I looked at my mother, not understanding her completely, although I could guess a few things.
View B smiles at me, her eyes filles with such deep love and gratitude that it make me anxious, fearing that what I thought might be true.
"Oh... I'm surprise to see you here, Mommy."
"Is it a good surprise or a bad one?"
"I don't know how I should act now."
Because at that moment, I was full of confusion and felt lost. Earlier today, I went to see my mother at home, but in the evening, I found her sitting here, looking at me with the same loving eyes as before. It wasn't like our last conversation, which was full of disappointment. Thinking about it always broke my heart.
"Be yourself, like you always are. How do you usually be, May?"
"Someone who only thinks about herself and doesn't care much about others."
View B quickly replied, making me lightly kick her leg and show my teeth at her.
"What are you saying?"
"I actually like this version of you,” our mother added.
“Seeing my once strong daughter acting so defeated, like a fish with a broken neck, that’s not the May I know."
"Did Mom forgive me?"
"I don’t know. It’s a feeling I can’t put into words. But you know… nothing in this world ever happens exactly the way we want it to. When I heard your plane crashed, I waited with hope, wishing that you would come back to me, no matter what condition you were in. Whether you came back whole or not, I just wanted you back, my daughter, just like before. And today, you’re back… exactly the way you were, completely whole. The only difference now is that there’s love.”
“...”
"I think the higher powers were testing me, to see if I could really handle what I asked for. And the test was intense; I almost couldn’t handle it."
"Mom…"
View B rested her head affectionately on the older woman’s shoulder, full of gratitude. Meanwhile, I let my tears flow, wiping them away quickly, not wanting Mom to see how emotional I had become.
"I return your daughter back to you, but on the condition that your family will never be the same. Can you accept that? If you can’t, you will lose not just one child, but both."
At that point, Mom’s voice shook, and she raised her hands to wipe her face. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I reached out, grabbed her hand from the table, and squeezed it gently to give her strength.
"When we lost May, the house barely felt like home. Then View asked to move out, and your father told me it was because she found out what he had told you before the plane crash."
"Yes."
"Everyone knew except me. And when you came back, it seemed like both your father and Mike took it so easily. I ended up being the only one who couldn’t handle it, making me the villain. How did I, who used to be the heroine, become the evil witch in my daughters’ eyes? It’s so unfair."
Mom laughed through her tears.
"Today, when you came to see me, I heard everything you said."
"Really...?"
"Don’t pretend you didn’t know. You probably realized I would listen to you, and that’s why you said all those emotional things to make me feel guilty. Did you really think it would work?"
