Once, the girl scored a perfect hundred on an exam, but all she got from her father was, "Good job. Keep it up."
Nothing more.
They were all busy preparing for the new life that was about to arrive, with no time to pay attention to her.
She lowered her eyes.
Her heartbeat slowly returned to normal.
She had run all the way home earlier.
Like any child eager to show off, she had wanted to tell her family about her score as soon as possible.
But things hadn't gone the way she'd expected.
For some reason, her eyes felt hot.
She sniffled.
Then her mother beckoned her over, took her hand, stroked her head, and praised her for doing well.
She was happy.
But she hadn't been paying attention, and her backpack had knocked into the table beside her.
"Crash!"
The things on the table tumbled to the floor.
The loud, clattering noise startled her so badly that she froze.
The woman bent over carefully to protect her belly, a hint of alarm showing in her eyes.
Her father scolded her.
Her grandmother told her to go play somewhere else and not get too close to her mother.
Her grandma said her mother was carrying her little brother and couldn't play with her.
But she could keep her mother company.
She felt wronged.
She really hadn't done it on purpose.
Her mother smiled at her and said she was fine, just a little startled.
Her mother stroked her head and said she would play with her again after the baby was born.
She murmured an apology, then smiled and nodded.
She hoped her little brother would be born soon, so her mother could spend time with her again.
But would she?
Thinking about how things were at