"Aurora!"
"The prettiest little thing! Look at how chubby she is, aww!~"
"Too bad her mother left her while birthing her—"
"ENOUGH!"
The old woman's shriek cut all of the sisters off once and for all. Aurora was just a few months older, she didn't need to be filled with negativity when she was just this young and delicate.
Diana's mother, Helen, glared at the three sisters who retracted back when she was approaching them to the crib where baby Aurora laid sound asleep.
"Shame on all of you. Is this how your mother would like to hear when your child survived instead of you? Huh?"
"Aunt Helen—"
"Leave at once. I will call you when I get the things ready for the ceremony. Until then, I want you all out of my sight. Now scram!"
At that, the three young ladies scattered off from the place, leaving the grandma and her baby Aurora who was shifting in her sleep.
"God, they made you uncomfortable, isn't it baby? Grandma is so sorry. Diana, if only you were here, my lovely."
Tears pooled at the reddish corner of her wrinkled eyes and a drop decided to cascade downwards, the accident of which the hot tear landed on baby Aurora's arm.
"Oh, my bad." She wiped her own glistening eyes first, gathering the soft apron fabric from in front of her tummy and cleaned the tear drop on top of her grandchild's arm.
Helen couldn't move away from the metal, almost worn out and squeaky crib. She was observing the facial features of the baby who resembled her own daughter so much that it felt utterly nostalgic.
Diana isn't Aurora.
Aurora isn't Diana, and never will be even if all hell and heaven decides so.
And Helen was trying to gage the the situation now. These past weeks were burdening for the old lady, beyond imagination. Taking care of the newborn, accepting guests and relatives who were so toxic, they would all put the evil forces to shame.
Humanity has and always had the greatest capabilities to cross the levels beyond the devine, unfortunately the evil, too.
It is all in the individual's mind.
Helen took a deep breath in, moving away when she assured herself with things and that Aurora was sleeping soundly again. On her way back to the small kitchen room attached to the living room, she saw her sister's daughters gossiping about stuff she isn't familiar with. But the old woman surely heard her daughter's name being uttered.
"Ugh, thank god Diana died because honestly, her ego was up until here." The youngest of the three, unaware that the deceased daughter's mother was so close in proximity to them, gestured the quantity by spreading her hands wide and above her head. The sister's giggled and slapped each other by the arm, not knowing how Helen was trying her best to control her emotions and not make a single sound.
She quietly left the place, taking the wider turn to enter the kitchen but she could still hear their voices loud and clear.
She didn't know what to feel.
Should she pity her sister for having birthed literal evil and rotten souls?
Should she confront them?
Or should she stay calm and quiet like she always did?
She chose the third one, like always.