Prologue
“Ahh” A ten year old girl with long silky brown wavy hair, the most beautiful hazel eyes and a beautiful face to accompany it screamed, “where is he? I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him!” she shouted as she rushed into the hospital.
“Tracy, stop running, you might slip and fall,” A woman who looked just like the bigger version of her shouted behind her before smiling and following gently after her.
Tracy pushed open the door of a room and smiled at the woman sitting up on the bed and resting on the headboard, “where is he Aunty Lucy, where is he?” she shrilled and ran straight to her on the bed.
“Easy Tracy, you don’t have to be so noisy,” Lucy, a blonde haired woman with beautiful gray eyes smiled affectionately to the girl, “the nurse went to bring him so I can feed him, so be patient, you will see him in a minute.”
“I can’t be patient any more Aunty Lucy, I have been waiting for nine months to see him, nine whole months!”
“Well, you will see him today, that’s a fact,” the woman entered the room and shut the door softly, she smiled knowingly to the tired Lucy, “she is giving you a hard time, isn’t she?”
“What do you mean, Naomi, my Tracy is the most well behaved girl in the world. I couldn’t ask for any better goddaughter. She is just excited to see her brother.”
Naomi smiled and walked up to her, “how are you feeling?”
“It’s been worse,” Lucy chuckled, “oh but I went through hell.”
“I can understand,” Naomi smiled.
“Thank you for being there for me Naomi, I really don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Well, I can remember that ten years ago, I was in your place and you were in mine. Even though we were much younger then, you didn’t leave my side. I couldn’t ask for a better sister,” she kissed her forehead, “it’s always been both of us Lucy, and nothing is going to change that.”
Tracy groaned, disrupting their sister moment, “what is taking the nurse so long?”
Just then, the door pushed opened and a nurse walked in, carrying a baby. Tracy sprang to her feet immediately, shouting, “my little bundle of joy,” making the older women in the room to burst into laughter. “Can I hold him, can I hold him please,” she looked up at the nurse with her big hazel eyes.
“Aww,” the nurse smiled, “you will hold him but now he needs his mother okay?” she smiled and approached the women on the bed, “here you go, he looks really hungry,” she chuckled and handed him to Lucy who took him with teary eyes before leaving the room.
“When Brian died, I thought…” she sniffled, “I thought I will never see him again, I thought I will have nothing to remind me of him but pictures and memories, I didn’t know that nature has a plan for me. Can you believe this Naomi, we have been looking for a child for five years and it was the month he died that I discovered I was pregnant. Nature knew it would be taking something precious from me so it gave me another. But…it should have just let him live, just to see him, at least spend some time with him,” she started sobbing.
“Lucy, he is here,” Naomi hugged her, “he will always be here and now you are holding him in your arms, this time he will stay by your side forever.”
“Yes,” Lucy sniffled, “you are right, he looks just like him,” she lifted her baby up and kissed his chubby little face, “my sweet, sweet Brian…”
“No,” Tracy interrupted and they glanced at her, “his name is Nathaniel, we have agreed on that.”
“Yes Tracy, his name Nathaniel Brian Snow, you can call him Nathan-Boo as you want.”
“Great, now hurry up and feed him, the nurse said he is hungry and I don’t want my Nathan-Boo to be hungry.”
“Yes, ma’am Tracy,” Lucy said and they chuckled while Tracy stood by her side and watched her feed the little baby. In her mind she kept wondering why he was so small and so adorable at the same time.
When he was done feeding, she hastily asked, “now can I hold him?”
Lucy smiled and let her carry him, she wanted to tell her to be careful but seeing how careful the little one was already, like she didn’t want any harm to befall him, she smiled and watched as Tracy carried him to the corner of the room.
“Hey there Nathan-Boo, finally I got to hold you,” she chuckled, staring at his face with his eyes closed, “you are the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and now, I will make a promise to you, I will always protect you, care for you and love you. You will be the number one priority in my life. And as you grow older, if anyone look for your trouble, I will fight for you, between you and I, I have been watching taekwondo movies and learning it, and before you grow older I will be perfect in it and no one, absolutely no one can hurt you and if any girl breaks your heart, I will beat her up and parade her around as she apologizes to you.”
The two mothers that had been secretly listening to her words were stunned hearing that and they had to stop themselves from laughing out loud.
“Nothing will separate us, I will always be here for you and when I grow old, you will always be there for me, that is my promise Nathan-Boo,” she kissed his forehead and just then, the baby opened his eyes and she gasped, “you have the most beautiful crystal blue eyes I have ever seen, it kind of feels like I am drowning in it.” She chuckled and kissed his forehead once more, loving him immediately.
Five years later
“Tracy, Tracy,” a platinum blonde haired boy with beautiful alluring blue eyes rushed out to meet a girl getting down from a truck. He ran and wrapped his arms round her waist, “you are back, you are finally back,” he smiled.
Tracy smiled and squatted to his height, hugging him too, “hey there Nathan-Boo, how are you?”
“I have missed you,” he replied.
Tracy chuckled, “I have only been gone for like three hours.”
“Hey babe,” someone said and they turned to the teenage boy that walked up to them, “I have to go now, see you in school tomorrow.” He glanced at the little boy, “hey Nathan, what’s up?” he showed him his fist for a bump but Nathan threw his face away, “and he still don’t like me.”
Tracy chuckled, “don’t worry, it’s just a matter of time. See you tomorrow.”
“Sure,” he leaned down and kissed her on the lips but gasped when someone pushed him away, he stared stunned at the five year old who was glaring at him in anger.
Tracy chuckled, “just go Jason, I will see you tomorrow.”
“Sure, but whoa, he is pretty strong for a five year old,” he chuckled before getting into his truck and driving away.
Tracy turned to Nathan, “now why would you do that Nathan?”
He didn’t reply.
“Nathan, I am talking to you.”
But he still didn’t reply.
Tracy sighed and then chuckled, “alright, why did you do that Nathan-Boo?” he has the tendency to not reply whenever she called him just Nathan.
“I don’t like him kissing you,” he finally replied.
“But…he is my boyfriend.”
“I am your boyfriend, you said so yourself.”
“Yes, you are my boyfriend, he is just my second boyfriend,” she bent and picked him up, “now let’s go in for dinner, boyfriend.”
He chuckled and she carried him into the house.
Seven years later
Tracy stood at Naomi’s funeral, she had died in an accident and Tracy was in her worst shape. She stayed at the cemetery even when everyone was gone. She kept staring at the stone that bears her mother’s name, wondering why fate had to be so cruel to her. Her mother was the only reason she fought to be better so that she could finally give her the life she deserved, the life her unknown father couldn’t give her after abandoning her at seventeen with a baby. Her mother put a pause in her dream to raise her, ignoring the whisperings of everyone and lived with the stigma and just when she was finally able to take care of her, she died. Just why, why was fate so cruel?
A hand suddenly grabbed unto hers and she just sobbed, “it’s okay Tracy, you still have us, you still have me. Mom and I will never leave your side, never. I will always be here and when I grow older, I will take good care of you. I promise.”
Tracy slumped on the mud ground, her eyes never leaving the stone, tears missing with rain fell from her cheeks to the ground. An arm wrapped around her and she hugged him tightly. He was quite tall for a twelve-year-old and he held her so tightly and firmly, not allowing her to fall on the muddy ground. “I will always be here, and I will always protect you. I promise,” he vowed.