It started like any other calm weekday.
Max was on the carpet playing with his dinosaur toys, humming some made-up theme song under his breath. I was in the kitchen preparing a light dinner—chicken tinola, his favorite.
The wind outside the windows had picked up. Clouds were beginning to roll in, but the condo was warm, safe, glowing in soft orange light from the sunset.
Then the doorbell rang.
Three sharp buzzes.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pvV162agr
Too urgent. Too angry.
I checked the peephole.
My blood froze.
Carla.
Max's mother.
Before I could fully process it, the door flung open.
She had stormed in the second the lock clicked.
"You little bitch," she hissed, stepping inside like she owned the air in my lungs. "Stealing my family. Living in my son's life like you're his mother."
I stepped back instinctively, shielding Max behind me.
"Please lower your voice," I said, trying to stay calm. "You're scaring your son."
She scoffed. "MY son. Not yours."
Max peered out from behind my legs, trembling. "Mama?"
Carla dropped her bag and marched toward him.
"You're coming with me," she said coldly. "I should've taken you long ago."
"No!" Max wailed. "No! I don't want to—"
And then—
A slap.
Not to Max.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbqQKRIGnj
To me.
Carla's hand collided with my face, sending me crashing onto the tiled floor. My cheek burned. My elbow throbbed. The tinola pot shattered behind me.
Max screamed, falling to his knees beside me, sobbing.
"MOM JAE!!"
I held him tight, shielding him again even as my body trembled.
"Get out of here!" I cried, voice cracking.
But Carla only pulled out her phone and called Tedd.
I could hear her yelling through the phone speaker.
"Your whore thinks she's his mother now? I'm taking my son, Tedd. You better come home and say goodbye because I'm not letting him grow up with a stranger!"
She snatched Max's arm, trying to yank him from my grip.
Max sobbed louder, clinging to me. "No! I don't want to go with you! I want to stay with Daddy and Mom Jae!"
"Liar!" Carla shouted. "You're confused! They've brainwashed you—"
The condo door slammed open again.
Tedd.
Breathless. Scrubs still on. Stethoscope swinging from his neck.
He saw me on the floor.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboiDuZSfXQ
Saw Max trembling.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJPcfJVkij
Saw Carla standing there, righteous and cruel.
Something inside him snapped.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he roared.
Carla turned on him. "You left me—"
"You left me, Carla! You disappeared and came back pregnant with another man's child! You walked away from Max like he was a forgotten bag of clothes!"
"He's my son—"
"He's our son. And you don't just show up one day and think you can rip apart his life like you didn't abandon it!"
Tedd crossed the room, helped me up, then turned to Carla, pointing at the door.
"You are never to lay a hand on her again. And you don't get to call yourself a mother just because biology says so."
Carla's chest heaved. She wasn't used to this version of Tedd.
"You're making a mistake," she hissed. "You'll regret this."
Tedd stepped between her and Max.
"No. The only mistake I made was ever trusting you with our son's future. Get. Out."
Carla looked like she might explode, but finally—she turned, grabbed her bag, and slammed the door behind her.
Silence.
Only Max's sobs filled the room.
I sat down on the couch, still shaking.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWcZmJGNhe
My cheek swollen. My wrist starting to bruise.
Tedd dropped to his knees in front of me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice cracking. "I should've told you she'd come back. I should've protected you both better."
I cupped his face, despite my tears.
"You did. You're here now."
Max climbed between us, hugging both of us tightly.
"I don't want to leave," he cried into Tedd's chest.
"You're not going anywhere," Tedd whispered, voice firm. "I promise."
That night, the three of us slept in the same bed.
Max between us. My hand holding his. Tedd's arm around both of us.
A family that was chosen, not forced.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujfO2kOkXe
Built not by blood—but by every act of love.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabJb6PNcQo
