herophine - Trouvaille

Chapter 9

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2024

Sofía Jane started to ask about her mother when she was three years old. 

When they came to Crosby, Hero searched for a Nursery School he could take Sofía. He wanted her to make friends and interact with other kids her age, even though he didn't socialize with other parents. 

Until then, her daddy was her entire universe and she didn't arise the possibility that there could be families different than hers. But as the little girl spent more time at school, she started to notice that most of her classmates had a daddy and a mommy. So one afternoon, when Hero went to pick her up, she asked him.

- Where is my mommy? 

Hero had promised himself to always be honest with his daughter, yet interpersonal communication has never been one of his strengths. So, a few seconds later he answered:

- Your mommy is not here. 

It was not a lie. He didn't tell her that her mommy had die or that she didn't have a mom. Her mother was not there and probably she would never be part of her life. Sofía, despite being only three years old, somehow understood that it was not a conversation topic that her father wanted to confront. Nor is it that Sofia has noticed a painful absence in her life, so she nodded and left the matter there.

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2025

A year later, at the age of four, Sofía obtained the closest to the truth that she had been able to obtain until then. Not because her dad told her, but because she overheard a conversation that she was supposed not to hear.

Having two of the Fiennes-Tiffin living in Liverpool, had changed Christmas traditions and now the family celebrated holidays in Hero's house. It was Christmas Eve and after many pleads from Hero, Sofía finally went to bed. 

Like every kid on the 25th of December, Sofía was too nervous and couldn't fall asleep. She quietly got out from bed and cautious went to check if Santa Claus had already arrived and brought her what she had asked for. She sat on the stairs and from there she saw that her grammy Martha, aunt Mercy and uncle Titan were talking by the chimney with her daddy, who looked a bit annoyed. 

- Mom, I don't know anything about her. I know nothing about her for almost five years now. If she had wanted to contact us, she would have already done it.

- Hero, Josephine didn't look like herself when she found out about the pregnancy. You said it yourself many times. The postpartum depression... - Martha said in a conciliatory way.

Hero interrupted her without raising his voice. He was aware that Sofía was upstairs, though he couldn't imagine how close she really was.

- The postpartum depression does not last five years, mom. If she doesn't want to know anything about her own daughter, she is definitely not the person who I thought she was.

- You didn't know each other that much either, did you? - Titan gets into the conversation. - Maybe love does not heal everything.

Later on, the conversation continued, but Sofía run back to her bed with two important pieces of information: her mommy's name was Josephine and she didn't want anything to do with her. 

From that day, Sofía never asked again about her mother.