Twenty-seven years ago...
A three year old boy came running to his mother and was wailing loudly. His short and chubby arms held his mother's neck as he buried his adorable face and continued crying. His ever affectionate mother cradled him on her arms and tried to console her baby. She wiped his tears and made him calm down. He had never been upset like this, something must have happened, she thought.
"Tell me what happened?" she coaxed him.
"Aunt Mia...is a bad...person." he managed to speak cutely in between sobs and continued weeping. His mother furrowed her brows. Mia is the wife of their newly married neighbor who just moved in few days ago after their wedding.
Their neighbor, Alex, is with the army and is seldom at home. While Mia may just have moved recently, she's always been at the place maintaining Alex's home when she was still his fiancee so their family is already familiar with them.
The couple also visits them a lot especially when she gave birth to her son. As there were no other kids in the neighborhood, the couple played around with their son and he grew very close to them. Seeing him this upset and terrified made her worry for the lady next door instead. Did her son threw a tantrum at their neighbor? I guess I'll have to check on her after this little one calms down, she thought.
Mia's husband just went on a month long leave for their wedding and had already left to his current deployment so she's the only one at home now. Her worry is starting a build up now so she consoled her son again, propped him on a chair and tried to call their neighbor.
"It's okay, mommy will check on Aunt Mia alright?" She caressed his hair and patted him to calm down but instead, her son struggled to stop her.
"No!" he bawled.
"I'll just check what happened." She flashed a kind smile but his tiny hands tried to hold onto her.
"No Mommy, she'll eat you!" he shrieked. She grew more confused but gently pried his tiny fingers away.
"Mommy will be just fine." she then stood from her seat and reached for the door. She heard a knock before she could even hold the handle and her son went on uncontrollable frenzy of wails again.
"She ate Uncle Alex's baby!" he shouted. She stood a little silent, understanding the situation, put a smile on her face and opened the door. Mia's worried face showed on their door. Her son shrieked even louder but can't seem to move from where he's sitting.
"Hi," Mia looked around looking for her son. She smiled and widened the door opening to let her in.
"Handsome, your Aunt Mia is looking for you." she called out to tease him.
"No, Mommy. I'll be a good son now." Her adorable so is still hysterical beyond belief, afraid that the woman is hungry for another bite and wanted to eat him, too. He could still remember how she smiled when she told her that his neighborhood uncle's baby is now in her tummy.
Did that mean she only played with him because she wants to eat him, too? Is that why there are no kids in their neighborhood? His mother won't believe him either and even looked to be in a very good mood as she let Aunt Mia inside. They're both smiling at each other. Did Mommy decide to eat me, too? He wailed again. As his mother approached him, he began to bargain for his dear life. He hasn't lived that long yet.
"I won't tell. I won't tell them you eat the kids here so please don't eat me." he pleaded. His mother continued approaching him and patted his head.
"Aunt Mia did not eat your Uncle Alex's baby. The baby just needs to stay there so it can grow." He blinked his round teary eyes. What is his mother talking about? His big round eyes looked at them, confused.
"You're just like that baby before, you're too tiny yet so you have to live in mommy's tummy for a couple of months before you can play around." He stopped crying, so Aunt Mia will not eat him?
"Really?" his tears are drying now and his mother is also relaxing a bit, happy that she doesn't have to explain Mia's pregnancy another way. Mia is still sitting a bit further from her son, still holding the toys he left when he dashed home from fear. An awkward and shy smile is noticeable on her glowing face.
"Yeah. And in a few months, you'll be the big brother of their baby." there's still unbelief in his little eyes but he nodded, he trusted his mother.
"Okay. Should we feed her baby then?" he moved from his very still position and grabbed a fruit from a nearby table. He clumsily offered it to Mia and ran back to his mother's arms. Both ladies laughed and she sent him away to wash up which he obediently did.
"Thanks," Mia murmured. She just waived it with a smile.
"When did you found out?" she's more curious of their neighbor's pregnancy than her son's fright. He'll move on soon.
"I was just not feeling well yesterday when I went to shop for groceries and the clinic is conveniently nearby." she replied, unable to hide the happiness on her face.
"Have you already told him?" Alex would be happy to hear about it and she also knows how he adores little kids.
"He said he may drop by next week after he delivers some paperworks." she smiled and remembered when her own husband found out that they're pregnant with their son. He jumped up and down in the road announcing her pregnancy, causing her much fluster.
"You have to be more care-" her sentence was cut short when her son came running to them once more. He had on his army uniform that Alex gifted him on his birthday. He's also struggling to carry a box where he keeps his toy guns.
"From now on, I'll be guarding the baby on your tummy. Until the day it's ready to play with me, I'll make sure to protect you like Uncle Alex would." Mia just smiled at this tiny guy's statement.
"Of course!" she enthusiastically replied and the little guy just ran away from them again. Mia spoke with his mother for a few more minutes before she eventually went home. The little guy wanted to follow her but her mother stopped him for a nap.
And just like that, the biggest crisis on his three year of existence has been solved. He assigned himself as a big barricade to the little baby on his Aunt Mia's tummy.
Fast forward to nine months later, the same little guy is rushing towards their house again. He holds a balloon on his hand and his face still has traces of cake on it.
The crowd that's starting to gather in their backyard all turned their heads to him. Some looked worried while others are just curious.
"Aunt Mia is dying! Help her! Mommy, help!"