“Mommy!”

Xiu looked over to see Rowan running to her side excitedly with a fish in his hands that he seemed to be treasured like a precious pearl.

“Slow down!” she called out. “Don’t fall down and cry.”

Rowan rushed straight at her and presented her with his precious fish, “Mommy, I caught this for you.”

Xiu looked at the fish he placed in her hands and then looked at her son, “Oh, is it for me? Really?”

Rowan nodded his head, “Your little tiger spent a lot of effort catching it for you. It’s my very first fish and I want you to have it.”

“Aiya! Our Rowan is really filial.”

“He really loves his mother.”

“What’s there not to love about my sister?”

As Xiu heard these comments from around her, she glanced at her son who acted shy getting so many compliments. She rolled her eyes at him and said, “Rowan, is it that you want to give this fish to mommy or you want mommy to make this for you?”

Rowan blinked at Xiu, “Isn’t it the same thing?”

“Pfft!”

Xiu sighed out and glared at Dylan who laughed out before saying to her son, “Next time, just tell me you want me to make it for me. There is no need to flatter me so much. I don’t even like people flattering me.”

“You like it when Baba does it,” Rowan pointed.

“What is your Baba’s name?” asked Xiu.

“Regan Darren Salvay,” answered Rowan.

“And what is your name?”

“Rowan Derek Salvay!”

“Is it the same thing?” 

Rowan shook his head.

“Of course, it’s not the same. You are you and he is he. Your flattering isn’t that fun.”

Darren walked over and placed his hand on Xiu’s mouth as he dragged her away from their son saying, “Sweets, stop doing that your own son.”

“What did I do?” Xiu acted completely innocent. “Isn’t what I said right? You can flatter me all you want. It definitely works. But it doesn’t work for our son. I have to make it clear to him as soon as possible.”

“You really love to say everything to him, eh?”

“Who told you to spoil him so much?” retorted Xiu. “One has to play the bad cop in this family. I can definitely do the job well.”

“Do you even think it works?” asked Darren.

“Doesn’t it?” she asked back.

Darren pointed at Rowan and said, “Look at him. Do you really think he is scared of you?”

Meanwhile, Rowan was happily jumping around showing off his fish to everyone and he also proudly showed off, “My mommy is gonna grill this fish for me. She is the best at it. It’s gonna taste so yummy!”

“Little tiger, come here!” said Dylan as he called Rowan over.

“Yes, Uncle Dylan?”

“I have a question for you.”

“Okay. Ask away!”

“Who do you love more? Mom or dad?”

Rowan opened his eyes to glare at him saying, “Uncle Dylan, don’t you know that’s the most manipulative question in the whole world? How can you ask a kid to choose between his own parents? That is unfair. Both have their good parts and bad parts. But we can’t just give up on our parents. When we make mistakes, our parents don’t give up on us either.”

“Woah! This kid really learned to talk big, eh!” commented Dylan. “Who taught you all of this?”

“Mommy!” answered Rowan proudly. Even though he wasn’t a genius like his Uncle JJ, he was emotionally immature than most kids his age. The credit obviously goes to his mother who never really treated him like a kid and baby talked with him. She said things as they were. Even if he understood one thing from the ten she said, it’d still be him learning something new.

“I should have expected this nonsense coming from your mother,” stated Dylan.

Rowan placed his hands on his hips looking like a small adult as he said, “Uncle Dylan, you can’t say that. My mommy might not be the best in the world but she is perfect to me. She never told me to be at the top of the class, she only said I need to enjoy my childhood to the fullest. But that doesn’t mean I’m allowed to goof around all the time. She’ll check my homework every single day.”

Even Rowan had come to understand his mother somewhat by now. To him, Xiu was all talk but no action. The most she’d do to punish him was either she won’t let him eat his favorite food or she’ll spank his bottom. But in all honesty, it didn’t even hurt all that much she spanked him. It’s not like he gave her many reasons to spank him either.

He knew she loved him but he also knew that she seemed to love his dad a lot more than him. And half of her love for him came from the fact that he looked like his dad. It was truly tragic for a son to know that his mother loved his father more than him. What kind of a mother does that? 

He believed there was only one and he was stuck with that one and only piece in the whole world.

Dylan stood up and walked over to Darren and Xiu. Looking at Xiu, he asked, “Is it okay to let your son understand things this soon in his life? Let him take his time to grow up.”

“Who said I’m not giving him time to grow up?” retorted Xiu. “He can take all his time but that doesn’t mean I’m allowing him to be fooled by people just because he is young.”

“He is young,” said Dylan. “Does he have to be this cautious of people?”

“Yes,” said Xiu. “Who said he shouldn’t be?”

Dylan shook his head at her, “Only you’d raise your son like that. Others tend to pamper their one and only sons.”

“Like your parents did to you?” retorted Xiu. “But I don’t want my little tiger to turn into a brat like you.”

Dylan gritted his teeth and glared at her while she gave him a smile.. Flipping her hair dramatically, she walked right past him.