The woman heard the door open.
She hadn't seen anyone yet.
But she was already lying in bed.
A TV drama was playing on the television across from the bed, but the woman hadn't taken in a single bit of it.
She had been waiting for the man to come back.
She was upset, too, after arguing with the child.
She wanted to know how the child was doing.
The TV's fairly loud volume hadn't reached her ears.
But the faint sound of the door opening startled her awake.
Realizing how she'd reacted, the woman smiled wryly and shook her head.
The woman clenched one hand into a fist, cheering the child on.
Big Boy abruptly turned his head.
Facing Mom again didn't seem quite so easy anymore.
"Come sit over here."
"Are you sleepy?"
"Why did you turn into a scaredy-cat as soon as you saw Mom?"
Big Boy's mind went blank for a moment.
At last, the man's voice broke the silence in the room.
His expression was also rather complicated.
"...Yeah."
The child's eyes were already beginning to sting a little.
"...Mom."
The woman's voice abruptly stopped.
"Mm."
The daughter she had finally gotten back...
Big Boy hugged the teddy bear even tighter.
"I won't run away from home again."
The man was still worried the child hadn't taken the matter to heart. "If you run away from home, a bad person might take you away. You could get hurt."
"I don't want to never see you and Dad again."
When the child finally looked up, she found that Mom wasn't smiling.
After a great deal of mental preparation, and with the teddy bear squeezed out of shape in her arms, the little girl finally spoke.
She looked at the child.
Mom