One More Time ( Becky x Freen )

Chapter 24

Every morning Becky woke up early, no alarm clock or her mother. It had been like this for the past two weeks since the new arrangement began. Before going to work, Araya would drop her off at Freen's salon after breakfast, where she would spend her day until Araya came back again. But today was Friday, it was so special that she had woken up extra early at 6.45 am.

She would go home with Finn and Freen and spend the weekend together like they did last week. She had been so excited for the day to begin. She jumped out of bed and took a quick shower. After getting dressed, she combed her hair and grabbed a hair tie to tie her hair into a ponytail.

"Mai, mai... mai cai..." Becky said as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror.  She pulled the elastic out of her hair and put her hair back down, feeling a little frustration that it wasn't working the way she liked, like Freen used to do it for her. She combed her hair a little with her fingers and put it back into a ponytail, she sighed in satisfaction as she looked at the mirror again. "Ka.. suay!"

Now that she knew how to comb her own hair, braid it into a ponytail, she sometimes acted like she was a hairdresser. She spent almost all day at the salon, she began to think of herself as one of them working at the salon. While waiting for Finn to come home from school, she liked to watch Nam doing her clients' nails, or Faye dying clients' hair, or Freen cutting clients' hair. Nam had taught her how to paint her nails carefully after one time she was caught doing her own nails in the back room, everything was messy with colorful nail polishes. 

When Finn came home from school, they ate together and then she made sure Finn did his homework before starting to play some games or watch some movie on Freen's MacBook in the back room.

"Honey, have you packed your stuff?" Araya asked as she pushed the door open and poked her head into Becky's room.

Becky shook her head and pursed her lips in the direction she put all of her belongings that might be needed for the sleepover.

"Okay ka. After you've finished packed, come have breakfast na?" Araya said. "Oh honey, you look so beautiful." She smiled at her daughter.

"Am I?" Becky asked, smiling widely as she looked at herself in the mirror and gave a satisfied look at her own work. "Thanks na ka, Mommy." She said.

As her mother closed the door and headed to the kitchen, she began packing her belongings into her blue backpack. She put the storybooks and some toys she bought for Finn a few days ago, and her stuffed animal, Bonbon, which Finn bought for her to match his stuffed animal, Fluffy, and to keep her company when she was sleeping alone.

There was nothing else to pack, as most of her belongings, such as clothes, toothbrushes, socks, were already there in Freen's apartment, in her own bedroom where she kept it in her own closet and had her own individual bed that was only there as a decoration since she always slept in Freen's bed while she was there, it wasn't as if Freen didn't like the idea.

//

"Where are we going, angel?" Becky asked as she followed Freen out of the salon, to the driveway where Freen's car was parked.

Freen searched for her car keys, and when she found them, she looked at Becky to answer her question. "We're going to surprise Finn at school na."

"We are?" Becky asked with excitement on her face.

Freen nodded and pressed the remote to unlock her white Mazda and let Becky jump in the passenger seat before starting the car.

It was the first time they were going to pick up Finn from school together. It wasn't like Freen didn't want to pick up her son on her own before this, but by the time Finn's school ended, it was a rush hour for her salon, and Mario was always there to do the favor while he picked up his younger sister.

But, now that things were starting to change, Freen thought she would make a modification where she would steal some time to pick up Finn as often as she could and now, along with Becky.

As they arrived at school, they saw some parents chatting as they waited for their children at the school gate and around the playground. Freen parked the car and they both went out for a walk and stopped under a tree where they could see Finn excitedly coming out of his class.

When they both saw Finn walking to the waiting area, Becky jumped with excitement. She couldn't wait to see her son's reaction when he saw that the two of them were there, to pick him up. When Freen thought about letting Finn see her, she remembered something.

"Well, the patient who survives the tumor but becomes autistic will usually grow up, but she will need some triggers. She will perform more mature behavior if she finds the need to do so and in Rebecca's case, she somehow feels that she has to take care of her son, and something inside her pushes her to that behavior to get ahead. Like you said, she started to be more independent only after she met her son, but not before. It's because before this, you Khun Araya, treated her like a child and the trigger in herself had never been pulled because she had never felt the need, not until recently."

"You go na?" Freen told Becky.

Becky furrowed her eyebrows, unsure of what she had just heard.

"You can go get Finn, I'll wait for you both here." Freen repeated and gave Becky a warm smile.

Becky nodded, "Well, wait here na. I'll go get him."

Freen noticed that lately, Becky's behavior began to improve since Finn started calling her Mommy. Since Becky knew she was another mother to Finn, Freen noticed that Becky was trying her best to act like one to Finn. Becky had become more mature when she was with Finn. Freen noticed that Becky liked to think of herself as an adult when she was with Finn and she tried her best to act like one even though there was still a part of her childishness that couldn't be separated from her. But it was like she could almost control it when she was with Finn.

It was like she was learning to be a mother to her son. Sometimes, she would mimic the way Freen treated Finn or the way her mother Araya treated her. Freen noticed this because sometimes when she told Finn to behave, Becky would repeat her words back to Finn and act almost like her.

When she said, "Finn luk, don't do that na." Becky would say, "Listen to your Mae, luk. Don't do that na." or something like, "Finn baby, eat your food now," and Becky would say, "Baby, please eat your food."

Although this sometimes amused Freen, she knew that this was Becky's way of being able to learn something and she was thrilled that Becky was making that effort on her own.

Freen watched as Becky walked over and before she could get close to her son, Finn saw her first and ran over to her excitedly. He was always excited when Freen came to pick him up, but he was more excited now that Becky was there too. Freen watched as Becky leaned over with her arms out, and Finn jumped when Becky reached him and hugged him.

Watching all the interaction between mother and son always brings tears to Freen's eyes, and she just couldn't hold it every time the overwhelming occasion occurred. But before Finn and Becky arrived, she wiped a few tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

When Finn saw Freen was there waiting for him and Becky, he ran to her with Becky laughing behind his back. Freen wouldn't ask for more. If it was the last thing she could ask for at that moment, it was her family. Her second chance at family that fate decided to give them.

To be continued.