33 All is not well

Warning: Strong language

I watched the entire sports event till the award ceremony. The kids were all very talented and so enthusiastic. I also discovered my son's talent today. Twen was a natural runner. No wonder he got taller, tanner, and leaner recently. It was not only because of his growth spurt. It was also because he was practicing for the race under the sun. I was astonished at the talent my son displayed. Not only did he qualify for the final races, but he also won the first position in the 50m race and third position in the 100m, and the relay race.

During the awards event, they prepared gold, silver, and bronze medals and certificates. Twen received one gold and two bronze medals. I madly clicked pictures of him receiving awards. My chest was puffing up with pride. I was glad that I attended the sports day to see how amazingly talented my son is. After the ending band parade, I went to the gate to get Twen.

The sports day was to continue another day as neither the badminton nor the soccer game could end in one day. They still had their finals. The racing, long jump, and floor gymnastics were over, along with the award distribution.

Twen came out hopping with a huge smile on his face.

"Mommy you saw me? I got three medals!!" he chirped happily.

"Yes, you were amazing!! I am so proud of you!! Congratulations!! I got you in here as well to make this moment memorable," I said, showing him my camera.

Twen's eyes sparkled, "Really? I want to see. Mommy show me," he said jumping, and trying to get hold of my hand.

"Calm down! Clam down! We will go back home and see, okay?" I said, laughing, as he was jumping to catch hold of my camera.

"Did the boy just call that guy 'mommy'?" I heard a female voice behind me say suspiciously.

"UGH, disgusting! How are they even allowed in the school premises?" snorted a middle-aged man.

"This is all because of this new trend called equality! What equality!? How can some whore be compared to respectable hard earning people like us? It worries me to send our children to a place where such people are hovering. You never know if they will get influenced by them." another middle-aged man mocked to the clicking of tongues and 'hmmm' of others.

"What can we do? We can't just stop our children's education because of those things, right?" a sophisticated-looking woman replied scathingly.

"I can't say for sure, but I feel like I have seen a face very similar to that boy somewhere," a young girl said, wonderingly.

I froze when I heard the discussion behind me. I quickly gazed at Twen and saw his face turning red.

SHIT!! He heard them!

I can't allow Twen's memorable day to turn sour. I quickly placed my camera in the waist pouch, picked him up, and walked speedily to my car. I saw his cheeks puffed and looking very upset. What do I do to cheer him? I looked around and saw an ice cream parlor. That was perfect. This will cheer him surely.

"Twen, sit here quietly, I will be back in a minute, okay?"

Twen nodded without saying anything. I felt very guilty. He was so happy just a little while back, and I destroyed it for him. I quickly trotted past the car and got butterscotch flavored sundae for him. It was his favorite flavor. I opened the door to the back seat, where Twen was still sitting with a sullen face. I quickly put on a huge smile and said in a jolly voice,

"Look what I have got here! Butterscotch ice cream for the winner," I said as I placed the ice cream in front of him.

To my utter despair, Twen did not look happy at all. He instead looked at me with red puffy eyes and put his hands around my neck, hugging me. He spoke in a teary voice,

"Why does everyone say bad things about mom? Mommy hasn't even done anything to them, then why? Others have got mommies too, but no one says bad things about them."

I felt extremely upset. I wanted this day to be his best day, but instead, because of me, it got spoiled. I didn't know what to reply,

"I am so sorry", I apologized, patting his head.

He moved back and looked at me,

"But you did not do anything wrong. They said bad things. They should say sorry!! There is a boy in my class who said that my mommy is dirty because he is a man and can give birth. I don't understand!"

My eyes widened and my heart sank. I didn't think that such little kids would be talking all this. I opened my mouth to apologize again when Twen continued with an aggressive voice,

"I hate him. His mommy gave birth to him, but because his mommy is not a man, is she not dirty? I DON'T GET IT!! Why does he have to say such mean things? So, what if my mommy is a man? Aren't all mommies the same?"

I was dumbstruck, totally at a loss for words. I didn't know that he had heard all this. My omega status was unconsciously hurting my son's life as well. I can't help feeling emotional. My son was forced to mature because no one around him would let him enjoy his childhood in peace thanks to my Omega status. How do I make up for all this? I thought that he would eventually come to despise me when he realizes that I can give birth, even though I am a man. I was preparing myself mentally that one day he might leave me. Turns out I was just being silly! He doesn't care at all. To him, I am just his mommy. I hugged him and said in a shaky voice,

"Yes, all mommies are the same. You are right. I am proud of you Twen."

He cried for some time over me, then took the half-melted ice cream and quietly ate it. He was very quiet on our way back home. I wanted to cheer him, but I was not sure what to say. As I parked my car and made my way to the house with Twen, I heard a familiar deep voice,

"Tonnnyyyy! What's up?"

This was followed by a big bear hug which took all my breath away. It was none other than Fred. I can recognize his big wide chest and jolly voice anywhere.

"Leave my mommy!" I heard Twen scolding him.

"Huh? Ohh! hey champ, what's up?" he said, with me still in his embrace, but Twen glared at him, which made him realize he has not left me. He quickly put me down and said in a playful tone, "Aahhh! sorry, Champ!! I was not trying to hurt your mommy."

I coughed. Why can't he hug me normally? I looked at his tanned smiley face. Though I wanted to get angry at him, I couldn't do so and ended up smiling at him meekly. Twen suddenly hugged me by the waist possessively, glowering at Fred, who looked massively unaffected by it. Apparently, Twen isn't over his insecurities yet. I chuckled lightly and patted Twen's head, then looked at Fred asking,

"What are you doing here?"

"Business work," he winked, "Do you remember the Italian restaurant my dad owned here?"

I stared. I had completely forgotten about it. His dad owned quite a lot of restaurants across the city. Most of them were Italian, but he had multi-cuisine ones too. 'Pastaz' was the one Fred was talking about. It was not a very popular one and didn't hit off with the client base. So, his dad was planning to close it. I asked uncertainly,

"Yes, but I thought your dad closed it"

"Naah. He was planning to but dropped it after the new business center and high school opened here. He changed his target market to jobbers and teenagers. It has been running quite well since then. Now he wants to expand his menu, so he asked me to check it out for him." Fred replied.

"Great," I said, happy about his new endeavors. I noted that we were still standing in the parking area. I quickly invited Fred,

"Let's sit and talk in my apartment" I invited.

"Aye aye, boss," Fred said, jokingly.

I rolled my eyes and all three of us started walking towards my quarter.