"(Good girl,)" Erika thought, watching Rose leave with her teddy bear. "(Now... let's make the cake before I forget.)"
The omega, sighing, stood up, picked up the cake, and placed it on the kitchen counter. She pulled out several utensils from several drawers. Then she tied her hair in a bun and rolled her sleeves up to her elbows.
Shrugging, the white-haired girl took a spoon and began carefully removing the frosting from the cake, placing it in a small bowl, hoping her little sisters would read it.
When she finished, she took a small package of Stons frosting out of the refrigerator. It's a popular, inexpensive, and flavorless brand that can be combined with any mixture without affecting it in the slightest.
Erika added a small amount and then stirred it. While mixing, she added a little natural food coloring, hoping for a uniform color. Once satisfied with the result, she took out a smooth, blunt knife and began delicately placing the mixture on the cake.
When she finished, the white-haired woman wiped her forehead with her forearm, carefully observing the result of her work, satisfied with the outcome.
.
.
.
"Delicious!" Rose practically squealed happily as she chewed a piece of cake, placing one of her hands on her cheek. "It's the best cake you've ever provided."
"Mmmm," Melina nodded slightly, eating her own slice, leaning back on a small mound of pillows. "Good."
"I'm glad you like it," Erika smiled, sitting in her lounge chair and watching her sisters enjoy a small piece of cake. "(I would have liked Melina to try the cake once she was in better shape… but I didn't count on a sneaky little ninja sneaking up my back before I could put it away.)"
The omega sighed inwardly, slightly amused at the mental image of a little Rose wearing a ninja costume, gesturing and throwing imaginary objects, and then posing with her chest proudly and confidently puffed out. The image would bring a beautiful smile to the omega's face, and she would enjoy feeling the good feelings it brought her, but after a few moments, a bitter memory would come back, causing the smile to disappear.
One day, while Erika was coming home from work, holding her sisters' hands after picking them up from school. Rose, who was jumping around excitedly after being congratulated by her teacher for behaving well and completing all her assignments, saw out of the corner of her eye a full-body ninja costume displayed in a shop window.
She still remembers how her younger sister broke free from her grasp and ran off to a costume shop, hopping from one foot to the other, clasping her hands, clearly excited.
She remembers how her chest tightened and her eyes stung as she felt Melina's gaze on her back, and then hearing Melina offer to talk to Rose instead.
She remembers politely rejecting the offer with a slight shake of her head, exchanging glances with unspoken words that lasted for a few moments, during which she won, receiving a small, resigned nod.
She remembers that as she walked toward the younger girl, each step grew heavier and heavier, and her chest grew tighter.
She remembers that when she reached her side, Rose overwhelmed her with all the ideas she could think of and all the phrases she imagined, not stopping until Erika knelt in front of her, placing her hands on her shoulders.
She remembers gasping for air as she tried to think of what to say to her.
She remembers only coming out of that state after her little sister spoke to her, concerned about how she was feeling.
But most of all, she remembers how, with every word she said trying to explain why she couldn't buy it, the light in her little sister's eyes dimmed and her expression fell.
Rose must have realized somehow how much Erika was feeling about not being able to comply with her request. After a few moments, she seemed to recover, smiling and shrugging, saying it didn't matter; she could make a better dress herself another day.
Then the little girl would turn around and walk over to Melina, who would hug her, exchanging words while looking at her with concern.
It hurt... to extinguish her little sister's hopes because of her precarious source of income... it hurt and weighed heavily on her heart... but the fact that Rose had to act strong... hurt her soul.
From that moment on, the eldest Belion pushed herself three times harder than she normally did.
Job after job… hour after hour… Erika decided not only to work to reach the limit established to live until the end of the month, but she decided to exceed it so that her family could afford the occasional luxury.
She was exhausted… of course, she was exhausted, but when she saw her sisters' smiles, she drew strength from somewhere… possibly from her inner omega, who gave her a second wind when her first one was exhausted.
She had to make up excuse after excuse so that both Rose and Melina wouldn't discover how tired she really was.
Unfortunately, she couldn't keep it a secret for more than four months, since one of her sisters didn't take long to realize what was happening and confronted her about it when the two of them were alone.
Melina dismissed all her excuses and contradicted all her arguments with an ease that still surprises the platinum-haired girl to this day.
After the younger sister finished everything she had to say, the sister duo had a brief argument, where the younger sister wanted the older sister to tone down the intensity by taking short breaks for herself.
The two had this back-and-forth relationship, which strained things between them until, seemingly by divine grace, during one of her many shifts as a waitress, Erika met Alison and Emma, who helped her greatly reduce her load, opening the doors to better-paying jobs.
Thanks to their help, along with Melina's support, who served as her backup, Rose never found out and continued to live her childhood in the best way possible. The only thing I regret, and that haunts her from the back of her mind from time to time, is that she was never able to buy Rose a ninja costume because something told her that if she received it, I know she might end up seeing herself as responsible for what she has to do, blaming herself for giving her such a heavy burden.