Birthday Party 2

"She's talking!"

These two words of mine caused the entire room to go into an uproar. A few people started to approach me, feeling the urge to squeeze my cheeks –supposedly to praise me. Suddenly, mother stood up lifting me up in the air, out of reach of the others, as the chair she was sitting on fell loudly. Once again, the room went silent. Well, this is awkward.

"S-sorry Azariah…" Said one of the woman who was about to stroke my hair. She was Randy's wife. I think her name was Leona, or Leonara. "It's ok, you can sit again, we won't touch her."

As I became the neighborhood's mascot, people started to casually approach me. Well, that's only natural, people feel the need to hug, pinch or poke anything cute. Babies are cute. Me? I'm even cuter. But each time they would try to touch me, mother would either protect me with her body or drag me away. It's not that she didn't like the fact that I was popular –as a mother, she couldn't feel any prouder to see her daughter becoming everyone's center of attention- but she was afraid that they would accidentally see or touch my ears. Her fear was legitimate. While my hair was covering them, if people started to play with my cheeks or my hair, it was only a matter of time before they saw my elven ears. So mother refused to let anyone touch me. Of course, people found her behavior weird, but it was her right as a mother, and eventually they got used to it. Staring, no touching. However, sometimes, they would give in their instinct and forget about that rule, just like now.

After the little incident, the cheerful atmosphere slowly came back and the party continued through the night. We didn't stay until the end though. Since I'm still a baby and I need to sleep, at some point, mother discretely slipped away and we returned in our room. It took a while before people noticed that the main event –that is me- disappeared. Seriously guys, make some efforts. Wasn't I supposed to be main star? Please notice it when I'm gone.

Upon returning in our room, mother took off her hood and sat me down on the bed. Then, she knelt down to be on the same eye-level me. She gently stroked my head for a few seconds before taking something out of her pocket. It was a simple, yet refined, honey amber ring. A small amber stone was attached to a simple silver band. Mother threaded a string through the hole of the ring and made a knot on the end. She then put the improvised necklace around my neck.

"Happy birthday sweetheart."

Heh? Birthday present? I looked down on my new pendant. Back in my old world, this modest ring would have been considered a cheap piece of jewelry, but I could tell that here, it was valuable, especially for a commoner family like us. Mother must have saved a lot of money to buy it. Was this really ok for me to have this? I looked up at her. As if she knew what I was thinking, she simply smiled at me.

"Me too!" Aoban suddenly shouted.

Mother turned to him. "You want a ring too?" She asked, rising a single eyebrow.

"What? No, that's too girly!" He answered shaking his head. "I too, have a present for Lyni!"

"Really? You do?"

Aoban nodded, puffing out his chest proudly. Then he suddenly rushed to the bed, almost throwing himself on me. He hugged me so tightly I thought I was going to suffocate. Mother, help! Brother is trying to kill me! Ah, she's just chuckling. As my first near-death experience in this world came to an end, Aoban kissed me on my forehead.

"Happy birthday little sister!" A broad smile appeared on his face, showing all his teeth. Seriously… How am I supposed to blame you if you show me such an innocent face? Cuteness is dangerous. I'm sure brother is going to become a lady-killer when he grows up.

After that, we all went to the bed. The three of us share the same bed. It's tight, but I don't dislike it. I had almost forgotten the feeling of sleeping together with someone else. Keeping each other warm and listening to their breathing gradually slowing down. It's quite relaxing actually. Mother then started to hum a lullaby.

"Lullaby, and good night, in the skies stars are bright.

May the moon's silvery beams bring you sweet dreams.

Close your eyes now and rest, may these hours be blessed.

'Til the sky's bright with dawn, when you wake with a yawn.

Lullaby, and good night, you are mother's delight.

I'll protect you from harm, and you'll wake in my arms.

Sleepyhead, close your eyes, for I'm right beside you.

Guardian angels are near, so sleep without fear.

Lullaby, and good night, with roses bedight.

Lilies o'er head, lay thee down in thy bed.

Lullaby, and good night, you are mother's delight.

I'll protect you from harm, and you'll wake in my arms.

Lullaby, and sleep tight, my darling sleeping.

On sheets white as cream, with a head full of dreams.

Sleepyhead, close your eyes, I'm right beside you.

Lay thee down now and rest, may your slumber be blessed.

Go to sleep, little one, think of puppies and kittens.

Go to sleep, little one, think of butterflies in spring.

Go to sleep, little one, think of sunny bright mornings.

Hush, darling one, sleep through the night,

Sleep through the night,

Sleep through the night."

Those lyrics… I know them. It's a popular lullaby from Earth.

In my past life, when I was first admitted at the hospital, because of the unknown environment, I was so scared that I couldn't sleep. That's when my parents first sang me this song. Ever since, whenever I would have trouble to sleep, they would sing for me. It was my favorite lullaby. I never outgrown my love for this song even in my teens. After my parents stopped staying the night, I would still hum it by myself.

I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not, but I can't help but feel nostalgic. What are my parents doing right now? Are they living well? I hope they were able to move on.

As I lost myself in my thoughts, a wave of fatigue spread through my body and before I noticed it, I had fallen asleep.

◊◊◊◊◊

I woke up in the middle of the night, as I heard the sound of cracked pads penetrating the darkness. Opening my eyes, mother and brother were still peacefully sleeping, not showing any signs of waking up soon. I looked around me, searching for the source of the noise. My eyes stopped on a shadow, sitting on the window ledge. It was a black cat. Its fur, full of scars, was dull and thin, and its ears were matted confetti. It was in a bad shape but it didn't look like a stray since it was wearing a locking steel collar. Who the heck treats his cat like that? Animal abuse?

Every night, mother would open the window to ventilate the room and let fresh air enter before sleeping. She must have forgotten to close it and fell asleep. What do I do? Do I chase it away? I like animals, but I'd rather not have it enter the room and make a mess, searching for food of anything.

But the cat didn't do anything. It just sat there, staring in my direction with his lamp-like eyes. After exchanging gazes for a few minutes, since it didn't look like it was about to move anytime soon, I tried scaring him away waving my arms in front on me.

However, something unexpected happened.

"Finally, I found you…" The cat turned away and, after hesitating a bit, it jumped out the window, disappearing out of sight.

…

Eh…? D-Did the cat just talk…?