Jarren and I took our first bite. Jarren started the water works again and he was shaking. I too couldn't hold back, I don't remember when was the last time I had a decent home cooked meal. Ms. Pheene looked confused and worried with our sudden burst of emotion.
"What's wrong? Was it too hot?" asked Ms. Pheene.
"It's been ages when we last had something warm and decent." I cried.
For a moment, she just looked at us. She then smiled as if happy and relieved.
"Ms. Pheene..." I mouthed with the fork still in my mouth.
"Mom," she corrected.
Jarren and I cried even louder. My now official brother and I ate dinner while still crying. We ate a lot until there were no leftovers but chicken bones. After dinner we were no longer crying but we were still very emotional. Mom cleaned up after us and we remained seated in the dining area. We watched her wash the dishes and she would chat to us. When she asked us how old we were, we couldn't tell exactly because we didn't kept track of the date. She then asked us how old we were when the outbreak started. I was 14 and Jarren was 12 when the apocalypse started. She then asked us when are our birthdays. I was born on May while Jarren was born on March. She told us that it has been three years since the zombie apocalypse. Jarren and I were stunned as we've realized how old we are now, I'm currently 17 while he is 15. After she washed the dishes, she invited us to our bedrooms. She provided us each a room of our own. My brother and I wondered where will she sleep if there were just two bedrooms. She explained she sleeps on the couch as it's more comfortable for her. She then told us that this is not our permanent home. She said after her work here, she'll take us to her actual home and introduce us to her family. I gulped on this idea.
Mom then invited us to sleep in our rooms. I personally don't feel comfortable sleeping on soft mattress. And I'm freezing because of the air condition, I can't turn it off because there's only one aircon in the unit. It's like it uses vents to make it blow in all the rooms besides the bathroom. And because of the cold temperature, very quickly I needed to take a leak, I feel my bladder is about to burst. I quickly got up and opened the door. I went straight to the bathroom and pissed. I flushed after myself and washed my hands in the sink. I shook my hands dry and wiped my hands on my shorts before stepping out of the bathroom. When I came out, I saw...M-mom...it still doesn't sink in that Ms. Pheene is my parent now. Even my own name, Nigel, still hasn't sink in. So anyway, My...mom...is sitting on the couch with a book in hand. All lights were off but a single table lamp.
"M-mom?" I called.
My mom looked up. "Hmm?"
"Umm...I noticed you have a lot of books..."
"Yes? Wanna read them?"
"C-can I?"
"Of course," she sweetly smiled.
I blushed and I walked up to her bookshelf. I looked at the books but I don't know which one to pick. Mom seem to notice my little struggle.
"What is your genre?" she asked.
I froze. I shyly looked at her. I don't know what that word meant. "Genre."
"You don't know what genre is?" Her eyes widened.
I pursed my lips in. I've only reached 7th grade.
"Genre is the category of something. For example: fantasy, horror, comedy, and stuff." she explained.
"Umm... fantasy?"
Mom blinked and smiled. She got up and took out a small green book. There's a girl in the picture. She's wearing a Japanese uniform and holding a bow and arrow. "Tiyantey High."
"It's fantasy, you'll like it," said mom before sitting down and going back to reading.
I sat next to her. I looked at the cover of the book, front and back. I read what was at the back, so far I understand all that was written. I open the book and flipped to chapter one. The words were easy on the eyes. I read and read until I came across a word I don't understand. "Rigor Mortis?" I stopped and looked at mom who's face is buried in the book she's reading. I would ask her what it meant but I'm shy. I decided to just put the book back and go to bed. I closed the book and slid the book back to where mom took it. I then started to my door. Before I enter my room, I look back at mom briefly. I waited for her to say something. A "goodnight" of sort but she seemed so emersed with the book so I just closed the door. I turned the light off but it didn't get too dark. The city lights kept the darkness away. I walked up to the window and looked around. There were armed men walking around, patrolling. There were no other people other than them. They weren't all men, some are women. They're on walls also armed. I then began to think about the kids, I wonder if their new guardians are treating them well. I hope they had something warm to eat and cool comfortable beds to sleep. And I hope Kelly's fever has gone down.
I then walked up to my bed. I lied my back down, it was so soft. But I'm not used to sleeping on soft bed. But I guess I'll have to get used to it somehow.
I closed my eyes, I thought of my new name, Nigel Ogram. My new family: Ms. Pheene Ogram; and my now my official brother, Jarren Ogram. I hope things turn out ok for us. I hope my new mom will be a great mom.
Soon, my entire body got tired. All my thoughts are getting cloudy. I yawned and slowly allowed myself to fall sleep.
When I woke up in the morning, the warm touch of morning sun felt pleasant on my skin. The cool air from the aircon complemented the warm kiss of sun on my cheeks. Only thing that isn't pleasant was the blinding light that's directly hitting my eyes. I blinked multiple times and stretched. I then looked around and found myself to be still in my room in Ms. Pheene...I mean...in my mom's unit. Slowly, I sat up on my bed. It's still very cold with the aircon on. I then felt the need to pee so I sluggishly stood up. I came out of my room and walked to the bathroom.
"Good morning," Mom greeted.
I stopped and looked at her, she was making breakfast.
"Good morning, Mom."
She turned her head to looked at me for a second. She smiled and continued what she was doing. I then went to the bathroom to pee. After I did my business in the bathroom, I sat by the dining table. Soon, Jarren came out of his room. His long hair was messy. Like me, mom greeted him.
"Good morning...M-m-mo..." Jarren couldn't say it straight, his face were red like ripe tomatoes.
Mom chuckled, "It's fine if you're not used to it yet. Soon enough you will."
He shyly scratched his head and sat next to me. I looked at him playfully.
"Good morning, Jarren."
"Good morning, Kuya."
And then mom put up plates on the table. I helped her out by distributing the silverware. She looked happy when I did this. She then served scrambled eggs mixed with hotdogs and a bowl of newly cooked rice. And then she gave us a mug each of hot chocolate. She have her own cup of... coffee? But it also smells like chocolate. She then invited us to eat breakfast and demanded that there be no leftovers.
"Eat up and then prepare, we'll be visiting the stores. I'll buy you two clothes and phones of your own," she said proudly.