9. FIVE YEARS LATER...

"Mummy! I can't find my purple sneakers!"

I can hear the pattering sound of his feet running from his bedroom, why kids are always running and yelling is still baffling to me.

The feet stops at the kitchen door. "Mum?" His voice is now slightly lower than a yell.

"Yes hon?"

"Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you now hon."

"I can't find my purple sneakers."

"Oh, don't worry. It must be in one of the boxes." I turn from the kitchen sink, wiping my hands with a napkin. "We'll find it when we unpack everything."

"But mum, I need it now." He gazes imploringly at me with brown eyes that looks so much like his father's, my heart constricts everytime I look at it. "The sunny dance steps is coming up next on TV and I can't do the steps without my sneakers."

I roll my eyes in exasperation, his imploring gaze turns into a frown. His frown always make me smile, which I have to do inwardly because no one dares to smile when he's in one of his snits.

But he's just so cute when he frowns.

"You could wear the white one." I quickly suggest, even though I know he won't go for it.

His eyes widen in scandalized shock at my suggestion, as he also tries to maintain his frown, which make me hide my smile again. "I can't wear white sneakers for the sunny dance steps. It's just... wrong!"

"Sorry, I forgot." I roll my mouth inwards so I don't burst out laughing.

He sighs in defeat, his shoulders slumping. "It's okay. You're forgiven." He announces like he's a king, and I'm his unruly subject, making me roll my eyes again. Thank God he doesn't notice this time because he's checking his purple wristwatch.

His love for purple is beyond his love for pizza, which is saying something.

"When is Aunt Beth coming?" Beth is his most favourite person in the whole world. And who could blame him? She has taken her role of godmother a tad too far, spoiling him with all kind of toys and comic books. He just has to ask for whatever, and it'll be delivered the next day. I have had several talks with Beth to cut it down, but, you know Beth, she just laughs and does what she likes.

"She should be here anytime soon." I reply, walking to him and stooping to unfold his trousers. Why he likes to fold them up, I can't say. "And she's staying till after your birthday."

He pumps his fists in the air. "Yay! Please tell her to buy loads and loads of pizza for me."

I smile as I straighten. Knowing Beth, this house will be filled with pizza come evening.

"Are The Grams coming too?" His gaze is hopeful.

My smile turn into a big grin. The Grams- mum and dad- had been shocked when he announced that he was shortening their names to the 'The Grams'. According to him, it sounds more funky and less ancient.

"They will be arriving tomorrow." I turn to check the spaghetti on fire. "Aren't you late for your dance."

He checks his watch again. "Oh boy, I'm five minutes late. See ya later mum." He runs back to his room, disappearing as fast as he appeared.

I shake my head as I watch him go. His energy level is so high, I sometimes wonder if all kids are like that or just mine.

Well, to be candid, Seth had been energetic even from the womb. I drain the spaghetti and leave it to cool, reminiscing on those pregnancy days. The doctors had discovered my womb was weak, almost too weak to carry him to full term.

The first trimester had been difficult, so difficult the obstetrician had suggested I opt for a D and C, to save my life.

I had almost, almost considered it. But Beth had threatened to strangle me in my sleep if I ever go for it. The fear of Beth and her strangling techniques scared me enough to back out.

My parents, especially mum, was ecstatic about the news of the pregnancy, superstitiously believing Grandma was coming back to life through my baby. She had been quite disappointed when he turned out to be a boy.

Mum had seriously blamed Dad for the whole James and The Dracula saga, explaining that Dad should have protected me from James, since he knew the mother to be a total bitch. Dad had silently accepted the blame. But I knew I wouldn't have listened, I was too blindly in love or lust then.

Dad had retired a few months later, with all his retirement benefits paid to him, but The Dracula never made him director. Though, dad said he didn't really care, but I know he had been hurt not to attain that height, considering how he had worked his ass out for that company.

That made me resent The Dracula even the more.

I had begun the process of moving out almost immediately after I knew I was pregnant. Grandma's house held too many memories, both good and bad, and I didn't want to be so close to James and The Dracula.

I closed down my salon and sold the space. I moved out of town and rented a bedroom apartment in a different town. My parents hadn't been too pleased with my moving, believing a single pregnant woman should be surrounded by her loved ones.

During all the trimesters, I was mostly in bed, too weak to cater for myself. Beth had cleared her schedule to nurse me that period.

Mum and Dad had pitched in too when they could travel down. I know I wouldn't have survived those days if not for their unwavering love and support.

The day of delivery was the worst. The contraptions started three weeks too early. I had refused CS due to the fearful stories I heard during ante-natal. I was in labour for 48 hours, going in and out of consciousness for long periods. The pain had been so much, I had screamed till my voice had disappeared.

The doctors tried everything they could but my baby refused to come. I finally agreed to undergo the CS when I could feel my life slowly draining away, much to the relieve of everybody.

The next few months after delivery had been crazily hectic. Mum and Beth had gradually and patiently nursed me back to health, staying with me till I was strong enough to care for myself and my son.

The last five years have shaped my life, being a single mother has helped me set my priorities, becoming stronger and less trusting where life is concerned. I now view life with the jaded eyes of a mother who knows her strength and weakness lies around her son.

Seth and I have experienced ups and downs, more of downs than ups actually, but we survived. And there is no part of having him in my life that I regret. He's my shining light in a world full of darkness and regrets.

Re-establishing my unisex salon hadn't been as hard as I thought. And after three and a half years of determination, hardwork and sweat, lots of sweat actually, I'm able to save enough, and also borrow some money from my parents to buy a nice and spacious two bedroom bungalow, in a charming neighborhood, with enough space at the back for my son to play.

Now, I have two hair stylists working for me, a male and a female, I've told them to handle the salon business till after Seth's birthday.

The door bell rings, bringing me out of my thoughts. I wipe my hands and head to the door. Boxes are everywhere, we've just moved into our new home, and we're still unpacking. I want Seth to celebrate his fourth year birthday right here.

I open the door to find a child size, human-like gadget, staring up at me with glowing red eyes. It has purple arms and sneakers with rollers under.

Then it starts to speak in robotic voice. "Hello, you must be Seth's mum. Can I see Seth now?"

"No, you can't." I reply like I'm talking to a real human, it goes silent for a few seconds and then repeats itself again. I look around, only one person could do this.

"Beth! Come out right now."

I can hear Beth's laughter from somewhere beside the house, then she steps out, still laughing.

"Lord, if you can see your face right now." She hoots with unrestrained laughter, moving closer to stand beside the robot.

I fold my arms on my breasts, lean on the door frame and glare at her. "What's this?"

"What does it look like dummy?" She rolls her eyes. "Leave the way, we want to come in."

"Come in to where?" I throw my hands up in exasperation. "Don't tell me this is for Seth."

"Then I won't tell you it's for Seth." She's looking at the robot with admiration, caressing it like a lover. "Do you think he'll love it?"

"You know he'll love it!" I make my voice stern. "Beth, this is too much. He can't have this for his fourth year birthday."

She scowls at me in return. "Rita, I'm still standing on your porch, waiting for you to invite me into your new home." She sighs dramatically, "I might begin to feel rejected or unwanted, you know."

I don't budge. "If I let you in, I'll have to let this thing in too."

"It's not a thing!" She exclaims in outrage. "It's a beautiful machine. Someone is asking me to partner in the making."

I roll my eyes and open the door wide, she enters with her robot, a cheshire smile on her face. I shut the door and watch as she rolls it to a corner of my living room, pushing boxes out of the way to make room for the kid-size robot.

"Isn't he beautiful?" She coos. "I'd have named him cupid, but I'll leave the naming to Seth."

"Cupid?"

She turns to me and smiles. "Doesn't it just fit?"

I shake my head and move to the dining area, which has a brown wooden table big enough to sit four people and is separate from the kitchen. I pull out one of the chairs to sit.

"Beth, I'm serious. You can't give Seth this_ robot for his birthday." I look around my living room. "I don't even have space for it."

She walks past me to the kitchen, coming back some seconds later with two bottles of coke. She hands one over to me and unscrew hers as she sits down also.

"Don't be so quick to judge. It might surprise you." She gulped down some of the drink. "Besides, Seth will love it."

Yes, Seth will definitely love it. I think to myself as I take a sip from my drink. I stare in chagrin at the machine standing prominently in my living room. Seth loves gadgets of any kind, they fascinates him.

No thanks to Beth who introduced him to the world of computers since he was two. He has been begging me to get him a computer for some months now, and I'm still thinking about it. I know if he whines to Beth, she'll get him one in the blink of an eye.

I turn to Beth with my eyebrows raised. "So, you want to branch into gadgets?"

"Thinking about it. I've got someone who can construct the body while I programme the system."

"So, you made this?"

"Not really, just did a few tweaking." She's staring at it with affection.

Beth had stopped freelancing after the birth of Seth, wanting to be available whenever we needed her. She started a small IT company with her savings and the help of Stephen. Her company has grown within the last few years through contacts she made during her freelancing days, and she's now able to hire more and more IT technicians.

Though we still don't stay in the same town, because she wanted to be closer to Stephen, our friendship is still waxing stronger and stronger. She's way more than a sister to me.

"Where's Seth?" She asks, still taking long sips from her bottle.

"His favourite dance step is on."

"Aah. One of the reasons he'll love this robot."

"It can dance?"

"Yep." She smirks. "I specially programmed moves into it for him."

I sigh in resignation. "Now you've become a programmer too." I mumble. Of course, dance would be one of the robot's many skills. Now, I can't talk Beth into getting a smaller birthday gift. Seth will burst a blood vessel if he realizes I rejected a dancing robot meant for him. And I'm sure Beth will tattle.

I decide to change the subject. "How's Stephen?"

Her smile radiates on her whole face. "He's splendid. He sent his greetings."

It's still a surprise to me how Stephen and Beth could remain together, despite the curves life has thrown at them. I didn't know Beth could stick around this long with a man like Stephen Kings, considering he's a business tycoon that is always in the tabloids for one reason or another.

She had wanted to keep their relationship a secret at first, not comfortable with her life on display for public scrutiny. Stephen had declined, saying she's not his dirty little secret, and that it was best to openly acknowledge it, so wrong speculations won't raise it's ugly head.

Looking at her now, with the soft, secretive smile on her lips, I can say love does agree with her. From the looks of the Stephen I've met occasionally at functions, he's quite besotted with her also.

"He'll be here for Seth's birthday." She continues. "Speaking of birthday, how's preparation going?"

"Almost done. I've decided to order all the food instead of doing the cooking." I sip my drink, looking round the living room. "I'll decorate the house though, if I can just get all this boxes unpacked in time." I grimace, counting the boxes scattered everywhere in my head.

"The birthday is the day after tomorrow, we'll get it sorted before then." She assures me. "Besides, Paulo called and said he'll be here for Seth's birthday." She pauses and waggle her brows. "He's coming with Romeo."

I groan in annoyance. Romeo is Sir Paulo's second son, he's in the same food business as his father. I had met him last year at Paulo's sixtieth birthday party, organized by Romeo at his house. His house and restaurant happens to be situated in the same town I live in.

Romeo is an easy going and fun loving guy, quite handsome and confident. To be truthful, I admire him a lot, but it just ends there. He has only refused to be friend-zoned or brother-zoned.

Since he found out I live in the same city with him, he has been disturbing me for a date. I had avoided bringing him to my old apartment to meet Seth, so I don't give him or Seth the wrong impression, but now, Paulo, the slick matchmaker, is bringing him straight to my new home.

Beth gives me a knowing smirk. "You could order food from Romeo. You won't have to pay a dime."

"Oh please." I stand up, moving towards the kitchen. My spaghetti should be cool enough by now, I'm putting some in the refrigerator for another day.

Beth follows me. "I think you should give Romeo a chance. You've not dated since whats-his-name turned out to be an asshole." She leans her butt by the counter near the sink. "And believe me girl, that place down there must have rusted by now. It'll need serious oiling and screwing."

"Oh Jesus! Beth!" I exclaim, bursting into laughter.

She shrugs, her eyes dancing in merriment. "Tis true. A well lubricated vagina, is a happy vagina."

My laughter erupts again as I divide the spaghetti into bowls. "I like my vagina just fine with the rust. Thank you."

She smiles, watching me work. "Can you just think about it? Please?"

I snort.

"If you don't do something about it before your next birthday, I'll buy you a dildo and a vibrator and gift it to you in front of everyone."

I pause to stare at her in surprise, she looks stern enough to do it. I mentally calculate my next birthday, it's still like three months away. Enough time for me to change her mind.

I fake a resigned sigh. "Since you put it that way, I'll think about it."

"Good." She brings out her phone. "I forgot to order pizza for Seth."

"You had better place the order now and hope it gets here before his dance steps ends."

I haven't even finished talking when we hear his room door open and shuts again, and his running feet fast approaching the dinning room.

"Aunt Beth!" He screams in excitement as he jumps to hug her around her waist. "You're here."

"Yes, genius. I'm here." She squats to his height to hug him better.

I watch them do some kind of weird and twisting hand shake that always leave me in a daze, then they do their own special fist bump.

"Where's the pizza?"

"It's on the way, but in the mean time..." She gestures toward the robot in the living room. "Taa- daa!"

Seth turns round and his eyes becomes as round as saucers. "Wooow!"

I shoot Beth a killing glance. Now there is no way I'm going to hide the robot from Seth. Beth just gives me a cheeky smile.

He starts to walk slowly, as if in a trance, towards the robot. "Is this for me?" He whispers in awe, making me roll my eyes.

"Yeah, genius. Happy birthday in advance."

He stretches out his hand to touch it. Rita presses something on a remote that I hadn't seen before now. The robot's red eyes light up. Seth snatches his hand away in fear.

"Hello, are you Seth?" The robot says in its programmed voice. They are almost of the same height, with Seth just a little taller than it.

Seth jerks his head towards Beth, she gives him an encouraging nod. He jerks his head back to the robot. "Y-yes, I'm Seth." His replies in a shaky voice.

The robot stretches out it's hand, Seth tentatively places a few fingers in it. "Nice to meet you Seth. I hear you love to dance. I love to dance too. Would you like to see me dance?"

Seth eyes light up. "Yes. I'd love to."

An hip-hop beat starts to play from inside the robot, it then begin to make some stiff robotic dance moves that looks like something I've seen on TV.

I frown in concentration, I didn't know the robot can do that.

Seth laughs joyously, as he watches the robot dance the steps. "Awesome!" He shouts happily, his small body shaking with excitement.

The robot finishes the moves and asks, "do you like my moves?"

"I love it! What's your name?"

"I don't have a name yet. Will you give me a name?"

Seth turns to gaze pleadingly at Beth. "Aunt Beth, can I?"

"Why not? It's yours." Beth shrugs.

Happy tears pool in his eyes. My heart soar at the joy I can see on his face. I will do just about anything to keep this look on his face forever.

"Alright, I name you Awesome, because you're just... awesome."

Beth and I stare at each other, tears glittering in our eyes also. I can see her love for Seth in her eyes, and I know she sees same in mine.

We smile at each other. Our boy is perfect.

The robot is still talking. "Awesome... I like it."

Beth presses something on the remote again. The robot bends it's head instantly, it's voice starts to deepen and scramble like it's battery is getting low.

"I'm tired, Seth. I'll like to rest now." It says in a thick voice, then goes silent.

Seth keeps on staring at it in disbelieve. Then he whirls suddenly and runs as fast as he can, avoiding the boxes blocking his way, he gets to Beth and hugs her tightly.

"I love you Aunt Beth. Thank you so much."

Beth wraps her arms around him and closes her eyes. "I love you too, genius."

He draws back and looks up at Beth. "Can I start playing with it now?"

Beth shakes her head. "Not yet, you have to wait till your birthday and you have to ask your mum if it's okay to have it."

I smile as I watch them, no matter how crazy Beth is, she knows not to cross the line when it comes to parental discipline. She's always deferring to me to make decisions concerning my son.

She bends to whisper something into his ears and he chuckles. He leaves Beth and rams straight into me.

"Can I have it mummy? Please?." He gives me his best puppy eyes. I sigh as I hug him back. I have to concede defeat, so as not to be tagged the evil mother.

"Alright, you can have it_ But!" I quickly interject before he starts jubilating, squatting to his height, so we can see eye to eye. "You won't touch it till after your birthday; you'll not operate it unsupervised; you'll have your meals, bath and sleep at the stipulated time."

He was nodding his head in affirmative all through my speech. I sigh inwardly, I doubt he heard a word I said.

"I'll follow all the rules. I promise." He is still nodding and looking too serious. "Anything else?" He asks.

"Hmm." I say, pretending like I'm thinking of more rules. I remain silent till he starts to fidget. From the corner of my eyes, I can see Beth hiding her smile.

"None for now." I say at last.

He hugs me so tight around my neck with his small arms, I begin to wonder if he won't strain it.

"Thank you so much mummy. You're the best."

I hold him close and kiss his head, savouring the moment. I know in the next one or two years, he'll be too embarrassed for hugs like this, so I make the most of the now.

The door bell rings, Seth untangles his arms from around my neck, while Beth strides to the door.

"That must be your pizza, genius." She announces as she goes. She opens the door and we are shocked to see cartons upon cartons of pizza appear at the door. Seth and I stare with open mouths as Beth receives them and tips the pizza guy.

"Wow!" Seth exclaims, still in shock. "This is a mountain load of pizza." He rushes forward to help Beth.

"Beth, this is too much!" I shout in exasperation. "Where're are we going to keep them?"

"Sorry, got carried away." She laughs, her face hidden behind the stack of pizza.

I shake my head as I go to help her. We dump everything on the dining table.

"Go wash your hands before eating, young man." I scold after spying Seth trying to pry one of the cartons open.

"Aaaw mum." He says but runs to the kitchen to wash his hands.

I turn to Beth and say a heartfelt 'thank you' to her for everything. She walks to me and just hugs me tight. I close my eyes and let her constant love wash over me.