When a Well-Raised Son Grows Up - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Meeting Carlisle’s red eyes for a moment, Abella hesitated. She wondered if she would be able to take care of Carlisle until he was old enough.

Marriage hadn’t really been on her radar when she was busy making ends meet. She questioned if she could truly embrace Carlisle as a family member and be with him, not just as the child of her sick stomach. After all, he’s just a tiny, cute kid now…

Abella hesitated, and Carlisle gave her a sullen look, as if he knew she would, and then fumbled and pushed her hand away.

“Mom…”

“…?”

“After all… you’re going to abandon me away, aren’t you…?” The sobs that had been muffled threatened to burst forth once more, and Carlisle’s eyes filled with water.

Panicked, Abella tried to soothe him for a moment. ” if you’re going to abandoned me… I’d rather leave now…..”

“Carlisle, what are you talking about…!”

Despite Abella’s shout, Carlisle immediately changed form. Human and wolf again, his ears and tail drooping, he stumbled toward the front door.

His back looked pitiful, and his eyes were downcast, as if deeply hurt by being abandoned again.

As she watched the little ball of fur leave, Abella felt an indescribable emotion. Her stomach churned, and she didn’t want to let him go. So, instinctively, she ran and called out.

“Baby!”

She scooped up the furball and held it tightly in her arms.

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Ugh…”

Despite Abella’s hold, Carlisle shook his head, struggling to be let go.

“Bitter, sweetheart, stay still.”

“Ouch…”

“I just wanted to be cautious, you know? Bringing in a new family member isn’t easy, and I… I mean, I didn’t want to bring you in lightly, like people who irresponsibly raise animals and then abandon them. So, I needed to think about it, and that’s why I paused.”

Carlisle, who had been sulking at Abella’s words, lifted his eyes to look at her.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t have the money, I don’t have the status, and I don’t know if I’m capable of doing everything you’re asking me to do.

So, there are some things I didn’t answer right off the bat, like right now, when I was worried about money in front of you, and I made you look bad, and I sent you out hunting at night.”

Abella paused for a moment, breathing slowly and deeply. Then she opened her mouth, cautiously, as if she had made a great decision.

“But if it’s okay with you, I’ll try my best. I mean, um… I’ll try to be a good mom. Of course, I’m a first-time mom, so I’ll be inexperienced, but I like you, baby. You’re cute and adorable, and you make me smile. I’ve been smiling a lot more since you came home, and my steps back from the store are a lot lighter…”

It certainly has. Having someone waiting for her at home was something Abella had never felt before, and she was more excited than usual on her way home from work.

Abella never had a real family. An orphan, she was raised in a state-run orphanage. When she was old enough to no longer be in the orphanage, she was given a small amount of money by the state to live on her own.

After considering working as a maid for a noble family, she settled in a backwater village near the border where land was cheaper and worked as an herbalist to make ends meet.

Of course, she doesn’t know the warm embrace of a family. All she knows is an empty house with no warmth and the cold gaze of an unloving nursery school director.

So when she first brings Carlisle home, the feeling is subtle.

The familiarity of coming home late at night, the warmth, and traces of another human being were something Abella had never felt before. She turned to face Carlisle and spoke cautiously.

“So… baby, if you don’t mind…”

Carlisle narrowed his crimson eyes and waited for the next words.

“Do you think we… can be a real family?”

The word “family” brought back tears to his eyes, which had barely stopped crying. Carlisle grunted, then let out an ooh, ooh, ooh and slid deeper into Abella’s arms.

Abella smiled to herself as she felt the fur squirm in her arms. So, this was a new family for both Abella and Carlisle.

* * *

After that day, Abella changed her mind, which is to say, she reconsidered sending Carlisle back to the mountain.

“Stop, Mom!”

“What is it, my dear?”

“Here! Strawberries! I picked strawberries!”

Carlisle beamed, thrusting a beautiful raspberry into Abella’s hand. Recently, he had turned to berries after Abella stopped letting him hunt.

He was covered in grass and leaves from an exhilarating run through the mountains. The new clothes Abella had given him were a mess.

“Wow, are you really a raspberry?”

It was hard to recognize him as human when he looked like that. The tiny, dainty raspberries disappeared into nothingness under the wolf’s sharp teeth. Carlisle’s tiny hands gripped the soft berries, and he gulped down the water, his brow furrowing for a moment.

“Ugh….”

A pair of pointed ears peeked out from under his saccharine hair.

“Shhh….”

Carlisle stuck his tongue out and hummed. Apparently, an unripe raspberry had gotten stuck in the gap. Abella couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of Carlisle’s pained groaning in his arrogance.

“Phew… must have gotten a little unripe in there.”

She laughed because it was cute to see him in pain, and Carlisle laughed along with her like an idiot, not knowing why she was laughing, just that it was good to see her laugh.

It was the exact opposite of the arrogant look he’d been wearing just moments ago. Seeing him like that, she couldn’t help but smile.

I know all too well what it’s like to be praised for eating a whole bunch of raspberries.

“Heh… can muggle eat grass and berries, not just meat!”

Carlisle smirked, rolling his eyes. The words within them made Abella stop laughing.

“Mommy, mommy, I’m not a carnivore anymore!”

“…”

“You don’t have to eat meat for rice!”