Chapter 83
Chapter 83
“Y-yes. The fruit of our love.” A pang of guilt shot through me. Perhaps it was the last vestige of my conscience making itself known.
But this was a white lie, a lie for the greater good. It was like hiding the truth from my younger sister, Bernadette, about the tooth fairy – the one who exchanged lost teeth left under pillows for coins – actually being our nanny.
In stark contrast to my unease, Cesar was ecstatic.
“When, when did you lay it?” Millions of stars seemed to dance in his eyes, reflecting the Milky Way. I couldn’t bear to look directly at him.
“This, this morning.”
“Really?”
“Y-yes….”
“Wasn’t it hard?” His eyebrows furrowed with concern. It hadn’t been hard for me, since Delphina was the one who’d gone to the trouble of finding it, but I had to keep up the charade.
“Uh? Uh… Well, yes.”
“Amazing.” The bright, adoring gaze was almost painful. Looking at him, I found myself saying that it had been easy.
The lies were becoming too natural. I would have to visit the confessional and pray for forgiveness.
His admiring gaze was incredibly uncomfortable, but I gritted my teeth and endured the embarrassment. Cesar remained captivated by the egg in his hand.
“Will a baby duckling hatch?”
“W-well…” I’d told Delphina to bring me any egg, but this was clearly a chicken egg. Even if it could hatch, a duckling certainly wouldn’t emerge.
“Quack, quack?”
But I couldn’t bring myself to shatter his joy. He carefully cradled the egg against his chest.
“If you squeeze it too hard, it’ll break. You have to hold it gently.”
“Like Mama Duck and Papa Duck?”
“Yes, like Mama Duck and Papa Duck. You have to keep it warm.” I said this knowing full well that humans couldn’t hatch eggs. I planned to secretly dispose of the egg once it started to rot.
Yes, the “fruit of our love.” I was playing along with this charade for one reason: I hoped that as long as he was occupied with this, he would stop going on about the actual fruit of our love.
“A nest!” Cesar looked around the room. With the egg in one hand, he used the other to gather blankets and cushions from a corner, attempting to build a nest.
“Y-yes, we need a nest, don’t we?”
“Yes.”
We spent a considerable amount of time creating a somewhat nest-like structure on one side of the bed. It made the bed a little cramped, but it was so large that a nest or two wouldn’t make much difference.
“Now that the nest is ready….” I had a feeling this was getting out of hand, but I quickly dismissed the thought.
It’ll probably lose its appeal soon, right? That’s what I told myself.
“Now that it’s done, shall we read a book?”
But Cesar remained crouched in place, shaking his head.
“No. I have to keep the egg warm.”
He meant inside the nest we had just made. He nestled into it, carefully holding the egg. His expression was so serious that I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I-is that so? Then listen while I read.”
Feeling awkward, I lay down beside him and opened a book. He’ll get tired of this soon. That’s what had to happen. Right?
I didn’t realize it then, but I had underestimated his dedication. I had overlooked Cesar’s remarkable persistence.
I realized something was amiss the next morning.
“…Cesar?”
He wasn’t beside me, where he usually was, glued to my side. I remembered him saying he would sleep in the nest with the egg. But why was he still there, in the same position as last night?
“Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep at all?”
“Hehe….” Cesar gave a weak smile. I thought I saw dark circles under his eyes.
“Ren.”
He called my name, and as I approached, he held out the egg. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The egg seemed to move slightly.
“Huh?”
Cesar gently took my hand and placed the egg on it. The egg moved again. This time, it wasn’t my imagination.
Astonished, I looked up and met his gaze.
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