Sunday. The sunlight was just right.
Misae had been busy since early morning.
"Mom, what are you doing?"
"Preparing the maternity bag." Misae took a large bag out of the cabinet. "It's the stuff I need to bring to the hospital when I give birth. Towels, pajamas..."
Shin-chan walked to the bedroom doorway and saw Misae staring blankly at an open, empty bag.
"Mom?"
"I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something." Misae held her waist and stood up. "It was the same when I gave birth to you. We only realized something was missing after we got to the hospital. Your dad was so frantic, running back and forth between the hospital and home."
She took out the things she had already placed inside the bag and checked them again.
Shin-chan thought for a moment, ran into the kitchen, and came back with a box of chocolate sticks.
"This."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious." Shin-chan stuffed the chocolate sticks into the maternity bag. "If you bring this, you won't have to make Dad run around buying food."
Misae opened her mouth.
"And people who give birth must be really tired. When you're tired, you want something sweet." Shin-chan puffed out his chest. "That's my experience."
"What experience do you have? You've only given birth once, and you were the one being born."
"Being born is tiring too," Shin-chan said with perfect confidence.
Misae rubbed her forehead and decided not to get too caught up in this topic.
In the end, the chocolate sticks were still stuffed into the maternity bag. Not because Misae thought they were necessary, but because every time she tried to take them out, Shin-chan put them back in.
After this repeated three times, she gave up. Although Shin-chan was only five years old, he showed extraordinary willpower in certain matters.
Misae continued packing things into the bag.
"Mom," Shin-chan asked, "when you gave birth to me, did you pack this much stuff too?"
Misae's hand paused.
She remembered Hiroshi's flustered state five years ago.
She remembered gritting her teeth and shouting in the delivery room for three hours. She remembered how her hands trembled the first time she held that wrinkled little baby.
Back then, she had thought everything would be fine once the baby was born. She had no idea how many not-so-easy moments she would experience while raising a little baby.
"Even more than this," she said. "Your dad almost tried to bring the microwave from home to the hospital."
"Why bring a microwave?"
"He heard someone say pregnant women need to eat hot food." Misae stuffed the last piece of clothing inside and zipped the bag shut. "The maternity bag is ready. No matter when it happens, we can just pick it up and go."
Shin-chan looked at the bulging bag, then at Misae's belly. "Mom, when is the baby coming out?"
"The due date is still two weeks away." Misae placed a hand on her belly. "But you can't say for sure with this kind of thing. It might be early, or it might be late."
"Then do you want to start holding this bag from now on?"
"That's not realistic."
"Then when you go to the bathroom, should you bring it too?"
Misae knocked him on the head. The force was much lighter than usual.
"Come take a walk with Mom." Misae held her waist and said.
"Where?"
"To the park to get some sun."
Shin-chan agreed, not because he wanted to walk, but because he knew there was an old man selling roasted sweet potatoes near the park.
When they passed by the neighbor auntie's house, the auntie was crouching in the yard, watering the flowers.
"Misae, you're almost due, right?" The auntie stood up and looked at Misae's belly through the fence. "Your belly is so big. It must be a chubby baby."
"Two more weeks," Misae said, stopping.
"Where are you going?"
"Just taking a walk. The doctor said I should move around properly."
"Can you manage by yourself?" The auntie looked at Misae, then at Shin-chan. "Do you want me to go with you?"
"I'm here." Shin-chan spun around on the curb.
The auntie laughed twice, didn't take it seriously, and went back inside.
Misae continued walking. When they passed a slope, Shin-chan stretched out both arms and blocked her way.
"Careful!"
His eyes stared unblinkingly at the ground, as if checking whether there were any suspicious obstacles ahead.
"There was a pebble on the ground just now." Shin-chan crouched down, picked up the pebble, and solemnly placed it into his pants pocket. "It has been dealt with."
Misae lowered her head and looked at the back of the head crouching on the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"Being a bodyguard." Shin-chan stood up and patted the dust off his hands. "Starting now, I'm Mom's bodyguard."
"Who appointed you?"
"Myself." Shin-chan walked to Misae's left side, took her free hand, and placed it on his shoulder. "Hold here."
Misae's hand rested on Shin-chan's shoulder. It was hard to say how much weight the shoulder of a five-year-old could support, but she did feel steadier while walking.
"A bodyguard's duties are..." Shin-chan raised one finger and began listing them. "First, protect Mom from falling. Second, protect Mom from being stolen by bad guys. Third, protect Mom so she has food to eat."
Misae did not say anything like, "You can't even take care of yourself, and you want to be a bodyguard?" Instead, she tightened the hand resting on Shin-chan's shoulder slightly.
"Then you have to protect me well."
"Leave it to me."
When they arrived at the park, Misae sat down on a bench.
Shin-chan stood beside her for a while, then took the pebble out of his pants pocket and placed it on the bench. After thinking for a moment, he took half a pack of tissues out of his other pocket.
"What are you taking out?"
"Emergency supplies." Shin-chan arranged the items in a row. "The rock can hit bad guys, and the tissues can wipe sweat."
Misae looked at this bodyguard with pebbles and tissues stuffed in his pockets and couldn't help laughing.
"Shin-chan."
"What?"
"Do you think Mom is a good mom?"
Shin-chan turned his head to look at her, tilted his head, and showed a hint of confusion on his face.
"Mom is Mom. Why ask whether you're good or not?"
Misae was silent for a while, then shook her head.
"Nothing." She stood up. "The old man selling roasted sweet potatoes is here."
"Where? Where?" Shin-chan's head spun around quickly.
When it was almost dark, Misae wanted to go to the convenience store to buy something, so she told Shin-chan to go home first.
Shin-chan stood at the front door, his hand already touching the doorknob, but then he pulled it back.
He turned around and trotted back along the road they had come from, standing at the alley entrance and poking his head out to look inside.
Misae walked slowly and hadn't gone far yet.
"Can't clock out yet," Shin-chan said to himself, then quietly followed her.
He followed Misae all the way to the convenience store entrance, watched her go in, watched her come out, then followed her back to the front door.
"Today's work went very smoothly." Shin-chan nodded. "The mission to protect Mom has been successfully completed."
Misae walked into the living room, placed the shopping bag on the table, then turned and saw Shin-chan taking off his shoes. The soles were covered in leaves and mud.
"How did your shoes get this dirty?"
"I took a little detour." Shin-chan made a gesture, pinching his thumb and index finger together.
Misae looked at those mud-covered shoes, as if she had realized something.
"Cake."
Shin-chan lifted his head.
"I'll make you cake tonight as a reward for today's hardworking Mr. Bodyguard."
Shin-chan's eyes lit up. "Mom is the best."