Chapter 3: Love and Prejudice

"David, I'm going to read some words" I told him the next day, in the afternoon "They might sound nonsense, but I want you to listen. And look at me all the time, okay?"

"Yes, Emily" he said, and I read the form with the instructions and the activation words. According to it, I had to look for David's activation button, which was in the back of his neck, and I started touching his neck, trying to find that tiny button.

"Am I hurting you, David?" I asked him.

"No, Emily" he answered, and a second after, I found the button.

"Okay...here we go" I pressed the button and started saying the words "Cirrus, Socrates, Particle, Decibel, Hurricane, Dolphin, Tulip, David, Emily...David, Emily"

As I said the words, his innocent smile had disappeared, and his face was serious. Did I do something wrong? I read the form again, and I looked at him. But something had changed. His eyes were looking at me with joy, wonder and...love?

"Mommy?" he asked me with his soft little voice. I looked up, really surprised.

"David? What did you just call me?"

"Mommy" he answered, matter-of-factly, and hugged me. His hug was so gentle, so warm and loving...

"Oh, David..." I said, caressing his silky smooth hair, and pulling him closer to me.

"I love you, Mommy..." he whispered.

I broke the hug and looked into his eyes. I touched his hands, his hair, his face. Then I hugged him again, and he returned the hug with all the love he had. I felt tears in my eyes...he was so real to me...

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The morning after, as we were eating breakfast, I saw David smiling softly, as my brother used to do. He knew how I loved his smile.

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That day, we went shopping, and we went to a park, where we found some kids playing. David looked at them, and took my hand.

"Can I go play?" he asked me.

"Sure, David. Go, and I'll wait you here" I answered, and he ran to the slide, from where he fell down. Some kids helped him, and invited him to play. He asked me if he could do that, and I smiled and nodded. Then David went to play with the other kids, and he actually had fun playing with them...

I found my friend Sarah, who was taking her sister Darlene. She sat down next to me.

"Hey, Sarah" I said "How're you?"

"I'm fine" she answered "What about David?"

"Look by yourself" I said, and she looked at him, playing with the other boys.

"It seems like everything's fine" she smiled.

"Yes, it is. At least for now, he's doing fine"

"Don't worry, you'll warm up quickly" she comforted me "If you don't believe it, look at me" she added, smiling at Darlene, who was besides her "Darlene, she's my friend Emily"

Darlene was 11 years old, like David was. But physically, she was different from David. Unlike him, she had long brown hair, pale skin and green eyes; she was wearing a long, blue dress, and a matching blue hat with a red bow on it. And this little angel reached out to me.

"Hello, I'm Darlene. Nice to meet you, Emily" she said, and her broad smile allowed me to see her sparkling white teeth.

"Nice to meet you too, Darlene" I said, smiling back. Sarah was right. She was a beautiful little angel.

"Darlene, why don't you go play with the kids while I talk to Emily?" Sarah suggested.

"Yes, Sarah" Darlene said, and went to play.

Darlene reached David, who was sitting in the ground, playing with some Hot Wheels cars. He looked up at her.

"Hi, I'm David" he said with a smile.

"Hello, David. I'm Darlene" she said.

"Nice to meet you, Darlene. Wanna play?"

"Sure" she answered, and she sat down besides David.

"Did you come with your mommy?" David asked.

"No. I came with my sister Sarah. She's talking with her friend Emily"

"Emily is my mommy"

"My mommy buys me lots of toys and clothes and toys. I came shopping with my sister. She didn't like me at first, but now she's happy with me" she said "What about you?"

"My mommy gives me lots of toys too. And she always lets me to help her in the kitchen, and we eat together, and she always calls me from work" he said, with a happy smile on his face.

"My mommy loves me, and I'm very happy with her" Darlene said innocently, and David smiled at her, while they kept playing.

"And have you taken David to your office?" Sarah asked me.

"No, I haven't" I answered "I don't know how people might react if they knew I have a child. You know people used to bother me due to the fact that I had a child, being a single woman. One of my co-workers and her husband had been trying to get a parenthood license, and it took 9 months to finally hear a rejection from the Government. That's why I didn't take Robbie there too often because I knew she might feel sad or jealous because I had a child, even if it was my brother, and she didn't. I don' know what might happen if I took David there"

"But David is a Mecha..."

"Yes, and that might sound even more strange for people, I mean...they would wonder why would a young woman like me adopt a Robo-child. I don't know if I'll be able to handle it"

"Don't worry, Emily" Sarah comforted me "It always happens. And it always ends the same way. People accepts Mecha, and even start liking them. Like me, for example."

"I hope you're right"

"Relax, everything will be okay. God, look at the hour! We should get going, mom is waiting for us to have dinner" she said, and then she called out "Darlene, come here! It's getting late, honey. Say goodbye to your friends"

Darlene stood up and looked at David.

"I have to go" she said, her green eyes never blinking "Goodbye, David!"

"Goodbye, Darlene" he said, and she left, while he went to play with other kids.

"Bye, Emily" Sarah said "See you in class. Darlene, say goodbye to Emily"

"Goodbye, Emily" Darlene smiled.

"Bye, Darlene. It was good to meet you" I said, and she smiled at me. Then Sarah and Darlene left.

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I stayed in the bench, looking at David playing with the kids. Some women, who were waiting for their children, sat next to me.

"Is that blond boy yours?" one of them asked. I nodded.

"You're his nanny, right?" the other one asked.

"No, he's my son" I answered. They seemed to be surprised.

"Your son?!" the first one squealed "You seem to be way TOO young to have an 11-year-old child"

"I adopted him" I answered.

"I gathered that" the other woman said "Your husband must be really happy too. Which adoption agency gave him to you?"

"I'm not married" I said, slightly nervous, and wanting to get out of there.

"You're single...and they let you have a child?!" the first woman said.

"And thousands of couples waiting for adoption permission..." the other one complained.

"Well, excuse me" I said "I don't think that being a single woman might be a problem to have a child"

"Unless it's a Mecha-child, like the new ones they're selling. What a merciless comfort to frustrated single women! A fake child will never be like the real ones" the other one said. I felt so stupid, and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I stood up.

"Uh...I guess I have to go now" I said, walking away. As I walked, I still could hear the two women's voices.

"It's so stupid...a young single woman like her with a child..." they said, but I didn't care. Why should I care about what those old women thought?

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I reached David, who was with other kids playing in the ground, and he had got a lot of dirt on his clothes.

"Sweetie, we have to go now" I told him. He took my hand, and looked at the other kids.

"Okay, Mommy. Bye, guys" he said, smiling.

"Goodbye, David" the kids said, and we walked away.

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"Did you have fun, David?" I asked him while we drove back home.

"Yes, Mommy" he answered.

"And what about the kids? Did they treat you well?" I asked, because I was worried about how they might have treated him...

"Yes, we had a lot of fun" he said, and I calmed down. Fortunately they were nice to him...

"That's good" I said "But I guess somebody has to take a shower when we get home" I added.

David looked at himself, and giggled.

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When we arrived home, I took all my toiletries and took them to the bathroom, where David was waiting for me.

"You're very, very filthy" I said, as I started taking his clothes off. He just smiled.

I opened the shower and David got in. I started washing his hair as he did the same with his body. Suddenly, I felt a splash of water and soap in my face. I looked up, and there was David splashing me. All my face was now covered with lather.

"David, don't do that! Stop it!" I said half angrily, but I couldn't help but smiling when he laughed at me. Let's admit it, I looked funny.

He kept splashing me, and I remembered when my mom used to give me a bath when I was a little kid. I looked at David, and smiled.

"So you wanna play, huh?" I asked, splashing him. We both laughed as we splashed each other. Then I washed the soap off us, and finished the shower. David was now clean, but I looked more clean than he was, due to his splashing.

We sat on the floor, and rested for a moment. The bathroom was a mess, all covered with water, soap and lather. But we looked at it, then looked at each other, and giggled; I hugged David close to me, and he nestled his head against my chest. Okay, we had fun, but the bathroom...well, I could clean it later.

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"Okay, it's bedtime, David" I said as I finished dressing him.

"Read to me?" he asked me, handing me a book, "The Little Prince". I nodded, and started reading. As I read, I realized that David was like the Little Prince: his blond hair, his innocence and gentleness...

When I finished the book, I saw David was asleep. Well, not exactly asleep, he just stayed still, his eyes open. I kissed his cheek, turned off the lights and went to clean the bathroom.

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Some days later, I warmed up pretty fast to the fact of having a Mecha-child. Even when I knew he wasn't a real boy, I couldn't help but loving him, because he did everything he could to please me. Every morning, when I went to the Faculty, he always had a cup of steamy hot chocolate for me. And when I called him from work (as I used to do with Robbie), he seemed to be happy for hearing my voice. And when I arrived home at night, he always ran to me and gave me a big hug.

"I'm telling you, Sarah" I told her on the phone "He does everything to please me, and he has a way with my chocolate...! He's just the perfect little boy!"

"I told you, Emily! I knew you would love him!" she said "And you used to hate Mechas...well, not exactly hate them, but...you didn't like them either"

"But he's so different. He's just like a real live boy"

I was right. David had pulled all my schemes off, changing my opinion about robots, and showing me how real they could be... I was thankful to him, and he returned my feelings with the purest love I had ever seen.