Rewritten Past

Miss Serena hesitantly poked my arm and murmured, "How is Yue feeding you?"

I grinned and said, "Very well! Now..." I grabbed April and then pulled her into the kiddy pool. "Tag!"

"Pwah! ALEEEEEX!"

Rule number one. When in doubt, discombobulate.

The moment I pulled April into a game of tag in the kiddy pool, the other guests started minding their own business. Mentally, they had marked me off as 'weird Chinese kid', but also as 'just a kid.'

Who knew diving down the rabbithole of social manipulation theory on YouTube and being an attorney would come in handy like this, eh?

April giggled and then splashed me with water. "Hmph! Meanie!"

I grinned and then decided to lean into being a kid. "Ka..."

April paused. "Ka?"

"Me..." I shuffled over into the deeper part and squatted so my hands were below the surface.

"May?" April blinked and said, "Alex, Silly! I'm APRIL, not MAY!"

"Ha, me... HA!" I surged my hands forward and then sent a small wave towards April.

She let out a happy scream and then ducked under the wave, getting drenched. "ALEEEEX!" She huffed and then started trying to run after me, slapping the water to splash me with every step.

In the corner of my eye, I saw that black guy losing his mind.

Huh. Must be an early weeb. Seemed like he 100% clocked the kamehameha.

He also seemed pretty chill and self-aware, since he wasn't coming over or bothering Miss Serena about it.

Speaking of Miss Serena...

"Be careful, Sweetie!"

...She was being a diligent mother. But she was also using a Kodak to take pictures of us running about.

Well. If we were going to be making memories anyway... might as well go full goofy~

I dove to the bottom of the water and pretended to be a shark, holding my hands over my head while chasing April.

She let out a happy scream and then started running away from me, making a loud splash.

I chuckled, letting my breath bubble up to the surface and kept swimming... or rather, crawling, after her.

===

Serena lowered her camera and let out a warm smile, seeing her daughter have fun with Alex.

It was nice. And it also made her realize just how fast life could change.

Just a week ago, she was still stressed about how to pay the bills and if CPS would randomly show up to take April away. That, or her parents would find her and convince CPS that they'd be better at raising April than she was.

'Lord, thank you for this miracle...'

Thanking God was all she could do. That, and spend her whole life repaying Yue and Alex.

Really, a lifetime might not even be enough...

After 'that' incident where she had used the money Yue gave her to quit her job selling her body, Serena had been beaten and barely managed to make it back home. And considering she was followed, she had been worried that something terrible would happen to both her and April.

But then Yue and Alex showed up like a storm, saving them both and sweeping them to safety.

Serena never did get the full story of what happened that night.

Yue had handled the cops, and April didn't have clear memories of what happened. Alex just said his aunt had handled it...

But Serena knew it wasn't Yue who really resolved it.

'That boy...'

Serena tilted her head, watching Alex play with April.

He was a kid. For the most part, that was how he acted too. Whenever he was around April, he acted like a normal kid who genuinely adored April as his best friend. Maybe even like a sister with how close he was with her.

There were times though where he was different.

Not like he dropped a mask or anything like that. No, Alex was a very, very, VERY sincere little boy. Sweet, smart, and strong.

But there were moments where he looked older than any child had a right to be.

Like earlier before Yue left and he bugged her about staying out too late.

Alex had played it off as just being worried Yue would be 'stolen' by a man and leave less time for him.

But Serena could hear it in his voice.

It was a genuine concern. Not just childish needling for attention like April did when Serena had gone out to meet men for her former job.

No, it was caution born from reason.

Serena sat back in the plastic chair, watching April play some more with Alex.

Just a child.

Serena was sure of it. Alex was just an ordinary little boy... albeit very fit.

But Serena had seen Yue change, so she knew that it was probably because Alex's 'mom' was fit too.

And at times like this, where he acted like a normal kid, it was easy to forget.

But.

'...Is he okay?'

Yue didn't talk much about Alex's situation. And Alex didn't mention it either.

What Serena knew was that Yue was Alex's aunt. But Alex called her Mom now, and he clearly loved her like one too.

'I should ask...'

Serena didn't think it was a situation like her and April. April was born because...

...No, better to not think about that.

Anyway, Serena was sure that Yue didn't give birth to Alex, but the two were clearly mother and son in every other way.

The training, the banter, the doting affection hidden behind a gruff front...

'Well. I guess it doesn't matter too much.'

What Serena knew was that they were good people, her daughter adored them both, and they wouldn't have to worry about money ever again.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. Sorry to disturb you..."

Serena flinched and looked up to see a black man approach. The one who had exclaimed earlier.

He had a shaved head and was shirtless, revealing a trained body. He was also wearing flashy shorts, white and red with a design that looked vaguely Asian with some letters and an elephant on it.

The man let out an apologetic smile and said, "My name is Tyrone Reynolds. I don't mean no harm. I just wanted to ask if you knew that Chinese kid's father."

Serena reflexively covered her chest and shifted back a bit. "...I don't. Why?"

Tyrone realized Serena was on edge and took a step back, holding his hands up. "I'm a fighter. That little guy looks like he's got proper training, so I wanted to see if I could talk with his pops to see what's going on, you know? I'm trying to get into this thing called the UFC. It's kind of like boxing, but you get to mix other fighting styles."

Serena blinked, processing the man's words. She hesitated and gave him a once over again.

A tense silence passed.

Tyrone rubbed his chin and said, "Actually, it's fine. I didn't mean to intrude or anything. Hell, you probably get bothered a lot with how beautiful you are, so I'll just-"

Before Serena could respond, Alex's voice cut through the air.

"Sup, dude. You need something?"