Chapter 5: To Put It Mildly, He’s an Angel.

I ran down the street against the flow of people hurrying home.
My destination was the church in this district, about a fifteen-minute walk from the Licorice Diner.
Passing by the grand cathedral, I knocked on the door of a small chapel deeper within the grounds.

“Sorry I’m late…!”

I opened the door while catching my breath, and the two people inside turned around together.
Sitting on a pew was an elderly sister holding a picture book.
Beside her, a little boy perked up the moment he saw my face, his expression lighting up.

“Ah, Mama!”

“Rowan, sorry to keep you waiting!
I’m here to pick you up~!”

The boy slid down from the pew with surprising speed, then toddled toward me with his arms outstretched.
I crouched down and opened my arms as well, hugging the child tightly as he flew into me.

“Welcome back!
Were you a good boy?”

“Rowan good boy!”

“Mmm, I see, I see.”

The little boy pressing his small head against my chest was named Lowell.
He was my child.
And his father was Adolphus.
Yes—somehow, I had conceived him from that single wedding night.

I realized I was pregnant not long after I started working at the Licorice Diner.
After arriving in Diud, I had been so busy scrambling to find housing and work, and then so focused on getting used to my job, that I hadn’t had the presence of mind to notice I’d missed my period.
I’d casually assumed my cycle was just off because of the change in environment.
The fact that I barely had any morning sickness was another reason I noticed so late.
When “Huh?” turned into “No way,” and the pregnancy was confirmed, the shock was immense, but I hardly hesitated about giving birth.
Dan and Hannah offering their full support was truly reassuring.
Without them, I would have been completely at a loss.

Several months later, the baby who was born inherited his father’s traits strongly, with black hair and blue eyes.
The boy named Lowell had grown up healthy without any serious illness and had recently celebrated his second birthday.
To be honest, he was incredibly cute.
To put it mildly, he was an angel.
He was my most precious treasure in the world.
When I rubbed my cheek against his soft black hair, the sweet scent unique to toddlers filled my chest.

‘Ahh!
My Rowan smells so cute today too~!!’

What is it about the smell of a little child’s head that’s so adorable?
As I sniffed him repeatedly, Lowell squirmed and started laughing.

“Mama, that tickles~”

“Sorry, sorry.”

I lifted the cheerful Lowell in my arms and turned properly toward the sister.

“Thank you again today.
This isn’t much, but…”

I handed her a few copper coins wrapped in paper as a donation to the church.
The church in this town ran a charitable service that looked after young children to support working parents.
The donation served as a substitute for childcare fees.
I had been using this church’s daycare since Lowell was about a year and a half old.
Before that, I’d carried him on my back while helping in the kitchen, but he’d grown too big to be carried for long periods.
At the same time, I couldn’t exactly let him roam freely in the dining area with customers or in a kitchen full of fire and blades.
Dan and Hannah had told me I could take time off work until Lowell grew bigger, but relying on them that much didn’t sit right with me.
And I felt that interacting with other children close to his age at daycare was good stimulation for Lowell too.
I was truly grateful to the church.

“We have received the donation.
Spending time with the children brings us great happiness as well.”

The elderly sister smiled gently.

“Lowell was a very good boy today.
And he’s quite a clever child.
It seems he’s learned to read the letters in picture books over the past few days.”

“What, really!?
That’s amazing, Rowan!
Could my child possibly be a genius…!?”

“Mmff.”

His chubby cheeks turned red as he struck a shy, smug expression.
Adorably smug.
Utterly adorable.

After waving goodbye to the sister, I headed home with Lowell in my arms, singing as we walked.
Lowell went to daycare every day without fuss, but perhaps because of that, he was especially clingy when he was with me.
I wanted to spoil him as much as possible too, to make up for the time we couldn’t spend together during the day.

“We’re home~”

“Home~”

When the two of us returned to the Licorice Diner, Dan and Hannah were waiting with dinner ready.
The Licorice Diner doubled as a residence.
The first floor was the restaurant, the second floor was where Dan and Hannah lived, and Lowell and I rented a room on the third floor that had been converted from a storage space.

“Welcome back, Rowan.
Tonight it’s your favorite bean soup.”

“Yay, Rowan!”

“Yay~”

I set Lowell down, and he toddled over to Hannah, hugging her tightly in greeting.
Then he did the same to Dan.
Hannah was beaming, saying, “Rowan really is adorable. I’ve never seen a child this cute,” and even Dan, who was usually quiet and stoic, was clearly smiling as he patted Lowell’s head.
Even as his mother, I had to admit he was terrifyingly good at winning people over.
He was overflowing with charm.

Dinner with the four of us was bean soup and corn bread.
Both were Lowell’s favorites, dishes he’d loved since his baby food days.
The bean soup, rich with the flavors of bacon and onions, was one of my favorites too.
Not just this soup, but all of Dan’s cooking had a gentle deliciousness that soaked into your body.
It wasn’t flashy, but it had a depth of flavor you never got tired of, even eating it every day.
That was probably why the Licorice Diner had lasted for thirty years in this town.
These days it was bustling thanks to its unusual Japanese-style menu, but I believed that was only possible because of Dan’s solid skills.

“Yummy~”

Lowell, like a child raised in a diner, loved to eat.
Today as well, he held his spoon himself and eagerly shoveled soup into his mouth.
After finishing almost all of it, he started gathering the beans left at the bottom of the bowl with his spoon, chanting, “Gather, gather~.”
Then he munched them down and smiled brightly.

“Gih…”

‘Too cuteeeeeee!!’

Overwhelmed by his preciousness, I covered my face with both hands and mentally rolled around in agony.
Only in my heart, of course.
Dan and Hannah seemed just as struck by Lowell’s cuteness, both gazing upward with expressions like they were holding something back.

After our peaceful dinner, it was time for just Lowell and me.
We took a bath while playing fish games, brushed our teeth, and then climbed into bed.

“Rowan not sleepy at all.”

He said that at first, but by the time I’d gently patted him and sung three songs, he had begun breathing softly in sleep.
His innocent sleeping face still held traces of when he was a baby, and a painfully tender love welled up in my chest.

“Mama’s precious, precious Rowan.
I love you…”

I whispered softly and kissed his plump cheek.
Praying that this happiness would last forever, I blew out the lamp.