Chapter 1
Lisa - 19 years ago
It was my baby brother's birthday. Getting everything ready for the party was already hard enough. Ordering food, inviting other kids, reassuring their parents it's an innocent party for a seven-year-old, weren't easy tasks. Now, the most important part of a birthday followed a part that could not be missed and could ruin the whole day if it wasn't there. A gift.
My eyes were grazing the bookshelves and articles displayed on them, trying to find the perfect gift for Bambam. Lego building blocks were definitely out of the question. We already owned three full collection packages including a train station, a superhero set, and some tropical island nonsense. Besides, Bambam had already grew out of that phase.
I saw so many promising and potential gifts, but another thing I had to be careful about was my money. I still had to get a cake for the party. With everything kept in mind, my focus dropped, and in the end, I caught myself blindly gazing at all the colourful offers.
The person to break me from my trance was my younger sister Rosé, who tagged along to help me find a gift for our little brother. She tugged on my sleeve and demandingly spoke when I looked at her, "Lisa, can you buy me this?" Rosé was holding a BabyBorn doll in her arms, and I immediately shook my head, "No."
"Why not?" she asked, her voice rising to the high pitched and annoying one she always used on everyone when she wanted something. I was already turning back to the shelves when I spoke calmly, even though inside I was burning up, "Be-because I don't have that m-much money for you and Bambam both. Besides, it's his bir-birthday today. I'll get you your doll next time if you want."
Rosé furrowed her brows and looked at the BabyBorn she was holding, "But..." she lifted her eyes and peered at me, "Bambam can get a gift next time. My friend told me that's how her birthdays go."
"You g-got your gift on your birthday and so will Bambam, okay?" I told her, keeping the stern voice out for now. Sometimes she could be dealt with the gentle way. Sometimes, not so. She refused to drop the subject and squeezed the toy in her hands so hard, the baby's face got all mashed up. She looked at me from under her brows. Her face was expressing undeniable anger towards me, but then she muttered something under her breath, "Daddy always buys me what I want."
My heart jumped in my chest, and the next moment it was heavy with metal chains hugging it. I wanted to give her everything she wanted, and I wanted to do the same for Bambam. "Rosé, please. We'll come here again, soon, I p-promise."
What followed was silence on both of our ends and in the meanwhile, I saw a cool Captain America figurine in a full fighting costume. It had a shield that would move if you pressed the button on Steve Rogers' back. I took the boxed figurine from the shelf and looked at it from up close. I knew Bambam would be excited to find this in the present wrapped for him and all I really wanted was exactly that - him to be happy on his birthday.
I found Rosé still standing next to me, clutching that doll. I showed her the figurine I found, so she'd tell me if I should buy it or not. After all, she did come along to help me find something for Bambam.
"What d-do you think?" I asked her and handed Captain America in his box to her. Rosé stuck the BabyBorn under her arm like a stack of papers and grabbed the box I gave her. She was examining it a while, turning the box around and around, only to throw it on the shelf and knocking over a bunch of other stuff on there. I flinched and glared at her, "Why did you do that?!"
"I want my BabyBorn!" she screeched back, grabbed one of the toys that were on the lowest shelf and threw it at the other toys along with the Captain America figurine. She started to cry loudly, screaming and stomping her feet against the ground but never letting go of the baby toy. I was in a panic, trying to pick the toys off the ground and putting them back where they belong, while keeping an eye on the security guard who was already checking us out, because of her crying.
