That fateful night forced her life to make a drastic turn.
Several months after she left Shenzhen with Li Meili, inside the obstetrics department of one of the most prestigious hospitals in New York City, Tang Moyu found herself gritting her teeth as she endured the acute labor pain in her abdomen and back. She clutched the guardrails of both sides of her bed so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.
The pain wasn't sharp and short but dull and long which was already enough to push her to her limit. Tang Moyu's face was ghastly pale. Under such pain, she broke into a cold sweat.
Unlike a singleton pregnancy, Tang Moyu was delivering her twins at thirty-six weeks of her pregnancy.
Seeing her like this, Li Meili couldn't help but worry for her friend. Tang Moyu had no family to look after her and it pained Li Meili to know that this wouldn't be the last time her best friend would have to endure everything alone. This was just the beginning.
"Moyu, don't be scared. I'm here. Your children will be born safe and sound. Everything would be okay," Li Meili told her.
Tang Moyu closed her eyes as the nurses came in and pushed her into the delivery room while Li Meili waited outside the doors.
Six hours later, a resonant wail of a baby could be heard from the inside. The firstborn was a son and he was immediately placed into an incubator before he was sent to the nursery room. The younger twin was a girl. She had a very faint heartbeat that almost scared the wits out of the doctor and the midwife that delivered her.
Inside the delivery room, Tang Moyu passed out from exhaustion.
When she woke up, she found Li Meili sitting on the edge of her bed, holding a baby in her arms. She beamed a smile at Tang Moyu as soon as she saw her awake.
"Look, Moyu. You've given birth to such a pair of beautiful babies." Li Meili placed the baby girl on her before taking the wailing boy from his bassinet. "There, there. Auntie Mei is here for you. Do you want to meet your Mommy too?" She cooed to the child.
Tang Moyu looked at the pair of buns she had given birth to. Just like what her friend had said, they were the most beautiful babies she'd seen in her life. Both had silky jet black hair on their heads and had a smooth jade-like skin and rosy cheeks. They looked adorable and cute.
She stared down at the sleeping baby in her arms. Her baby wiggled and she looked at how Li Meili held her son close then copied her friend and adjusted her hold and let the baby settle in her arms.
Tang Moyu carefully examined her daughter. She couldn't believe an adorable and delicate baby like her came from her womb. She'd always thought of her being a wife someday but had never imagined being a mother to her own children.
Her hand reached out and touched the head of her baby, her fingers slid down to touch the roundness of the baby's ear.
"So beautiful," she murmured.
"What will you name them?" Li Meili asked her as she settled next to Tang Moyu, taking a peek over her shoulder to see the baby girl. The baby boy in her arms stirred but remained silent.
Tang Moyu gently ran the back of her forefinger against the smooth rosy cheek of her daughter. The baby smiled, much to her shock and Li Meili's amusement.
"Feixiu." Tang Moyu decided. "Her name will be Tang Feixiu."
She was a little star in her arms that would someday be bright and shine as a great sun, blinding people with her light.
"And this little one?" Her friend continued.
"Tang Feiyu."
Since she had no one else but her children, Tang Moyu swore that she would protect them with her life.
----
Five years later...
A loud buzzing sound pierced through the silence and stillness of the room which was followed by a soft groan emanated from the woman who cocooned herself at the center of the bed, hoping that the buzzing sound would stop and let her sleep for five more minutes before starting her day.
However, it didn't stop, forcing her to roll on her side, a hand reaching out from under the sheets to press the snooze button of her alarm.
Finally, a moment of peace. However, a moment later, that moment was gone when she heard pattering footsteps coming her way.
"Mommy? Are you awake now?" A cute, charming voice of a little girl reached Tang Moyu's ears.
A pair of sweet little buns stopped at the edge of her bed, one of them trying to tug off the blanket that covered her entirety. Tang Moyu groaned again and felt a slight dip on her bed as her daughter decided that her mother had enough sleep and tried to sneak under the covers with her.
A pair of little arms tried to engulf her under the sheets but failed. Tang Moyu cracked an eye open to look at the grinning face of her daughter who was poking her sides with her chubby little fingers.
"Mommy, wakey! Wakey! The sun is already up!" The little girl whose hair was tied up in pigtails let out a loud squeal when Tang Moyu tried to pin her on the bed and tickle her sides. "Ahhh! Yu Gege, help me! Mommy turned into a tickle monster!"
"Urgh, here we go again," Tang Moyu heard her son muttered as he tugged the sheets on top of them, letting the sunlight streaming from the windows to cast over them.
"Too bright. Xiao Bao, can you let Mommy sleep a little more, please?" Tang Moyu turned to her son and covered her eyes with an arm, protecting them from the sudden light from the window that hit her face.
The little boy scowled at her, displeasure was written all over his face while his twin sister was still trying to get even with their mother by poking Tang Moyu's side again with her forefinger but not getting any reaction from their mother.
"But Mommy promised that she would take me and Little Star out. Didn't you say you have no work today?" He reminded her.
Tang Moyu removed her arm from her eyes and sighed. She eyed her four-year-old son who shared the same hair color as hers, but the shape of his face, as well as his eyes, clearly didn't come from the Tang family. Tang Feiyu, was too smart for his age, making her wonder if he inherited it from his father, a man whose identity was still unknown to her.
"Yu Gege, please don't be hard on Mommy. She's tired from work, isn't she?" The Little girl pouted at her elder brother.
Unlike her elder brother, Tang Feixiu had the color of Tang Moyu's eyes and skin complexion. However, this child's bubbly and carefree personality was a stark contrast to Tang Moyu's.
"Alright. Let's not start our day with another round of arguments. Go wash your face in your room and we'll get a light breakfast before we go out, okay?" Tang Moyu could already foresee where this was heading.
She forced herself to climb out of her bed, her bare feet feeling the soft rug beneath her before she headed to the bathroom attached to her room. She could hear the twins' murmuring in low voices as they made their way back to their room.