What If: Maeda (eh...)
Kazuko Takeda looked up from her laptop at a cry from one of her children. She could see 5-year-old Midori fast asleep on the rug, teddy in hand; and she knew Airi and Mamoru were in their room, hopefully sleeping. The cry suggested otherwise, and the 30-year-old went to check it out.
True enough, on entering the 2-year-old twins' room, she could spot Airi standing up, clinging onto the barrier of her cot. Mamoru was sound sleep, though if Airi kept crying, she would wake her brother up.
Kazuko smiled, picking her daughter up, "Mama's here, Airi." She shushed her daughter, brushing a stray lock of black hair off the toddler's face.
Airi grabbed a lock of Kazuko's black hair, looking into her mother's blue eyes. "Apple".
Kazuko shook her head, aware how Airi had picked up some words, "apple" being one of them. "No, Airi. No apple."
"Apple." Airi repeated, brown eyes shining. She was beginning to get upset again, and Kazuko was aware of Mamoru in the cot behind her. She couldn't exactly let Airi get her way, especially since Kazuko knew they had no apple slices in the house. But if Airi didn't get her request, then she would kick up a fuss, waking Mamoru and Midori. She didn't want to deal with three crying young children...
Kazuko left the room with Airi in tow, hoping to deal with this before she woke up any of her siblings, "No apple, Airi. Apple not here." She stated firmly, trying to get across the idea to the toddler. It didn't work, and Airi started crying again, face crinkling and reddening.
Kazuko had spotted Airi's dummy on the table by the wall in the twins' room, but really didn't want to go in there when Mamoru was sleeping. So she resorted to traditional methods of trying to pacify the demanding toddler. "Shh, Airi, shh." Bouncing the tot in her arms, Kazuko paced around the kitchen, waiting for the sound of another cry starting up from the living room.
"Mama?" Midori had woken up, and gone to where her "Mama" was, teddy clutched close to her chest. Brown eyes that matched the toddler's in Kazuko's arms looked up.
Between crying Airi and curious Midori, Kazuko was pretty stuck. Midori would want attention, and if she didn't get it...
Her request unanswered, Airi cried louder; while Midori grabbed Kazuko's trouser leg, trying to attract her mother's attention.
Kazuko took a deep breath, then dealt with her daughters, "Midori, Mama's busy with your little sister. I'll deal with you in a minute." With both hands full, she couldn't exactly make any gestures, so hoped Midori would understand. The hands tightening around her leg told her otherwise, and another cry starting up confirmed that.
She couldn't move until Midori let go, though...
Midori started screaming, her call for attention unanswered. She firmly planted herself on the floor, keeping Kazuko pinned to the spot. How was she supposed to deal with this without help? She could only focus on one child at a time, and right now she had two screaming girls vying for her attention. At this rate, neither of them would win: before that, Kazuko would really melt under the pressure. She just about managed with just Midori, but she didn't quite know how to cope with two (let alone three) screaming children.
She was a really bad parent, she realised, trying to figure out where she should go...