CHAPTER 31: BEST THING TO DO AS A MAN

"Hey, big brother, what are you doing?" The little girl sneaked a peek at the boy's sketch paper.

"I'm trying to draw someone." The boy smiled, his eyes were glued at his nearly finished art.

"Someone?" She raised her brow confused.

"Yes, someone I treasured more than anything in this world."

The little girl looked closer and blinked her eyes more than twice. "You have a rabbit? Do you like her that much?" She innocently stared at the boy's eyes."Ha-ha-ha!" The boy laughed to his heart's content upon hearing the little kid's assessment.

"Why are you laughing?""Well, because I don't know whether I'd be disappointed or just laugh it off.""Eh?"

The little boy suddenly flickered his finger on the kid's forehead. "How could you say this is a rabbit when I tried to draw a person?" The boy pouted.

"A person?!" She exclaimed and glanced at the sketch paper one more time. "Big brother, I don't think you are suited to be an artist. Your drawing is awful! If the person you draw sees this, she will definitely be disappointed."

"And how did you know it's a she when you first thought it was a rabbit?""Because it has long hair?" She chuckled. "I thought this was the rabbit's big ears.""You just hurt my pride." He made a face but the little girl kept laughing at his drawing.

"Big brother, you should ask my mom to teach you. She's a great artist, you know." She felt proud for her mother.

"Yeah, I do agree she was great because she was my teacher.""Don't you dare lie." She made a face. "My mom is a great mentor. I've seen her students doing good but yours was kinda…." She held her jaw and was seemingly thinking of the right words to taunt his art.

Tsk! he hissed and pushed the little kid away. "If you don't have anything else to do, better go back to your room and read some stories. I'm trying to finish my masterpiece and yet your disturbing me."

"I don't want to." She crossed her arms across her chest while making a stern face. "Unless, you read it to me." She smirked playfully.

"Not a chance." He rolled his eyes."Then I'll just stay here with you." She sat beside him as she watched the man continued his drawing.

After a few more minutes, the little girl slowly dozed off and her head fell on the little boy's back.

"Hey, wake up. Don't sleep here. I'm not gonna carry you to your room!" He tried to wake her up.

"I'm not sleeping." He heard the kid's soft mutterings and she was obviously drowsy.

"Hey!" He stood up but the kid's head fell at the soft couch. However, it didn't wake her up.

"What a stubborn little kid." He hissed before he bended to fixed her body on the couch so she could sleep comfortably.

After which, he sat on the floor and continued his drawing. "Well, you said it looked like a rabbit then might as well make you a rabbit." He smirked mischievously then glanced at the little girl who was soundly sleeping.

'Tsk! Silly Rabbit!' He chortled mockingly.

After a few more minutes, the little boy cheerfully raised the sketch paper. It's his masterpiece after all!

He disliked arts the most when he was little but he learned to love it when he was nine years old. Not because he accepted the real essence of the crafts itself but he loved the people involved with art at that time. His mother was a friend of a great artist and her little daughter loved her mother's ability. Being with them for quite some time taught him to appreciate art.

He stood up and went to the kitchen to drink some water since he felt parched after hours of trying to perfect his drawing. Not soon after, thunder sounded from the heavens and the lights suddenly turned off. Then the little drizzles a while ago started to pour hard.

After a few seconds, he heard the girl crying calling out for him."Big brother…" Her voice shivered in fear as she continually called on him.

Since it was dark, the little boy scampered his way back to the living room.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm here now." He sat beside her and though he couldn't see her face clearly, he touched her head and made her sleep on his lap. "Now go back to sleep. I'll stay here with you."

"Promise? You're not leaving me?" She wiped her wet cheeks."Ehm, I'm not leaving you. That's a promise." Then he caressed her hair until she felt asleep.

Unknown to the little girl, the boy was afraid of the dark coupled by the frightful thunder as well. However, he cannot possibly shiver in fear considering that he was the little girl's anchor for strength. Therefore, that moment, he fought his urge to cry until his mom and the little girl's mother came back home.

"Baby…" A sleepy boy lifted his lids and saw a woman kneeling before him. Another woman came and carried the little girl in her arms and took her to room upstairs. "Sorry, mommy and aunt came home late. Are you alright?" She tapped the boy's head lovingly.

"Mama…?" He mumbled lightly. "I'm… I didn't cry." Tears begun to form from his eyes.

"Good job, baby… good job. You're a grown up now." She smiled and embraced her son. "Keep up the good work, sweetheart."

"Good work?" He uttered confused.

"Ehm, good work." She nodded with a smile. "Protecting your little princess from harm, that is considered a great job. You should bear that in mind, okay?"

"Ehm!" He lit up as he glanced at the sketch paper on the small table in front of him. 'I'll protect my little rabbit, mama.'

His mother was saying something and he knew it was important. However, a phone was buzzing loudly and it irritated his ears.

"Mom, your phone…." He uttered but the beautiful woman slowly faded away. "Mom?"

'Riiinnnggggggg!'

He suddenly woke up! "Damn it!" He cursed as soon as he rose up and sat at the edge of the bed. Why do his head hurts?

His phone kept ringing and he was about to reach the bedside table when he noticed the sky blue blanket. When did he change his blanket? He raised his brow confused. But even if he does, He was never a fan of sky blue mantles.

Oh, fudge! He yelped when he remembered what happened last night. He forgot he fell asleep at the woman's bed.

And speaking of that woman…. He glanced at his side but it was empty. Guess she woke up early.

The ringing stopped but he stood up and went to where his phone was. He glanced at his screen and saw five missed calls from a new number. Since it was an unregistered number, he decided to ignore it.

It was six in the morning and his body was seemingly tired. He wanted to sleep more but he has work today so he dragged himself to the shower room and took a quick bath.

He put on his formal suit and was grooming himself in front of the human size mirror when he unconsciously recalled his dream.

'Mom…' He sadly muttered when he remembered the day she died.

'Good job, baby.' Her voice echoed in his head. 'Protecting your little princess is the best thing you could do as a man, remember that sweetheart.'

He remembered her words. "Little princess?" He hissed. "Unfortunately, I was not given the chance to protect her mom. If only she survived, then probably… probably….''

He paused as his memory recalled a certain scenario in the past.

Rabbit!