Chapter 23 Unwanted News
This morning, I woke up to the sound of crying. It's a sound I've gotten used to by now.
Aphmau woke up to the sound of crying. As soon as she heard it, she got out of bed, and went to the crib that was placed at the foot of it.
"Good morning, sleepy head", she greeted the baby inside of the crib. "Cranky again this morning, aren't ya?"
With this, Aphmau reached down into the crib and pulled the baby into her arms. "Are you hungry, Levin? Let's go get you a bottle."
After grabbing Levin, I went down to the kitchen. When I got there, I found Sylvanna, who was already making a bottle for Levin.
"Good morning, Aphmau", Sylvanna greeted her when she entered the kitchen. "I figured little Levin would wake up hungry. So I went ahead and made him a bottle."
"Thank you so much, Sylvanna", Aphmau said. Sylvanna then came up to her with the bottle.
"Good morning, Mijo", Sylvanna greeted Levin. "Here you go. A freshly made bottle by your Auntie Sylvanna."
With this, Sylvanna handed the bottle over to Aphmau, who began feeding Levin with it. As she fed him, she smiled down at him with a tender, loving expression on her face; which Sylvanna noticed.
"You've grown really fond of little Levin, haven't you Aphmau", Sylvanna asked her.
"Who wouldn't", Aphmau asked, before looking down at Levin. "He's just too cute."
"He is", Sylvanna agreed with a smile. But then, that smile faded away. "Aphmau, please remember that…"
Before Sylvanna could finish what she was going to say, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
"I'll get it", Aphmau said.
When I heard a knock at the front door, I went to open it. When I did, I found Aaron and Garroth.
"Good morning, Aaron and Garroth", Aphmau greeted them.
"Good morning, Lady Aphmau", Garroth greeted her. He then looked down at the baby in her arms, and smiled. "And a good morning to you as well, little Levin."
Garroth looked at Levin with a smile on his face. But that smiled quickly vanished, which made me worried.
"Garroth, is everything okay", Aphmau asked in concern.
"We have information about Levin's mother", Aaron replied.
I should've been happy to hear that Garroth found information on Levin's mother. But instead, I felt a sad.
"Oh", Aphmau said. "What did you find out?"
"May we come inside", Garroth asked.
"Of course", Aphmau replied. Aaron and Garroth then came inside, and sat down by the table with Aphmau and Sylvanna.
"So, what did you find out about Levin's mother", Sylvanna asked.
"This morning, we received reports from the village of Scaleswind", Garroth revealed. "Apparently, a mother from there reported that her baby was missing. The description she gave to the guards was that her baby had blonde hair and blue eyes."
"That…fits Levin perfectly", Aphmau pointed out.
"It does", Garroth said. "However, there are a few things that I am concerned about. For starters, while the description the mother gave does match Levin, we do not know for sure that it's the same baby. Also, even if Levin is this mother's baby, since Scaleswind is so far from here, the report we received was probably written some time ago. There's a high chance that she's already left Scaleswind so she can go searching for her baby elsewhere."
"I see", Aphmau said. "Then, what do we do next?"
"I'm going to head to Scaleswind and see if I can find the woman who filed the report and make sure that she's Levin mom", Aaron revealed. "Once I'm sure it's her, I'll bring her back to Phoenix Drop so she can reunite with her baby."
"I see", Aphmau said. Then, she looked down at Levin.
When I looked down at Levin, he opened his eyes, and smiled at me. Seeing this, I felt a great pain in my chest. But I also suddenly became determined to do something.
"Aaron", Aphmau said as she suddenly stood up. "I want to come with you to Scaleswind!"
"Huh", Aaron said in shock. "Why do you want to come with me to Scaleswind?"
"I…I want to see Levin's mother for myself", Aphmau revealed. "I want to know for sure that it's actually her before we let her near him!"
After I revealed why I wanted to go with Aaron to Scaleswind, him and Garroth looked at each other. Then, he let out a sigh.
"Okay, Aphmau", Aaron said. "You can come with me to find Levin's mother."
Aphmau smiled when she heard this. Them, she turned to face Sylvanna. "Sylvanna, will you be okay to look after Levin while I'm gone?"
"Of course, dear", Sylvanna replied.
"Thank you", Aphmau said, before looking at Aaron. "When do we leave?"
"We'll set sail tomorrow."
It was nighttime, and Aphmau was finishing up another diary entry by her desk. Just as she was about to finish it, she turned her head, and stared at Levin who was sleeping in his crib.
Seeing him caused her to feel sad. She then turned to her diary and wrote one last thing in it.
I know that it's awful to think like this, but…there's a part of me that hopes that this woman isn't Levin's mother.
Aphmau became too emotional to write after this. So, with tears forming in her eyes. She closed her diary. Then, she stood up, and walked up to Levin's crib. As she watched him sleep peacefully, she felt a great pain in her chest, and tears started falling down her face. She then picked up Levin, and sat on her bed with him in her arms. She held him close to her, and her tears continued to fall.