad, it's a big problem!"
"Huh? What big problem?"
Startled myself, I asked, and Reni stood up from his place as he said,
"There's no slime to give to Jennyfer!"
"......Ah."
Leaving Luca, who had already fallen asleep in the meantime, right where he was in the living room, I quietly slipped into the playroom with Reni so as not to wake him.
"It's okay. Dad can make a slime doll really quickly."
"Yes."
When I whispered, Reni whispered back too.
I scooped him up and together we chose the fabric for the doll.
Fortunately, even though I had been busy with so many things and completely forgotten to make it, I had ordered fabrics in all sorts of colors on the way home with Reni that day.
I proudly spread the colorful bolts before him and asked,
"Alright, what color should the body be?"
Reni chose carefully.
"Hmm.... I like pink."
"Okay. Then what color would be good for the heart?"
Reni pondered just as carefully this time, then selected the red fabric.
I took out the piece his small finger pointed to and felt privately relieved.
Pink and red were a combination little girls generally seemed to like. If Reni had gone for a purple body with a green heart or something, Jennyfer probably wouldn't have been very happy.
I pulled a dining chair over for the child to sit on and quickly set to work.
Having made one before, I could make the second even faster.
Whirr, whirrr....
"Wow...."
Watching the doll take shape so rapidly right before his eyes, Reni's eyes sparkled.
After a little while like that, a roundish pink body with round eyes sewn in slightly darker pink thread was ready. I let Reni attach the red heart-shaped embroidered patch with the Velcro himself.
"It's done!"
Reni cried out joyfully.
"Yeah, it's done."
Maybe because it was a heart this time, fortunately it didn't look like the star version that had given the impression of someone seeing stars after a hard knock on the head. It looked more like a shy slime that had just fallen in love at first sight.
"......"
After putting Reni to bed, maybe I should make a rabbit doll too, just in case, and send it along as well....
The next morning.
Reni hummed to himself as he packed his favorite picture book, crayons, and the slime doll into his bag.
Following the child's request, I wrapped the heart slime doll prettily and placed it in a shopping bag.
"Hehe."
Reni took the shopping bag from my hand, insisting he would carry it himself. He seemed thoroughly excited that it was the first present he was giving to a friend.
But inwardly I felt a little worried.
Didn't little girls choose dolls more carefully than boys? What if she cried because she didn't like it?
I could always soothe Jennyfer, but Reni would be hurt....
Then again, maybe that was an experience the child needed as well.
He would have to learn that just because he liked something, not everyone necessarily would.
"Charlie!"
"Reni!"
When Cassandra's car arrived, the children—who had grown quite close by now—chattered happily together in the back seat.
I turned around, worried Luca might feel left out, but luckily Charlie kept including both Reni and Luca, speaking to each of them in turn as the conversation flowed.
On top of that, Charlie always brought one of the toys he usually played with so the younger ones could enjoy it too—a generous little habit. They were all old toys, but to the kids the important thing was that they were brand-new things they had never seen before.
"Cassandra, I think you've raised your son really well."
Cassandra smiled lightly even while concentrating on the road. Praise for one's child is welcome any time, after all.
But a moment later a slightly sad expression crossed her face.
"Actually, Charlie pretty much raised himself.... There was so much I couldn't do for him."
"Don't say that. Where else is there a mom who goes on dates with him every single weekend like this?"
"Haha, that's true. He loves the weekly outings so much. You can tell he's excited starting the night before."
I nodded with a smile, then a question suddenly occurred to me.
"Speaking of dates, Cassandra—when on earth do you actually meet Dimitri?"
"Ah...."
Weekdays she would be busy with editing and channel management, and on weekends all they really got was a brief glimpse of each other at the pub.
But Charlie answered for her. Hearing a familiar name seemed to fire him right up.
"Uncle Dimitri comes every evening!"
"Charlie."
Cassandra called the boy's name in flustered tones, and I couldn't help laughing.
"You're overflowing with love. Dropping by every evening can't be easy."
"He just comes for a cup of tea and leaves."
She said it, yet her face still flushed.
After all, coming over every single day—not even just calling—was something you only did if you truly liked someone that much.
"It's nice to see, Cassandra. I'm really glad you seem to have met a good person."
"You know, Uncle Jun? Uncle Dimitri brings a bouquet every day?"
Seeing him get so excited he even mixed up his words, I could tell Dimitri had scored high marks with Charlie.
"I see. Uncle Dimitri must like Mom a whole lot, right?"
"Yes! And next time he said big brother and big sister are coming too! Ah—Luca, don't put that in your mouth!"
Charlie launched into a full speech while rescuing the toy heading for Luca's mouth.
"Yeah."
Of course, no matter what Charlie said, Luca's answer stayed the same.
The kids soon settled back into playing among themselves, and I lowered my voice a little to ask,
"So you're meeting as families now?"
Dimitri was older than Cassandra. Naturally his children were teenagers—four or five years older than Charlie, from what I knew.
Introducing them to each other even though they were at that sensitive age....
"Are the two of you thinking about marriage?"
Cassandra gave a small smile.
"Mom! Sister!"
The moment the car arrived at the church, Reni excitedly ran toward the people waiting for him.
"Ah, right!"
Then he dashed back to the car to grab the gift for Jennyfer.
Normally I exchanged only brief greetings and left, but today I decided to stay a little longer.
If Jennyfer cried, I would need to soothe Reni. The sister could handle comforting Jennyfer.
The adults traded quiet nods of greeting, and all of us watched the two four-year-olds exchange their present.
The gift-giving itself was simple and pure.
"Jennyfer! It's a present!"
"Wow. Thank you!"
Jennyfer, her hair in two little braids again today, carefully peeled open the wrapping with her tiny fingers.
Thinking how glad I was that I had sealed the paper with stickers so a child could open it easily, I watched her expression with a pounding heart.
One big heart sticker fell, then another, and the pink-pink heart slime revealed itself....
Jennyfer stamped her feet in place.
"Kyaaak!"
"Kyaaak!"
When Jennyfer let out a joyful dolphin squeal, Reni squealed right back at her.
Wow... she likes it that much.
Anyway, I was truly relieved. Secretly letting out a long breath, I glanced down at Luca nestled in my arms.
I bit my lip lightly to hold back the laugh that threatened to burst out.
While everyone else looked on at the two children with warm, fond eyes, only Luca raised one eyebrow and pulled a faint frown.
If I had to put the child's expression into words, it was roughly: What's that, making such a big fuss?
Our little one—his emotional expressions were getting richer by the day. I called him with a smile.
"Luca."
"Yeah."
"You don't get why big brother and big sister are so happy?"
"Yeah."
"Luca, not interested in the slime doll?"
"Yeah."
"Haha."
Ding!
I had just kissed Luca and was about to say goodbye to Reni when a phone notification chimed.
Without much thought I checked the alert.
Bonus points have arrived!
Earning details: 100 points accumulated for creating the Heart Slime Doll.