try begging

Grace came out and stopped.

"swimming-."

I looked around and saw a child smiling brightly while sucking on a piece of apple that the registration office employee had given him.

Elizabeth.

It's too long to call, Grace thought deeply.

What should I shorten it to? Eliza, Beth, Betty, Lizzie, Lisa... Grace bent down, got down on eye level, and called out the nicknames one by one.

"Ellie?"

The child who had been focused on the apple the whole time suddenly raised his head.

"Do you like Ellie?"

"Ugh-."

Seeing her mother stuff the apple covered in saliva into her mouth, it was not an answer that she had understood at all, but to Grace, who was blinded by the child and deaf, that was all she heard.

"Ellie."

It was a cute but not too childish nickname. I thought it would be fine even when he was much older.

"That's your name. Do you like it?"

Grace put the apple back in the baby's mouth and thought back to a year ago.

"...How big does it have to be to be able to travel long distances?"

To be exact, the conversation the man and the doctor had during the last checkup, just before the clean-up operation.

"If you say it's a long distance trip... ."

"Enough to travel far by boat."

"At that level, from around 4 months after birth... ."

Grace whispered, kissing Ellie's forehead.

"Ellie, you are leaving here with your mother."

º º º

"Eek-."

"If you're going to cry...."

Grace leaned over and pointed to the side with her finger as her daughter began to fuss, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Would you like to cry in front of me?"

In front of the two, a long line snaked like a snake. At the end of the line, obscured by the crowd and hard to see, there was clearly a turtle sitting at the departure checkpoint.

"Ellie must be so happy to be in a stroller. I'm jealous."

The line had not moved for several minutes. Grace took her bag out of the stroller rack and set it on the floor. She was annoyed that her bag would break, so she sat down with her buttocks slightly out, and put the thing in her hand back into her mouth, but the tantrum began again.

"Eeeeeing-."

Ellie had been waving her hand at Grace for a moment. More specifically, at the scone Grace was eating for her late breakfast.

These days, Ellie had to eat everything Grace ate. If it was something that was okay for a six-month-old, it was fine, but if it wasn't, she had to sneak it in while she slept.

A scone without any topping would be fine.

When I gave her a piece that was small enough to hold in her hand but large enough not to swallow, her lips, which had been sticking out, opened wide.

"Whoa!"

Grace pressed the child's soft cheek as she put the scone straight into her mouth.

"grabber."

The large bottle in front of Ellie was still full of the formula milk that had been poured into it before she got in line.

"Huh? You want to eat everything I eat?"

"Aww-."

Ellie babbled with a piece of scone in her mouth.

The child licked the yellow scone, which had a brown top and looked delicious, then smiled and smacked his lips. It was delicious, but it looked tantalizing.

Grace took a small piece from the scone the child was holding. Ellie opened her mouth, saying, "Ah," as if she knew she was offering it to me, or if she just wanted to eat it so badly. Ellie laughed as she put the small piece in her baby-bird-like mouth.

"delicious?"

"swimming-."

The child waved her hand, holding the scone, excitedly. Grace brushed away the crumbs that had fallen onto the blanket, put the larger ones in her mouth, and kissed Ellie's forehead as she sucked on the scone.

"Ellie. Our pretty Ellie."

"Maa-."

"Mom. Mom, do it."

Ellie's mind was completely occupied with the moist scones soaked in saliva.

"Huh? Try it."

"Phew-."

"I said it's Mom, not Pooh?"

The baby started playing again by blowing bubbles with her spit. When she wiped her mouth with the bib and frowned, Ellie smiled brightly.

What's so great about this?

"Do you like me?"

It was no different from the question I asked the day before. But the feelings inside it had changed in just one day.

After I admitted my feelings that I had wanted to deny until the end, the fact that I was everything to this child became not burdensome but rather touching.

"Mom likes Ellie too."

Grace took the baby out of the stroller and held him in her arms.

"Let's live happily."

Even though I may not be as wealthy as your father, I can make sure your mother is not envious. Grace assured her, patting her child on the back.

As the line started to move, I put the baby back in the stroller and pushed my bag into the rack. My heart started pounding as I slowly got closer to the departure checkpoint.

There was no sign of anything suspicious on the way from the King's Road to Newport, or from Newport to the port. The letter left at the town house must have been sent to Halewood, and so must not have reached the man yet.

You probably wouldn't even dream that I was here.

Grace chewed her lips nervously as she looked at the immigration counter where the faces of the staff were starting to appear. If she could just get through there safely, she would be completely free from that man's clutches.

When the number of people in front of her was reduced to four, Grace opened her handbag and took out her passport. Of course, it was a fake passport.

After leaving the registration office yesterday, I hurriedly checked into a random hotel. I had to give up my male identity, so I had to make a new passport with my female identity. I was really glad that I didn't throw away the materials and tools, thinking that I might use them.

There was no need to make a passport for Ellie. A child only needed to add a line to their parent's passport with their name and date of birth.

Grace looked at the photo on her passport and smiled quietly. In the photo, she was holding Ellie and had an expression on her face that she couldn't quite describe as smiling.

This was an impulsive photo I took a while ago while trying to take a passport photo. But I still wanted to have at least one photo of my child.

Since it was a baby photo, the mother had to hold the baby and take the photo, so we ended up taking the photo together. I didn't feel like it at the time, but looking back now, I'm glad I did.

I need to take more pictures from now on.

I thought it would be the last photo, but not anymore.

Before long, only two people were left in front of them. Meanwhile, Ellie had finished melting her scone and was babbling happily. Grace wiped her hands, which were covered in spit and crumbs, with her chin and picked up the bonnet that had been neatly folded in a corner of the stroller.

"But you really look so much like your father."

Her face was still round, as if it had been stamped with a mold, and her hair was short like a boy's, so she kept seeing the man she hated in front of her beloved daughter.

"From now on, you'll be more like me. Promise."

Ellie blinked in bewilderment, unable to understand her mother's words. Grace placed a bonnet with a thick ribbon and large frills on the child's head.

"Hmm... ."

Grace, who had tied a large ribbon under her chin, let out a discontented sound as she stepped back. As always, I felt strange seeing a man with frills and ribbons on his head even though I had dressed him up like a girl.

It wasn't cold inside, so I wanted to take it off, but there was a reason I had to keep it on.

"Huh-."

Ellie kept trying to pull on the bonnet to take it off.

"No, Ellie. I'm writing."

After putting the clothes she had almost taken off back on again and again, when she finally stood in front of the immigration counter, Ellie's annoyance reached its peak.

"Eww!"

Grace glanced at the file cabinet on her desk, pretending to comfort the crying baby who was whining at the departure lounge. There must have been a wanted poster with a detailed description of her in there.

Please don't look. Please don't remember.

Her cautious gaze shifted to the young man who had received Grace's passport. As soon as the man lifted his gaze to check her face, Grace hugged her daughter tightly, squeezed her eyes shut, and squeezed out tears. Like a new mother who was at a loss as to what to do with her child.

"Ellie, please stop crying, sob...."

Ellie, keep crying.

"Whoaang!"

Yes, good job, my daughter.

"Chu, can I have your birth certificate please...?"

When I opened my eyes, I saw the employee holding out his hand with a blank expression. Judging from the fact that he was already holding a stamp in his other hand, it seemed like he wanted to quickly issue an exit permit and send me on my way.

Grace came out and stopped.

"swimming-."

I looked around and saw a child smiling brightly while sucking on a piece of apple that the registration office employee had given him.

Elizabeth.

It's too long to call, Grace thought deeply.

What should I shorten it to? Eliza, Beth, Betty, Lizzie, Lisa... Grace bent down, got down on eye level, and called out the nicknames one by one.

"Ellie?"

The child who had been focused on the apple the whole time suddenly raised his head.

"Do you like Ellie?"

"Ugh-."

Seeing her mother stuff the apple covered in saliva into her mouth, it was not an answer that she had understood at all, but to Grace, who was blinded by the child and deaf, that was all she heard.

"Ellie."

It was a cute but not too childish nickname. I thought it would be fine even when he was much older.

"That's your name. Do you like it?"

Grace put the apple back in the baby's mouth and thought back to a year ago.

"...How big does it have to be to be able to travel long distances?"

To be exact, the conversation the man and the doctor had during the last checkup, just before the clean-up operation.

"If you say it's a long distance trip... ."

"Enough to travel far by boat."

"At that level, from around 4 months after birth... ."

Grace whispered, kissing Ellie's forehead.

"Ellie, you are leaving here with your mother."

º º º

"Eek-."

"If you're going to cry...."

Grace leaned over and pointed to the side with her finger as her daughter began to fuss, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Would you like to cry in front of me?"

In front of the two, a long line snaked like a snake. At the end of the line, obscured by the crowd and hard to see, there was clearly a turtle sitting at the departure checkpoint.

"Ellie must be so happy to be in a stroller. I'm jealous."

The line had not moved for several minutes. Grace took her bag out of the stroller rack and set it on the floor. She was annoyed that her bag would break, so she sat down with her buttocks slightly out, and put the thing in her hand back into her mouth, but the tantrum began again.

"Eeeeeing-."

Ellie had been waving her hand at Grace for a moment. More specifically, at the scone Grace was eating for her late breakfast.

These days, Ellie had to eat everything Grace ate. If it was something that was okay for a six-month-old, it was fine, but if it wasn't, she had to sneak it in while she slept.

A scone without any topping would be fine.

When I gave her a piece that was small enough to hold in her hand but large enough not to swallow, her lips, which had been sticking out, opened wide.

"Whoa!"

Grace pressed the child's soft cheek as she put the scone straight into her mouth.

"grabber."

The large bottle in front of Ellie was still full of the formula milk that had been poured into it before she got in line.

"Huh? You want to eat everything I eat?"

"Aww-."

Ellie babbled with a piece of scone in her mouth.

The child licked the yellow scone, which had a brown top and looked delicious, then smiled and smacked his lips. It was delicious, but it looked tantalizing.

Grace took a small piece from the scone the child was holding. Ellie opened her mouth, saying, "Ah," as if she knew she was offering it to me, or if she just wanted to eat it so badly. Ellie laughed as she put the small piece in her baby-bird-like mouth.

"delicious?"

"swimming-."

The child waved her hand, holding the scone, excitedly. Grace brushed away the crumbs that had fallen onto the blanket, put the larger ones in her mouth, and kissed Ellie's forehead as she sucked on the scone.

"Ellie. Our pretty Ellie."

"Maa-."

"Mom. Mom, do it."

Ellie's mind was completely occupied with the moist scones soaked in saliva.

"Huh? Try it."

"Phew-."

"I said it's Mom, not Pooh?"

The baby started playing again by blowing bubbles with her spit. When she wiped her mouth with the bib and frowned, Ellie smiled brightly.

What's so great about this?

"Do you like me?"

It was no different from the question I asked the day before. But the feelings inside it had changed in just one day.

After I admitted my feelings that I had wanted to deny until the end, the fact that I was everything to this child became not burdensome but rather touching.

"Mom likes Ellie too."

Grace took the baby out of the stroller and held him in her arms.

"Let's live happily."

Even though I may not be as wealthy as your father, I can make sure your mother is not envious. Grace assured her, patting her child on the back.

As the line started to move, I put the baby back in the stroller and pushed my bag into the rack. My heart started pounding as I slowly got closer to the departure checkpoint.

There was no sign of anything suspicious on the way from the King's Road to Newport, or from Newport to the port. The letter left at the town house must have been sent to Halewood, and so must not have reached the man yet.

You probably wouldn't even dream that I was here.

Grace chewed her lips nervously as she looked at the immigration counter where the faces of the staff were starting to appear. If she could just get through there safely, she would be completely free from that man's clutches.

When the number of people in front of her was reduced to four, Grace opened her handbag and took out her passport. Of course, it was a fake passport.

After leaving the registration office yesterday, I hurriedly checked into a random hotel. I had to give up my male identity, so I had to make a new passport with my female identity. I was really glad that I didn't throw away the materials and tools, thinking that I might use them.

There was no need to make a passport for Ellie. A child only needed to add a line to their parent's passport with their name and date of birth.

Grace looked at the photo on her passport and smiled quietly. In the photo, she was holding Ellie and had an expression on her face that she couldn't quite describe as smiling.

This was an impulsive photo I took a while ago while trying to take a passport photo. But I still wanted to have at least one photo of my child.

Since it was a baby photo, the mother had to hold the baby and take the photo, so we ended up taking the photo together. I didn't feel like it at the time, but looking back now, I'm glad I did.

I need to take more pictures from now on.

I thought it would be the last photo, but not anymore.

Before long, only two people were left in front of them. Meanwhile, Ellie had finished melting her scone and was babbling happily. Grace wiped her hands, which were covered in spit and crumbs, with her chin and picked up the bonnet that had been neatly folded in a corner of the stroller.

"But you really look so much like your father."

Her face was still round, as if it had been stamped with a mold, and her hair was short like a boy's, so she kept seeing the man she hated in front of her beloved daughter.

"From now on, you'll be more like me. Promise."

Ellie blinked in bewilderment, unable to understand her mother's words. Grace placed a bonnet with a thick ribbon and large frills on the child's head.

"Hmm... ."

Grace, who had tied a large ribbon under her chin, let out a discontented sound as she stepped back. As always, I felt strange seeing a man with frills and ribbons on his head even though I had dressed him up like a girl.

It wasn't cold inside, so I wanted to take it off, but there was a reason I had to keep it on.

"Huh-."

Ellie kept trying to pull on the bonnet to take it off.

"No, Ellie. I'm writing."

After putting the clothes she had almost taken off back on again and again, when she finally stood in front of the immigration counter, Ellie's annoyance reached its peak.

"Eww!"

Grace glanced at the file cabinet on her desk, pretending to comfort the crying baby who was whining at the departure lounge. There must have been a wanted poster with a detailed description of her in there.

Please don't look. Please don't remember.

Her cautious gaze shifted to the young man who had received Grace's passport. As soon as the man lifted his gaze to check her face, Grace hugged her daughter tightly, squeezed her eyes shut, and squeezed out tears. Like a new mother who was at a loss as to what to do with her child.

"Ellie, please stop crying, sob...."

Ellie, keep crying.

"Whoaang!"

Yes, good job, my daughter.

"Chu, can I have your birth certificate please...?"

When I opened my eyes, I saw the employee holding out his hand with a blank expression. Judging from the fact that he was already holding a stamp in his other hand, it seemed like he wanted to quickly issue an exit permit and send me on my way.