Chapter 173: But won’t that make you mad, Papa?
"And why would you ask that?" Michael asked.
But Olivia quickly turned her head away, whistling suspiciously and Michael’s eyebrows furrowed.
"Olivia," he called with a warning tone.
"But Papa, I was just curious."
"That curiosity level is way too high for you, young lady." He said.
"But Papa, it’s the truth."
They all went silent.
Olivia wouldn’t originally lie.
Michael was just concerned that there was a piece of information she was getting that raised her curiosity level past that of a normal kid.
Why would a four-year-old, soon to be five, ask how babies are made when she should be worrying about stuff like ’Why is the sky blue?’ or ’Where does the sun go at night?’
While it is relatively normal for a child to be curious about how babies are made, there has to be a trigger and this was why Michael wanted to know why she asked her uncle such a question.
"Did you come across a lady with a big belly by chance?" He asked but she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "Then why did you ask, Olivia?"
"Hey, Michael, don’t pressure her," Noah said softly and then turned around. "Liv, dear, it’s nothing to worry about, okay?" He assured her and she nodded. "Your Papa worries a lot, you know that." Once again, she nodded. "So, instead of keeping it a secret and having him worry more, why don’t you just tell us why you got so curious?"
Olivia pursed her lips. She was looking a bit sad because it looked like she was getting her Papa worried for no reason.
"Sorry, Papa." She said and lightly twisted her lips. "Last week at school, one of my classmates had their mother pick them up and she had a really big tummy."
Hearing this, they began to feel relieved. So, it stemmed from there.
"I asked him about it and he said his momma was about to have a baby." She softly said. "But I don’t know how the baby got in there and he didn’t know either. Maybe she ate it, or maybe it just happened. I just wanted to know. Sorry, Papa. Sorry, Daddy." She apologized and it looked like she would start crying very soon.
"Then, why did you lie when I asked you if you came across a lady with a big belly?"
"Because he asked me not to tell anyone." She said, sadly. "He wanted it to be our secret since no one else saw and he wanted to tell the class once he was a big brother."
They went silent once more.
She lied because her friend asked her to keep it a secret, but it was indeed true that the question stemmed from her curiosity, so she didn’t lie about that.
Michael didn’t know what to say about this.
"Liv," Noah called. "It’s nice that you wanted to honor your promise with your friend and not tell anyone about what you saw but I think that should’ve only applied to your peers." He said.
"To my classmates alone?"
"That’s right. Your friend didn’t want the rest of your classmates to know, right?" He asked and she nodded. "That’s that. You should only keep these things a secret from yourself, but if your Papa or I ask about it, you have to tell the truth. It’s not like we’ll go tell your classmates or teacher about it. You trust we won’t do such a thing, right?"
Olivia shook her head.
"You see. We’re not mad at you for trying to keep a promise for your friend, but your Papa would’ve been seriously upset if you kept lying because of your friend. You understand what I’m saying, right?"
Olivia understood and twiddled with her thumb.
"Then, Papa, I won’t keep secrets like this in the future."
"No, you can keep your secrets," Michael said. "I don’t need you to come running to me with the secret promises you made with your friends."
"But won’t that make you mad, Papa?" She innocently asked.
"No, I won’t be mad. I’ll only be mad if I ask you a question like this time and you decide to lie because of a promise like that. You understand?" He said, and she, more or less, understood, so she nodded her head. "Now, don’t cry, okay? I’m not mad at you."
"Thank you, Papa."
It was a rather intense first moment together but they were able to resolve things without Olivia crying.
The ride seemed so long even when the route they were taking was the route they usually took when taking Olivia to school.
In a few minutes, the atmosphere was back to its lively form and the pressure had disappeared.
Michael sighed, relieved that it wasn’t what he was thinking.
He was doing his best to raise the kid, so if he suddenly found out that the little form of neglect he had unconsciously practiced while trying to patch the widening hole in his heart had ruined her innocence and corrupted her, he would never forgive himself.
"Anyway, so is it true what Uncle said?" Olivia asked, bringing back the former topic before the whole fiasco.
"About what?" Michael asked.
"That if you and Daddy kiss a few more times, I might have a sibling soon." She said and Michael gave it a thought.
In a way, it was best to answer her positively.
"Yes, somewhat," Noah said before Michael could say anything. "Kissing has something to do with it, but the whole process is complicated, so you can only know when you’re older."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. So, promise your Papa and me that you won’t get curious about this anymore." He said and she raised her hands, promising right away.
"I promise not to be curious about babies from now on and I won’t make Papa upset about it anymore." She promised.
"Good. Then, let me also tell you this." Noah added, his eyes on the road. "If anybody kisses you on the lips, you have to let your Papa or me know, okay?"
"But why would any boy do that? We’re not even adults." She asked, innocently tilting her head.
"Exactly!" Noah slammed, as if he felt proud of such an answer. "But kissing doesn’t only happen between adults since everyone has lips. It’s mostly between people who like each other."
"Then, will a boy kiss me if he likes me?" She asked. "And if he kisses me a few more times, does that mean I’ll make babies too?"
Michael looked at Noah, asking him what the point of bringing up such a topic was if it would only raise more curious topics while feeding her curiosity.
