[FF7] Those things after marriage

In the evening, Esther took Tira to go shopping together.

The food at this point is all discounted. Although it is definitely not as delicious as the freshly baked ones, it is cheaper.

After all, the Katerina Orphanage is a privately run orphanage, and there is very little assistance from the outside world. The only help that the government can provide is to issue a certificate to them, indicating that this is a welfare facility, and acquisitions are prohibited. Or preempt.Of course, such a proof can only deter punks and the like... If Shinra asks for this place, it is estimated that this proof should become straw paper.

The main source of income for the orphanage is the dividends from the small transportation team that Aunt Lin Ni has invested in. This dividends can allow a person to live a life of a little wealth, but raising five mouths is a bit difficult.

Therefore, in her spare time, Lin Ni always knits and sells some things to subsidize her income. Although it is not much, it is better than nothing.

Esther has also been taking her old clothes and so on and changing them for the children.

It's not that she doesn't want to give money, but to be honest, she has to pay the rent, live in the upper block and send money home. There is not much money left on hand, so it is difficult to support for a long time, and Aunt Lin Ni doesn't let her do it .

She always said that the children should not be allowed to develop the habit of stretching out their hands for food and opening their mouths for clothes, and they should not be made to feel that someone will pay to support them at any time.

"Other children who walked out of the orphanage can grow up like this, why can't they." Aunt Linnie always said this sentence.

But speaking of other kids...

From ten years ago to now, Aunt Lin Ni has raised more than twenty children.But will check back now...not many.If she hadn't occasionally heard that someone would send some money and things back, she would have maliciously wondered if all these people were dead.

Although Aunt Lin Ni didn't say anything, she wasn't qualified to intervene... But she still couldn't help but want to say, these people are really little white-eyed wolves!

Aunt Linney was sitting by the window knitting a scarf when Esther and Tira came back from shopping.And Sephiroth sat at the table reading to the children.

Although the reading was a bit stiff, the children listened with gusto.

Isn't this already a very good relationship?

Esther couldn't help smiling and shaking her head as she walked through the living room with her things in her arms.

After dinner, the children climbed to bed one after another after playing for a while, and fell asleep listening to Sephiroth's inanimate stories.

Tira cleaned up the dishes, then picked up the broom mop and began to clean the house. After drying her hands, Esther came to the living room to mend the children's clothes.

Originally, Aunt Linnie was doing these things, but now that she is getting older, her deteriorating eyesight makes it difficult for her to continue these jobs.

The needlework of Dai Li who helps here is also limited to mending the gaps.So when Esther came here today, she found that the children's clothes were somewhat inappropriate.

The clothes that were dried during the day were almost dry by now, so she took all the returned clothes to the living room, planning to change them when the children were not wearing them for a while.

Although she is lacking in cooking skills, as a elder sister, she can still get a high-level evaluation for sewing skills.

Nest the long part and press it flat and sew it together to tighten the loose neckline.Buttons and straps that are loose or have fallen off are also resewed.

Esther deftly threaded a needle through the clothes in her hands.

"Baby Sisi is getting more and more proficient at sewing." The slightly fat and kind woman brought her sweet honey water, "I remembered the first time I saw you learning to sew."

The woman turned her head and put on a look of nostalgia.

"At that time, I was still crying because I was accidentally stuck with a needle."

"I was still young ten years ago!" It's all black history!

At her mention, Esther also remembered what happened at that time.

At that time, her mother had just given birth to her second brother and third sister, a pair of very troubled twins. In order to take care of the troubled twins, her parents almost put all their energy on them .Naturally, she, an older child with basic self-care skills, received much less attention.

When the clothes are torn, the mother sometimes doesn't bother to sew them for her.At that time, she just fell hard to protect her three-year-old elder brother. Although she didn't suffer any injuries, her clothes were cut so big that she couldn't wear them unless she sewed them up—and that This dress happens to be one of her favourites.

She went back and told her mother to let her sew it for her, but after three days, her mother couldn't take care of it for her, so she found a needle and thread by herself in a rage, and wanted to imitate her mother's usual way of sewing the skirt. The opening on the top was sewn up... but I didn't want to accidentally prick my finger with a needle.

With ten fingers connected to her heart, the sharp pain forced her to tears.

What I thought no one would know, was seen by Aunt Lin Ni who happened to be visiting relatives in her hometown from Midgar.

In other words, although it was her mother who inspired her to sew, it was Aunt Lin Ni who really taught her.

But compared to that time, Aunt Lin Ni is much older.

At that time, Aunt Lin Ni was strong and strong, and her back was always straight.Although she is a woman, she is more capable than a man.Esther was only a little higher than her waist then.

that time……

At that time, she missed too much, and was full of curiosity and longing for the "outside world" that Aunt Lin Ni told about.Later, she was indeed driven by such longing to leave her hometown, and came to this 'Midgar' which was almost completely different from her imagination.

At the beginning, I just wanted to see a world that was completely different from my hometown, but I didn't expect that it would become like this in the future.

Without longing, dreams are shattered.She started to learn to turn a blind eye...and finally got married here.

Fate is really a magical existence.

After a while, Sephiroth also walked into the living room.

"Are you all asleep?" Esther is still mending one of the skirts, and one part of the skirt has been worn very thin. She is thinking about whether to sew a pocket to cover it, or simply sew a bow for the sake of looking good. ?

"kindness."

Sephiroth responded softly.

"It's really hard work for you." Aunt Lin Ni, who was knitting under the lamp, raised her head and said to Sephiroth with a smile, "The sleeping faces of the children are cute, right?"

"……Yes."

Although it is a bit noisy when awake, but after falling asleep, it is like a little angel.

"Looking at the sleeping faces of those little guys, I always feel that the fatigue of the day has disappeared." The elderly woman said in a nostalgic and dreamy tone, "So I always want to give them the best in everything."

"You've given them a lot."

After finally deciding what to sew, Esther raised her head and said affirmatively.

"No matter how many things you have to fight for, didn't you often tell me that when you were young?"

"……Right."

The woman smiled, but that smile was a little lonely.

"What you get for yourself is what truly belongs to you."

When the hands of the clock passed ten o'clock, Esther also stopped what she was doing, stretched her waist and prepared to wash up.

I have to get up early tomorrow without getting enough sleep.

When Esther finished washing and returned to the bedroom, she found that Sephiroth was reading a book of fairy tales intently, reading a sentence or two from time to time.

That serious expression reminded her of a student who was about to be checked by the teacher.

"Why do you remember reading fairy tales?" He didn't seem like someone who liked to read them.

"...When I read to them today, I accidentally read a few things wrong." The man put down the book, showing a helpless smile, "I haven't read it before...so I want to read more today, so that I don't have to read it again tomorrow." Error."

"Sephiroth, you... are taking it too seriously." Esther shook her head, "Although being serious is a good thing, you should relax occasionally."

"They don't want you to read every word, they just like to hear stories told to them."

"Is that so...?"

There was a moment of bewilderment on Sephiroth's expression.

It was the first time he had contact with children like this.

"That's it~ Okay, let's get ready to sleep, if we don't get enough energy, we won't have the energy to take care of these overly active children tomorrow."

As Esther spoke, she lifted the cover and lay down on the bed.

"Good night, Sephiroth."

"Good night, Esther."

After saying goodnight to each other routinely, Sephiroth also put down the fairy tale book in his hand and turned off the desk lamp.

In the dead of night, there was a slight noise in the corridor that was supposed to be empty.The highly vigilant special forces woke up almost without sleepiness the moment they heard the noise.

He got out of bed alone without waking up the sleeping woman beside him, quietly walked towards the door, and listened carefully to the sounds coming from the corridor.

Afraid of causing damage to the room, he didn't take his knife - in fact, even without a knife, he believed he could deal with many small problems that "suddenly popped up".

Especially the footsteps in the corridor were very frivolous and messy, not like trained enemies.

Probably just someone who came to steal something, kids or something.

He unscrewed the door without a sound, intending to subdue the other party before he made a move, but froze when his eyes swept across the corridor.

The person who was walking this way was the youngest boy in the orphanage, Paul.

Faced with such an 'accident', he had no choice but to wake up Esther who was still asleep for help.

Esther opened her eyes in a daze, and was shocked when she heard Sephiroth's words. She quickly turned on the desk lamp and walked out barefoot.

"Paul? What happened? How did you get here?"

The little boy stared at her first, and then slowly and stammered what he wanted to do:

"Dad, Mom...sleep together."

"Eh?"