Surrogate Mother (ON HIATUS)

47

“Family is more than biological relation, but more importantly, it is a support system bonded together by love, acceptance and communication.” —Unknown

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Kharryl can’t handle the peaceful atmosphere inside the room. “Did you had a  hard time raising him alone?” Kharryl broke the silence between her and Kouvoh who’s currently on the other side of the bed.

He glanced at South and a small smile quirk on his lips as he replied, “Raising a child is a challenging task, especially if you’re a single parent but I made it. We survived.” He sounded so happy and proud.

Kharryl couldn’t stop her lips from smiling as she share the same emotion with him. She’s happy and proud of him. “I‘m proud of you.” Kharryl voiced out.

The smile on his face grew wider, “Oh I know you will.” he confidently replied.

Kharryl playfully rolled her eyes as she crawled next to her son and laid her body next to him. She checked his temperature again and to her relief, South’s temperature decreases.

“Excuse me for a while, I’ll be right back.” Kouvoh said, rushing out of the room. Few moments later, he came back with a book—no, it’s not actually a book but a photo album!

Kouvoh quitely occupied the other side of the bed, crawling and laying his body next to his asleep son. He opened the photo album and showed it to her. The first page was filled by Kouvoh carrying a baby in his arms. He wore the same outfit in every photo.

The first picture was him, seriously staring at his son. The second photo of him, he was smiling widely. The third photo is when he planted a kiss on his son’s forehead while the last photo is him placing his forehead on South’s . Those photo shows the father’s affection for his son and it really melted her heart. 

“Those photo were taken a night after we moved out of the mansion and start a new one here. Mhalee took a photo of us and showed it to me. I told her to send it to me so that I could develop those pictures and put it inside the photo album that mommy Kourah bought for me.” He narrates, flipping the next pages afterward. Showing more photos of them. He explained each photo to her, not minding the time. They spent the rest of the night talking about their son until they came to the last page of the album. It was South’s first birthday.

The party was grand as what she expected and lits of people are invited. Most faces are not familiar to her. “I had a hard time raising him. He cries a lot as he grow. I spent restless hours to comfort him. Everytime he cries and refuses to shush, he made me question my own fatherhood. I am asking myself if i’m not doing it right, if I failed to be a father. I just don’t really know what to do with him.” He chuckled, “but now, I think I did not fail after all. He grew so fine.” Kouvoh added.

Kharryl nod in agreement, “You did well.” Kharryl replied with a smile. Fighting the urge to sleep.

Kouvoh shuts the photo album, “I’ll show more of this next time. You need to sleep.” Kouvoh checked his wrist watch, “It’s 4:45 am.” Kouvoh jerked off the bed. “I need to prepare for our breakfast. He’ll wake up soon.” He said, referring to South.

Her sleepy countenance slightly crumpled, “you haven’t sleep a bit.” Kharryl pointed out.

Kouvoh smiled that made her heart race again, “I’ll be fine.” he assured. “Sleep, binibini.”