"A child comes into the world only if you really want to have one"—that was his perspective on life, and if a man is brave enough to have a child, he should be brave enough to take responsibility.
The only thing stopping him from cursing his father as a coward who ran away and hid was his mother's condition. Although she didn't appear outwardly injured, something was wrong. Bill didn't know if it was an accident, and since he couldn't find out the information, he had no choice but to refrain from judgment.
Getting to his feet, Bill thought, "So it would be better if he were dead or..." BA-BOOM! Falling on his backside, Bill could only guess what could have happened; the sound was like a gas line explosion, and the shock wave was strong enough to knock him off balance.
Quickly gathering himself, Bill heard—or rather felt—thud thud thud.
Whatever it was, he somehow sensed it was approaching. Seconds felt like eternity, and Bill pondered what to do.
"Scream again?.."
It helped him during the old man incident. After his scream, the nurse came in no more than a minute.
thud thud
"No, everyone must hear this."
So, as the sound drew closer, Bill decided to do what any baby could do. He simply waited and watched.
thud ... thud
The sound was approaching, and the footsteps became less frequent until Bill was certain that the last stomp came right at his door. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he was afraid of what lay beyond the door.
Rising to his feet for a better view, Bill positioned himself to watch the door. Turning toward his mother, he noticed she was also looking at the door.
Focusing back on the door, he was ready to cry for help when suddenly click.
With a click, the door simply opened, and a true giant entered the room. A man in a worn-out green suit with two swords at his waist and short black hair nearly touching the ceiling made Bill instinctively recoil.
This man was much taller than his mother. Judging by the ceiling height, he was at least 30 centimeters taller. Moreover, his build was massive. Although the giant had taken only one step into the room, it seemed like he occupied half of its space.
Everything happened too quickly and unexpectedly. Bill didn't notice that the man's eyes never left the woman on the bed. He didn't notice that no one came to check what was going on. He didn't even notice the man's gaze.
All Bill could see was the giant. The man was so tall that Bill could barely make out his face. The man, who seemed unreal and certainly unsafe.
At first, he was too scared to breathe, but when the man took a step, he got angry. Angry that no one had come to help. He was a baby, his mother was sick, and the nurse was a small woman. Someone should have come quicker; even if this man was a monster, how could they leave the defenseless alone?
These emotions swirled within him faster than he could comprehend.
Then, when the giant took a third step into the room, Bill did the only thing he could.
Taking a deep breath, Bill bravely let out the loudest scream he could muster:
!WWWWAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
From that moment on, there was no turning back. Whatever the circumstances, Bill couldn't do anything more.
The reaction he received to his brave misunderstanding would remain in his memory forever.
After the scream, the giant abruptly turned his head. Seeing this, Bill felt as if he were exposed. But refusing to back down, the baby got back on his feet and tried to look as if he hadn't just slightly wet himself.
Standing up, he kept his eyes on the man's body. Although from his perspective, he couldn't see clearly, Bill thought the giant began to smile.
With five large steps, the man reached Bill's crib, and before Bill could even attempt to look up, he was lifted with one hand. The hand was so large it could easily hold his entire body.
Unable to control himself any longer when the man lifted him to his face, Bill, who had lived over ninety years on earth, been reincarnated, and become his own psychotherapist to maintain his sanity, wet himself and lost consciousness at that very moment.
His last thought as the world began to fade was:
"This can't be happening in reality."
Walking down the hallway, Bill turned the corner and entered a room that looked like an ordinary preschool classroom.
At the table in the center of the far wall sat the middle-aged woman who had been with Bill all his life.
"How are we feeling today, little William?" she asked.
"Everything's fine, Miss Angie," Bill replied.
This was the same routine six days a week. His nanny, or rather, godmother Angie, would wake him up, dress him, feed him, and then lead him to the classroom, where he waited outside until she sat down. Only then could he enter the class.
It had been three years since the day he met his father. Although that man looked like a beast, it was obvious how much he loved Bill and his mother, based on what Bill saw after waking up from his nervous episode. An episode that Bill firmly decided would be his last.