For My Mother

She noticed getting closer to her mom, looking at her amr around Xuan's shoulders. "Punishment was meant for if you didn't do your job right. It would make you think twice about failure..." She swallows a bit. "The punishments hurt, a-a lot. My soles still stings sometimes..."

Mrs. Schultz would hear how painful those punishments must be on Xuan's feet as a result from failing a mission. She felt that her adoptive daughter may still be fearful that she might be expecting another punishment if she upsets her or her family in any way. So, she would stop for a moment to put her hands on Xuan's shoulders. Junko and Hiro would stop at the same moment as their mother and sister did and witnessed Mom brushing away Xuan's hair from her cheeks with a smile.

Adding a hug, she would say, "Even though you may not always be perfect, I would never consider you a failure, ever. You don't have to worry about those punishments anymore and I will still love you no matter what." Junko and Hiro both smiled as they felt the same way for Xuan.

Xuan was stopped by her mother. She felt herself being gently forced to look at her mother. Into her eyes, into her soul. Her adoptive mother would brush he hair away from her eyes and say that she would never hurt Xuan, or consider her a failure.

With a following hug, Xuan made a few whines. She hugged her mother back and cries softly into her shoulder.

Mrs. Schultz would start to hear Xuan whining before crying softly against her shoulder. With a smile and a few pats on her back, she would coo, "There, there now. Shhhh...I'm here, my girl. I'm here." She continued stroking her hair to calm her adopted daughter down. She then wiped away Xuan's tears as she added, "I know that I cannot replace your master for being a loving parent to you, but I'm hoping that I can be the parent that you need me to be." Mrs. Schultz would give Xuan a gentle kiss on the head to show her love for her. "And if you're ready, we can continue..."

"He wasn't a loving parent. He was just someone I looked up to because I had to...I've never had a real parent..." She says, her voice sounding weak with her weeping. "You, a-and Hiro and Junko. Are more than I ever could ask for..."

Jut hearing that next thing from Xuan made Mrs. Schultz hug Xuan closer but gently. Hiro and Junko also joined in and gave Xuan all the sisterly love they can give. No words can be said to describe the bond that this family had for each other in spite of tragedy and trial. And they would continue it through their newest daughter and sister.

Slowly breaking off the hug, Junko would smile and say, "Come on, Xuan, we want to show you and Mom the other things our Dad did for us." If Xuan is ready, the family would head over to the park and walk the path to the lake.

The hug was nice. Warm and loving...

Xuan tries to still hold in her cries as her family came to hug them. They calmed her down so much. After breaking the hug, she smiles and holds her mother's hand. "Yes, I-I'm ready if you guys are."

Mrs. Schultz smiled as she felt Xuan take her hand and see that she is feeling a lot better now. With a loving mother and two sisters, Xuan's life can only get better in time. The mother would use her other hand to brush away her adopted daughter's tears with her finger as she said, "Good. Now, dry those eyes of yours so we can see that beautiful face." Once Xuan does that, they can proceed.

On the path to the lake, a lot of children could be seen playing with their toys in the grass and even riding their scooters and bicycles. As for the adults, they enjoyed walks as a couple, sitting on the bench, and even tell funny jokes. Mrs. Schultz however remembers when she and her husband took their girls to feed the pigeons, ducks, and even squirrels that stopped by during their walk.

She gives her mother a bigand toothy smile to show that she was surely ready to continue walking on. And when they did, Xuan seemed to change a bit. She was trying to become more engaged and closer with her family. They were her's, after all...

Seeing the animals already making their rounds for the day, Hiro would immediately reach into her pocket to take out three small plastic bags that held something very special. She would say to her mom, "Look, Mom! We brought some bags of breadcrumbs for this occasion." She handed one to Junko and offered the others to Mrs. Schultz and Xuan.

Junko took the bag and gave her thanks to her sister before telling her mom, "We remembered when you used to take us to see the ducks, the pigeons, and other animals around the park to feed them. We're hoping that we can still do it now."

With that same smile Junko and Hiro remembers back when they were children, Mrs. Schultz nodded and said, "After having missed you for a long time, Junko, how can I not?" She would turn to her adopted daughter and offered the last bag as she added, "Would you like to join us, Xuan?"