SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 76

At that moment, Julianna was holding her daughter and teasing her occasionally. She sat by the wooden bedside unmoving; she couldn’t bear to put down the soft body even when her hand was already numb.

The baby in her arms had opened her eyes on the second day she was born. Her round eyes and long, curly eyelashes made her as pretty and cute as her mom.

“Baby, smile for Mommy, okay?” She tapped the baby’s pink lips lightly with her finger. The baby in her arms seemed to have understood her, and the little lips cracked into a smile, the frailness making people feel sorry.

The baby was still young, but surprisingly, she liked to smile a lot. Just a little teasing from Julianna would make her laugh.

“Ah, good baby. You’re Mommy’s baby, Mommy’s angel.” She lowered her head and kissed her daughter’s soft cheeks. The baby’s small hand reached out and grabbed her hair, her eyes searching and looking. She had only been in the world for a day, and so she was curious about everything.

She loosened her hand and then tightened it again. Her lips were beautiful like petals, and it was evident that she would be a beauty when she grew older.

“Baby, you must be hungry. Here, Mommy will feed you milk.” She pulled up her shirt and placed her daughter on her lap. The baby began to suck instinctively, and it hurt Julianna. She bore through the pain for her baby.

Her baby was really beautiful and obedient.

Her hand supported the baby’s back softly. A mother’s love was inherent. She had never taken care of a child before, but now she was taking very good care of her daughter.

No one knew that she had gone almost a day without food, for she didn’t know how to put down this extremely soft and tender baby. She didn’t want to leave her. She just wanted to hold her small figure.

She really loved her daughter to bits.

“Thump, thump...” The knocks on the door sounded almost like the people outside were going to tear the door down. Julianna stood up in a hurry and adjusted her shirt carefully. The baby in her arms had already finished feeding and had fallen asleep again. She laid the blanket on the baby and moved to the door in a flash.

The moment she opened the door, the crowd of people rushed in.

“Ah!” “Julianna, you’re alright? Are you really alright?”

“You really scared us to death!”

A crowd of people stood at the door, asking her worriedly. Julianna’s eyes turned red, and she shook her head and answered, smiling, “I’m alright. Everything’s fine.”

She was really grateful to them. Without them, she would still be somewhere on the streets, perhaps dead, or maybe a beggar. Chu Lui had cut off all her sources of survival, and without them, she would have already died.

“That’s a relief.” One of the aunts lowered her head, suddenly realizing Julianna’s flat stomach. Her finger pointed shakily. “Julianna, why is your stomach flat? Your baby... where’s your baby?”

Before Julianna could speak, a weak wail came from the warehouse. She was startled and had rushed over immediately to carry her daughter in her arms to cease her cries. She must have been scared and disturbed by the crowd and the noise.

“Hush, everything’s alright. Mommy’s here.” She lifted her daughter’s back carefully. The small baby reached out both her hands and grabbed her clothes in front of her chest. Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were red. She seemed just like a small red ball of meat.

“Oh my god, the baby!”

The aunt stared at the baby in Julianna’s arms, astonished. That was her baby. How did it just pop out like that?

“Julianna, how did you give birth to the baby?” Someone asked. Julianna hugged her daughter even closer, still smiling lightly. “I gave birth to her on my own. She’s a girl, and she’s just a day old.

Julianna said softly, both her hands holding the baby gently.

“It’s been hard on you, child.” The aunt stared at Julianna, feeling sorry for the young girl. She was only about twenty years old, but she was so pitiful. There’s no one to take care of her child. How could she nurse herself after childbirth?

“No, it wasn’t. It doesn’t feel tough if it’s all for her.” Julianna shook her head. She really did not feel like she had been through a lot. Even though the little baby did not cause pain enough to kill her, she was willing—she really was. The baby was her life and her reason for living.

“The baby is really cute.” An experienced auntie complimented continuously. Even though the pretty face was still young and tender, the shadow of beauty could be seen.

This was the first time she had seen such a beautiful baby girl in all her life.

She looked at Julianna again. It wasn’t that strange, actually. Julianna had always been pretty, and so her daughter would not differ much from her.

“Julianna, what’s the child’s name?” The aunty could not turn her eyes away. The baby was very likable.

Julianna paused for a moment. It seemed like she had not yet chosen a name for her daughter.

She lifted her head. The rain was just starting to stop, and the smell of rain still lingered in the air.

She coaxed the little thing to sleep again. She was sleeping soundly, and her lips curled up slightly into a smile to reveal her gentle dimples.

“Raya . I’ll call her Raya . She’s my little raindrop born on a rainy day.”

She brought her face close to the soft cheeks of the baby, feeling her amazingly soft skin. Raya , her Raya .

She could compromise on her rights, but she would definitely not bring any suffering to the baby. She could skip her meals and not drink water, but she would always give the best to her daughter.

However, there would still be times when she would not have the ability to do so.

She hugged her daughter in her arms and kissed her forehead softly. “Raya , I’m sorry. It’s all because I’m useless.” She closed her eyes, and a transparent teardrop fell on the baby’s soft cheeks.

Maybe it was because the baby was too small, or maybe it was because, when she was pregnant, she came into a lot of contact with cold water. Hence, the baby was so frail and weak. She got sick often, and almost all of Julianna’s savings were used up. She had also borrowed a large sum of money from a lot of people, and now she did not know how to return the money.

The thing that made her feel most helpless was that her breast milk was insufficient for her daughter. She was hungry now, and yet despite sucking constantly at her breast, not a drop came out.

She pursed her lips in grievance. Her mother was crying, and she was crying. Droplets of tears flowed down her cheeks, making Julianna’s heart ache and her cry harder.