Covet {Yuumika/Mikayuu}

Tending Flowers

"René," she said, voice calm and soothing. So very different from how she spoke to Mikaela. René wished she would to speak to Mikaela like she did to him on these fleeting secret meetings. "You must understand that I did not want my little dove at first."

René couldn't help but frown at her words, couldn't help but feel warm, deep in his chest at the words: "my little dove."

She continued, "I found it impossible to love a man who was forced onto me, and then the child of that same man." She turned and sent him a smile, so sweet and reminiscent. "I couldn't help but to fall in love with him when I heard a quiet heartbeat. When he kicked me." An adoring smile adorned her delicate features as she placed a hand on her abdomen, as if reliving the sensation of being kicked from the inside.

"Then I found myself singing to the jelly bean inside me." She said. She widened her smile(it was a very sweet smile) when René let out a small giggle, coughing to cover it up.

"When he was born," she paused to look up to the sky as she let out a pleased hum. "Goodness, after so much pain came my happiest moment."

"He was so tiny and innocent." She whispered, René heard, she knew he would. "So blind to the cruelty he was being born into. That's why I tried my best to hide him from it...as you know, I failed."

Her smile was gone. She looked down and to René. Her arms extended outwards as she walked closer to him.

René was nervous. Eleven and so very nervous. She crouched in front of him, gently holding his shoulders. She forced a smiled, it was very desperate and pleading and pitiful to look at.

"Please protect him, René." She pleaded, "Promise me you will. Promise me you won't let him be hurt."

Without missing a beat, without a doubt, René promised, confident and mature, "Yes. I promise."

"Thank you." She whispered, her soft voice cracking as she leaned and lowered her head to rest on his small shoulder.

René went stiff and nervous. Unsure as to what to do. Surely he could not touch her, he wasn't allowed to. It was a given that he could not push her away, and so he did not deny her when she asked him to hold her. "Just for a bit." She said. René smiled, small and kind. For the first time ever, he touched Mikaela's mother.

Yuuichirou sent a letter. A letter of apology. Within it he claimed he needed time to think, the rest was a heartfelt apology. Mikaela hated him for apologizing.

Mikaela, just to stress Yuuichirou, waited a week to reply. With a dainty hand, curvy, perfect cursive, he wrote Yuuichirou. Claiming he had nothing to apologize for and requesting his presence. Not caring to divulge why he wished to see him. Mikaela realizes that maybe he is cruel, he can be cruel when regarding Yuuichirou. Or perhaps, Mikaela is no longer the person he was. No, he definitely is not. It makes Mikaela sad—disappointed.

Besides him, René picks up the empty teacup by its saucer. Picking it up with a practiced grace. Careful and calculated movements ensuring he doesn't make any more noise than what is to be expected.

René casts his tired eyes on Mikaela's form. He is slouching and stiff. Sulking and confused.

Despite his solemn mood, Mikaela does not hesitate to straighten his back when René tells him to. They have done this before. They will do it again.