The Woman From Hell

I beckoned to Munchkin to sit next to me.

It probably had been a long time since I opened this album.

Turning to the first page, I saw Cecilia's sweet smile and pointed to the photo. "Munchkin, look. This is your mommy. Her name is Cecilia, and she was my best friend."

We ha just started, but my eyes had already unconsciously gotten wet.

Sniffing, I continued to the next page. "This was your mommy's favorite outfit at the time. She looked good in it, so I took a lot of photos.

"It was her 20th birthday, and I gave her a gift that she had dreamed of. She was very happy, so I commemorated this scene of us hugging.

"And this, it's your mommy when she was a child. She always said it was ugly and wanted to destroy it, but I thought she looked cute, so I kept it behind her back. Luckily, I kept it..." Suddenly, a tear fell onto the album.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Munchkin turned to me, his voice soft.

I quickly wiped away my tears and smiled. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about the past. I miss her."

"You're her baby, and so, you're mine. That's because we were inseparable before she left."

I had brought Munchkin to Cecilia's grave before but never showed him this photo album. That was because I was afraid that thinking about the past would only add to my sadness. Munchkin took the photo album and flipped through it by himself.

There was a faint shadow of Cecilia in his features. I looked at him quietly without saying a word.

was already two hours later when we came out of the room. Just when we did, we saw Theo standing at the door. Munchkin let go of my hand. "I'm going back to my room, Mommy." After

approached me, and

that he might notice my red eyes, but it did not work He lifted

You went

so why did you

crying?"

Distress colored his tone.

up

that photo album

pulled me into his arms and stroked

know how long this lasted before I finally left

are you really

Harriet? She's

Looking at

she's here

smile on his face. "You're dealing with my affairs now

for

You didn't

now, but she