Chapter 27

"(Good girl)" -Erika would think watching how Rose was hugging her teddy bear- "(now… to make some arrangements for the cake before I forget)"

The omega sighed got up picked up the cake and left it on the kitchen counter taking out several of her utensils from various drawers and then taking out a beam and tying her hair in a ponytail rolling up her sleeves to her elbows.

Raising her shoulders the white-haired girl would take a spoon and begin to remove the frosting from the top of the cake carefully placing it in a small bowl wanting her little sisters to read it.

Once she finished she took out of the fridge a small package of Stons frosting, a popular gastronomic and economically cheap brand of frosting that does not have any type of flavor that could be combined without affecting the flavor in the slightest, and added a small amount and then stirred it.

While mixing, she added a small amount of natural food coloring, wanting the color to be uniform. Once she was satisfied enough with the result, she took out a blunt knife and began to delicately place the mixture on the cake.

After finishing, the white-haired girl would dry her forehead with her forearm, observing the result of her work in detail, satisfied with how it ended.

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"Yummy!" -Rose would practically squeal happily as she chewed a piece of the cake while placing one of her hands on her cheek- "it's the best cake you've ever provided in my life"

"MmmM" -Melina would nod a little while eating her slice while lying on a small mound of pillows- "Good"

"I'm glad you like it" -Erika would smile as she sat on her deck chair watching her sisters enjoy a small slice of the cake- "(I would have liked Melina to taste the cake once it was in better condition… but I didn't count on a sneaky little ninja sneaking up my back before I could put it away)"

The omega would sigh to herself slightly amused at the mental image of a little Rose wearing a ninja costume making gestures and throwing imaginary objects and then posing proudly puffing out her chest confidently.

The image would put a beautiful smile on the omega who would enjoy feeling the good feelings it brought her, but after a few moments, a bitter memory would come to her causing the smile to disappear.

Being that one day while Erika was coming from one of her jobs taking her sisters by the hands after picking them up from their school. Rose, who was jumping very happy for having been congratulated by her teacher for behaving very well and completing all her tasks, saw out of the corner of her eye a full-body ninja costume displayed in a window.

She still remembers how her younger sister broke free from her grip and ran off to a costume store jumping from one foot to the other clasping her hands excited.

She remembers how her chest tightened and her eyes stung as she felt Melina's gaze on her back and then heard the aforementioned offer to talk to Rose instead.

She remembers politely rejecting the offer by shaking her head slightly, exchanging glances with unspoken words between them that would last a few moments which she won by receiving a slight resigned nod.

She remembers that as she walked towards the younger, each step became heavier and heavier and her chest tightened more and more.

She remembers that when she reached her side, Rose overwhelmed her with all the ideas she could and all the phrases she imagined, not stopping until Erika knelt in front of her, placing her hands on her shoulders.

She remembers that she lost the air in her lungs as she tried to think of what to say to her.

She remembers that she only came out of that state after her little sister spoke to her worried about how she was feeling.

But above all, she remembers how for every word she said trying to explain why she couldn't buy it, the light in her little sister's eyes went out and her expression fell.

Rose must have realized somehow how much Erika was affected by not being able to comply with what she asked of her because, after a few moments, she seemed to compose herself and smile, shrugging her shoulders saying that it didn't matter that she could make a better outfit herself another day.

Then the little girl would turn around and walk towards Melina who would hug her exchanging words while looking at her with concern.

It hurt... to extinguish the illusion of her little sister due to her precarious source of income... it hurt and it weighed heavily on her heart... but the fact that Rose had to be strong... hurt her soul.

From that moment on, the eldest Belion demanded three times more of herself 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 surpass it so that her family could afford some luxury from time to time.

She was exhausted… of course, she was exhausted, but when she saw the smiles of her sisters she found strength from somewhere… possibly from her inner omega who gave her a second wind when the first one was exhausted.

She had to invent excuse after excuse so that both Rose and Melina would not discover how tired she was.

Unfortunately, she could not keep that a secret for more than 4 months since one of her sisters did not take long to realize what was happening and confronted her about it when they were alone.

Melina denied all her excuses and contradicted all her arguments with an ease that surprises the platinum-haired white-haired girl to this day.

After the younger one finished with everything she had to say, the sister duo had a small discussion where the younger one wanted the older one to lower the intensity to which she was subjected by taking small breaks for herself.

Both had this journey of push and pull that strained things between them until, by what seemed to be divine grace, in one of her many shifts as a waitress, Erika got to meet Alison and Emma, ​​who helped her a lot to reduce the load by opening the doors to better-paying jobs.

Thanks to their help, along with the support of Melina, who served as a backup, Rose never found out and continued living her childhood in the best way possible. The only thing she regrets, and that haunts her from the back of her mind appearing from time to time, is that she was never able to buy Rose a ninja costume because something told her that if she received one she would end up seeing herself as responsible for what she has to do, blaming herself for giving her such a heavy burden.