1 Chapter 1

It was a snowy night and Stewart is rushing to the hospital, not because he had hit someone accidentally or he's hurt, but something good. He asked for the person on the phone where their location is. His face is filled with desperation to get to his beloved wife who is about to give birth to their third child. As he arrived, he entered the room without hesitation. He sees her struggling. And as he was watching, he held her hand and prayed that she'd make it. Every second made it hard for him, he's not new to the experience but he never heard her cry that hard, it was as if she was struggling hard. Every second, her grip gets tighter and tighter.

 At last, he heard a newborn baby's cry. He rushed to see the child, and when he held her in his arms, his world turned as if it was in slow motion. He felt tears in his eyes, tears of joy. He looked at his wife whose face is wearing a weak smile. As he looked at her, his joy turned around as her smile fade. She looks as if she's only sleeping. Whose in a very deep sleep, a sleep from which she'd never wake from. 

The doctors and nurses rushed to check her out, and one of the nurses took the baby to the nursery. Then again, Stewart held Xandria's hands. He can't hold back his tears anymore. As the doctors are saying that they have done their best to bring her back, he burst into tears. He just can't believe that the love of his life is now gone, it felt like he's falling, no, breaking. As the tears streamed down his face, all of his memories of her came back to his head like a throwback, all the good times and the bad times. Then later, he figured himself lonely, and he's trying to figure out what to feel. But overall, he felt sadness and that's all he knows. Then he remembered, he's got a newborn baby whose a female. He went to take a look at the child through the window. then suddenly, his sadness is lessened. Like that hole that in his heart is quickly aided. Then his mother arrived with his two other sons. Then he remembered again the sadness and sorrow that he's feeling just five minutes ago. 

He looked at his two sons, Adam and Sam. He sat with them and spoke to them,

"Mom won't be with us anymore,"  he said with those eyes filled with sorrow.

"Are you saying that mom's gone?" Adam asked worriedly. 

"No, she can't be, right dad?" Sam quickly replied. But Stewart was only able to give him a sad look.

Their eyes widened as if they can't believe it. They want him to say that it was all just a joke. However, it's not. It is nothing but a sad and unacceptable reality. The woman who chose to cook for them instead of the maids is gone. The woman who sang lullabies for them is gone. It was like as if she's gone to another world where she's never coming back. And she left them with nothing but a child. 

They were all feeling sad. They were like dead souls in flesh, they've lost someone precious. ANd they all swore to take care of the child. They would never make her blame herself for everything, they'd wanna make sure that the child would grow up as a happy child. And Stewart named her Athena Xandria Chen. He named her after her mother, to ensure that the memory of his loving wife would never fade. 

They went home trying to forget, trying to move on. But losing someone can't be forgotten in just two hours. It takes months and years to move on from such a tragedy. It won't be easy for Stewart and for his kids to move on. Well, at least Athena doesn't feel any sadness, for now. But now that they've entered a home without a mother, they've felt an emptiness. The boys went into their own rooms and mourned in their own. And as for Stewart, who's with Athena, stayed up late until the young one fell asleep. 

He then tucked the child in her crib and kissed her goodnight. He lied down on his cold and wide bed that is supposed to be for two. He's trying to realize something, but he doesn't really know if it's right to make decisions already. He's just scared that he might fail if raising his children alone. He's afraid to take another step, for he might make a mistake. After a very long decision making, he then fell asleep.