The water from the sink comes out with such pressure that it bounces (?) against the dishes on the sink and splashes my face, leaving it completely soaked. My shirt is now entirely drenched, making my chest feel cold.

“Hehe! Mama got splashy splashy!” As I stand there, frozen in place while regretting my carelessness, I can hear my dear baby daughter laughing at me from the side.

…She’s still kinda cute even when doing that, though.

“W-Why don’t you go draw on the table while Mama does the dishes?” I give her a wryly smile as I make a mental note to make sure she understands that laughing at others’ misfortunes is a no no. Well, I say ‘misfortunes,’ but…I just got a bit wet, it isn’t that big of a deal. I’ll need to change after being done here, though.

She leaves the kitchen with a “Hehe! O~kay~!” and heads to grab her small notebook and some crayons before sitting on the table. The kitchen has something like a serving bar on the side, so I can see her clearly even when standing in front of the sink.

Anyway, let’s talk as I work my way through these, ‘kay?

It’s been a while since I’ve picked up Sora from school. She had seemed tired ever since was done playing with Lily, so I carried her most of the way home. She napped a bit in my arms as I walked, but the moment we arrived, she suddenly got up as a toy who’s batteries just got changed. I was really hoping she would stay asleep, ‘cause I could’ve used the sleep myself, but…oh well. Since she woke up, then obviously what was next in store for us was having lunch, so I immediately got to work and prepared some grilled chicken with some vegetables on the side—nothing too fancy.

‘Nnn! Sora won’t eat orangey! No orangey! Orangey is a no no!’

A troubled smile appears on my face as I recall how my baby girl reacted when noticing the small carrot chunks on the plate. She can eat the other veggies without a problem, but carrots…yeah, she doesn’t like those. …H-H-Hm? W-W-What about me? I-I-I-I can eat my veggies properly! I’m a grown up, you know?! A grown up! T-That’s right! I-It’s not like I leave my broccoli behind when I get it or anything like that! No way in hell!

A-Ahem, n-next point! S-So, anyway, Sora and I got done with our lunch, and…that’s about it. With this, you’re now finally caught up with the story, did you like the recap? Heh, of course you did. You better thank me for it; cry tears of gratitude for my generosity that is bigger than the sea!

…’Kay, enough joking around.

I nod to myself as I place the last plate on the dish rack. Now, the only thing that remains on the sink is Sora’s lunchbox—which she completely devoured, by the way; she didn’t leave anything behind. It was a relatively light and clean meal, with just a small sandwich, some grapes, and a juice box, so it doesn’t take long before it’s on the rack with the rest.

“Great. With this, I’m done. Now, it’s cuddling time!” A bit excited, not gonna lie, I dash out of the kitchen, and without warning pick Sora up from her chair.

“Nn?!” My confused baby girl leaves out a cute sound as she gets lifted into the air. She then starts giggling while I hold her in front of me. I can feel myself smiling like an idiot, but this isn’t all! Don’t underestimate me!

“Nnnnnn?! Mamaaaaaaa?!” Sora’s freaked out scream fills the room as I jump—yup, you heard that right, jump—onto the couch.The soft, fluffy cushions soften the impact from our fall, so we graciously land in the spot I intended—with me on the bottom. Hehe, this is one of the advantages of having a young mom! That doing things like these is no problem!

…It is important to be very careful, though. I used to play like this with my cousins when they were little, so I might’ve made it seem easy just now, but making sure nobody gets hurt in the process is actually a bit hard. If it can be pulled off effectively, though…

“Hehehe! Mama! Mama! Again! Again!” The reward is priceless! Laughing happily, I let Sora jump lightly on top of me as she excitedly giggles.

“Hmm~! Mama’s a bit tired, so maybe later~! Fufufu~!” Sora goes ‘Mama, you meanie!’ as she pouts cutely while facing away and crosses her arms in an exaggerated way. Putting on a thinking face with my finger on my lips, I go ‘Hmm~!’ as I look at her, entertained.

“Ah~! I know~! If you give enough kisses to Mama, then maybe~, just maybe~, she’ll get enough energy to do it again, you know~?” Bringing a finger to my cheek, I start tapping on it over and over again. Hehe! I know how to play my role all too well! Just look at her! She’s like, ‘Nn. Nn. Sora gets it… ’ as if I didn’t just say complete nonsense! And she looks so serious about it, too!

“Nn! Nn! Sora can do that! *Mwah* *Mwah* *Mwah* *Mwah* *Mwah*”

Ah~! This is bliss~! Is this what religious people call paradise~? ‘Cause if it is, then it sure is amazing~! Ah, but that would mean I’m dead, and I’m definitely not dead…I think. Well, it doesn’t matter~! I will have to get up and throw myself into the couch once again, but oh well~! Right now I’ll just enjoy the moment for as long as I ca—

*Ding* *Ding*

…My luck is certainly amazing sometimes. Why does the door have to ring right now?! Look! Sora has stopped the kisses and is now staring confusedly in the direction of the door! No! Don’t care about the door, baby! Focus here! Here! Right now I need you more than the door!

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

*Ding* *Ding*

…That damn doorbell, imma pull it out of the fucking wall, I swear.

“Nn…Mama? Door?” Sora looks alternatively between me and the source of the annoying sound that is getting in my way. Haaaaaah…just, whatever. I’ll answer the door, deal with whoever it is real quick, and go back to cuddling. Yup, that sounds like a plan.

*Ding* *Ding*

“Hmm…yup, sorry baby. Mama’s gotta go open the door. Wait here, Mama’ll be right back.” Feeling a bit upset, I place Sora on the side of the couch with an apologetic expression and stand up. Sora waves at me as she sees me go away, and lays her head on the couch. ‘Kay, now…let’s see just who you are, mysterious visitor. Depending on the answer, they might not get to leave this place alive, hehehe…

…I’m joking! Joking! Don’t look at me like that! I’m not going to kill anyone! I’m not a violent person, you know?! W-What happened with that guy at the university was an exception! E-x-c-e-p-t-i-o-n, you hear me?! ‘Cause he deserved it! And I even warned him! A lot of times! I’m a nice person, I swear!

“Hi Sakura.” Opening the door with silly thoughts filling my head, I discover that the person on the door is none other than Mrs. Green. …Hmm? You don’t remember who Mrs. Green is? She’s our neighbor, the one who greeted us in the morning yesterday.

“I made some cookies…so I thought I’d drop by to share some with you and Sora.” Mrs. Green smiles gently at me as she lifts the small basket in her hands. Ah…it smells so good…fuck, I’m starting to drool just from thinking about what’s inside. N-No, get a hold of yourself, Sakura! Be cool about it! Cool! You’re not a kid anymore! Even if you’ve known since you were six just how good those things are!

“A-Ah, hi Mrs. Green. Y-Yes, please come in! We’ve just had lunch, so it's the perfect time for dessert. I-I can also heat back up what I made if you haven’t had lunch yet.” Ah, I stuttered. I can feel my face turn bright red as Mrs. Green chuckles, surely amused at my reaction.

“Ufufufu…your homemade cooking…that sounds lovely. Don’t mind if I take you up for it, then.” Urgh...she’s teasing me, how rude! She cooks so much better than me, after all! Like, the difference between our skills is actually as big as the distance between earth and the sun, you know?! B-But I’ve improved! And one day…s-soon enough, this student will surpass her master, you hear me?!

“Ahem…Sakura sweetie, just…I think it might be a good idea to change before that...so you don’t get sick.” …Hm? Ah, that’s right…my shirt is still visibly wet from doing the dishes. She’s right, I actually should get changed before I get a cold, but…well, it isn’t that big of a de—

“Ah, and also because I can see things that shouldn’t be on display, fufufu!”

“...”

…E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EEEEEH?!?! S-She’s right! M-My shirt is so thin that getting it wet made it see-through! A-A-A-A-A-And you can see, w-well, y’know, everything! H-H-H-H-H-How could I be as stupid as to open the door like this?! Are you stupid, me?! W-What if it wasn’t Mrs. Green the one knocking, huh?! Sakura, you dumb fuck!

“I-I-I-I-I’ll be right back!” Covering my chest as best as I can, I run away and dash up the stairs, my face beet red in embarrassment. It takes me less than five minutes to change into a new shirt, and I also put on a hoodie on top.

“Granny! One more!”

“Ufufufu, alright, one more. Just don’t tell your mom about it, or else she’ll hang me.”

“Geez, why are you making me sound like a monst—Hey! I also want cookies, don’t gobble them all up!” What’s up with this?! I just came back and they are already munching on the cookies?! They didn’t wait for me, how outrageous!

“Ufufufu, don’t pout like that, Sakura.” Mrs. Green covers her mouth with her hand as she giggles, maybe finding my pouting face funny. I’m not finding it funny in the least, though!

“I know you really like my homemade cookies, so I made so many that you should have leftovers for the rest of the week, fufufu! Oh, but too much sugar isn’t good for your health, Sakura, so please be prudent.”

“D-Don’t treat me like a kid! I know that!”

“Ehehe! Mama’s funny! Funny!” Sora giggles happily as she points at me with cookie crumbs on her mouth.

“My~! My~! Your Mama really is funny, isn’t she~! Ufufufu~!” With that, both of their laughters start echoing through the living room, painting my face a bright red.

W-Waaaaaaah! Y-You bullies! This is not fair! This is a 2v1, you know?! How.the hell am I supposed to balance this out?! Should I call Rei in to make this a 2v2?! Wait, no! That would just turn into a 3v1, wouldn’t it?! Fuck! I can totally see that guy going, ‘Don’t cry, I won’t eat your cookies either,’ while laughing his lungs out!

“I-I’ll be in the kitchen!” With nothing that can be done to hide my embarrassment, I dash out of the living room while still listening to their laughter. J-Just you wait! I’ll have my revenge! You’ll see!

After a few seconds of calming down, and having nothing better to do on my own in the kitchen, I decide to start serving Mrs. Green’s food, calling her over to the table. As I said at the beginning, I made grilled chicken and vegetables, so I just reheated that on the stove and served it on a plate. I’m not gonna lie, it doesn’t really look especially appealing or anything like that. Rather, the food seems a bit dry, probably ‘cause it’s reheated. Well, here goes nothing.

“Ufufufu~, it’s really good, Sakura.” Mrs. Green looks genuinely surprised as she takes a bite from the piece of chicken. She brings her hand to her cheek as she savors it, continuing the praise.

…I-Is it really that good? Are you sure you aren’t going senile, Mrs. Green?

“Ufufufu, don’t look so surprised, sweetie. Your cooking does not have years of experience backing it so it might be a bit rough around the edges, but it definitely isn’t bad at all. I really enjoy every time you invite me to try it.” Feeling a bit shy from her comment, I simply go ‘Isx that so…’ while squirming a bit. Mrs. Green giggles at this for a second before continuing.

“How can I explain it…it has that taste of home—of love! It’s probably because you’ve found someone you’re happy to cook for, and who will eat what you prepare as if it was the world’s finest delicacy. That motivation is really important when cooking, and is also the secret for my cookies, I’ll let you know. Ufufufufu!” Geez, she’s just speaking nonsense now. Though I do kind of get it. I remember that Mom’s cooking was always my favorite, even among restaurants and stuff. I…can no longer remember very well how it tasted, because it has been a long time since she passed, but I remember the feeling, the thought of ‘wow, this is the best.’

“Nn! Nn! Mama’s food’s the best! Mama’s food is fluffy fluffy, yummy yummy! Nn! Nn!”

“Hehe, that’s because I always make it with love, y’know~!”

…I wonder if Sora will one day look back on my cooking like that. Like thinking, “My mom wasn’t the best cook in the world, but…she loved me, and everything she prepared for me had her heart in it.”

Yeah…I’d like that.