♥Futarigurashi♥Kotarou lives Alone♥

Chapter 23 - A new neighbor who doesn't like children

Rio was able to get off work a little earlier and she was even recommended some good vitamin and supplements from the manager since she was helping out behind the register of the pharmacy. She really appreciated the manager for being kind to her. She saw a car drove by and at a single glance, she saw a sad and disappointed little boy with blonde hair sobbing in there. Rio wondered what happened?

"Eh?" Rio was seeing Kotarou use his toy sword to poke Tamaru in the balls. Ruri was snacking while watching it play out. "Uh..."

"Nee-chan!" Ruri ran towards Rio with a happy smile on her face! "Nee-chan, did you know? Papi's son came to visit all by himself!"

"Okay. That boy in that car?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, and why was he crying?"

"Because Papi said he can't visit on incorrect days."

"Hmm..."

Rio wondered if Tamaru was okay. She should check on him first. "Tamaru-san."

"Oh...Rio." Tamaru felt embarrassed upon letting Rio see him cry. He quickly wiped his tears away.

Rio did not ask Tamaru about the details. She asked Kotarou and Ruri to watch TV or play in Kotarou's room while she and Tamaru get dinner ready. She wanted to thank Tamaru for watching her sister because Tamaru really made things easier for her to go out and work without making Ruri feel lonely.

While helping out with the cooking, Tamaru decided to tell Rio what happened. He knew Rio will never ask because she's the type who will let people speak when they're comfortable to talk about it. He wasn't comfortable in front of the kids but when it's just the adults here, he felt he had the space to talk about it. "My ex-wife's lies caught up with her and Yuta decided to come and find me."

"All by himself? He's so young. He's definitely your son alright. If he was Old man's son, that'd be a different story!" Even when Karino's not here, she will find something to make fun of him on.

"Heh, you got that right." Tamaru smiled as he started to dice the onion. "Kotarou-kyun kept him company when I took Ruri-chan out to the park to play. I came back to check on Kotarou-kyun and there he was. I feel bad for sending him home on a bad note but there is a part of me who is happy. I'm happy that my son did not hate me after all." Was it the onion making him cry or was it his own tears. "Crap, the onions are making me cry."

Rio did not say anything. She just listened.

"It could have been worse. 'Daddy doesn't want to see us', 'Daddy have a new life now', 'Daddy have a new family', and 'Daddy doesn't love you anymore'...imagine if Yuta ate up all the lies and believed it to be the truth? Of course, an ex-husband can also do the same if they have custody of the child. It's cruel to feed children lies and make them think they are unloved. Even if the parents are no longer in love, the least they should do is remind the kid it is not their fault and they're loved even if the parents are not together."

"You are a good father."

"Thanks, Rio."

"Tamaru-san, do you hate her? Your ex-wife?"

"About that...It's not her that I hate. I hate the situation we are in."

"The situation, huh?"

Tamaru smiled a little and he started to tell Rio of his fond memories of him and his ex-wife. There were good times and there were bad times but the memory he's most fond of with his ex-wife was how the two of them forget what they were arguing about and doted on baby Yuta because their son was the cutest baby in the whole wide world and they both loved Yuta very much. "We can hate one another but we must love our son."