Mother and daughter

“Ma, you’re so old. I hate you!”

That’s how her daughter greets her, bursting through the front door, dropping her school bag off on one side and stomping off to her room.

Something is wrong. She stares at her daughter’s disappearing back. Then, shutting the front door behind her, she follows her daughter into her room.

She notices her daughter’s small body sunk inside the huge TV couch, remote in hand, but the TV still not on, head hung in shame from whatever has happened to her in school today. She notices the hurt look, tears ready to burst forth in frustration.

“What’s the matter, sweetie? Did someone say something bad?”

No answer.

“Come on, you can tell mummy. It can’t be that bad.”

Still no answer.

She takes a step forward, squeezes in next to her daughter on the couch. She puts an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and cuddles the small warm body, nestling it against her breasts. The girl caves in, surrendering to her mother’s embrace. They sit like that for a moment.

“So, you want to tell me what happened?”

No answer. Then, “All my class-friends made fun of me today. Because you’re so old, Ma. All their mothers are just thirty years old. And you’re forty-five!”

“Oh, come on. Forty-five isn’t all that old.”

“Yes, it is,” tells her daughter. “They said, ‘Hey your mother looks like your grandmother? Why did your father marry your grandmother?’”

“Hmm… And what did you say?”

“What can I say, Ma? You look so old. So much older than the other mothers.”

She hesitates. “That’s because I got married late, sweetie. And I had you much after that. When I was thirty-five.”

“Why, Ma? Why didn’t you marry earlier? I could have been born earlier then. And you could have been young, in your thirties, like all the other mothers.”

True. She thinks for a while, reflecting upon the past twenty or so years of her life: the late marriage, the late pregnancy, the complication, the last-minute C-section, and the beautiful baby.

“Because I wanted to build a career for myself first, dear. I wanted to earn lots of money. Live a good life. And save some of the money for you. So, I had to work hard for many years. Time passed quickly in those days.”

“And then?”

“And then, for a while, I wasn’t sure what I should do with my life. So, I waited.”

“And then?”

“And then?” She smiles and nudges her daughter affectionately.

“And thank God for that! Because, then, I met your Papa and we got married. A few years after that, you came along.”

“Why didn’t you meet Papa sooner?”

“Ah ha. We’ll have to ask Papa that, won’t we? But, that’s what happens sometimes, sweetie. We have to wait for the good things to happen. And see, you came along only after that, no? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I suppose it is.” Then, “I may not have been born if Papa and you hadn’t met, right Ma?”

“That’s right, sweetie. What would I have done if your Papa hadn’t come along? If you hadn’t come along? What would I have done without you?”

“But I’m here now, Ma. So, Papa and you won’t have to worry anymore.”

“Yes, I know, sweetie, I know.”

Her daughter leans in and gives her a warm hug, snuggling further into her. She hugs her daughter, running her fingers through her daughter’s smooth dark hair.

They sit quietly like that, enjoying the moment.