he Day He Chose Her Over Our Dying Son, I Chose Vengeance - Chapter 48: Chapter 48

He instinctively reached for a cigarette,
but the woman across from him interrupted him.
"Hey, excuse me… could you get me some hot water?"
She had an apologetic smile on her face,
a baby wailing in her arms,
and tired eyes that spoke of long nights.
Daniel blinked in surprise, then nodded quickly.
He brought her the hot water,
and she efficiently pulled out an opened packet of baby formula from her diaper bag.
She mixed it with practiced ease and began feeding the crying infant.
Once the baby had something to eat, the crying started to die down.
Watching her, so full of maternal care, something shifted in Daniel's chest.
"How old is he?"
The woman looked up, a bit surprised,
then her gaze swept over Daniel's outfit and her smile grew warmer.
"You're in the military, right? Home on leave?"
"My son's five months old," she added.
Daniel blinked again.
"How'd you know I'm military?"
She smiled knowingly.
"My husband's in the Army too."
"You guys have that... presence. It's obvious."
"I was nervous about taking the train with my kid,
but what do you know—
they seat me across from a soldier.
Wait till I tell him that when we get there."
Her words were cheerful and open,
and Daniel felt himself starting to relax.
He even smiled.
"Your son's adorable. I've got a son, too…"
Daniel's voice trailed off,
his expression dimming,
as if he couldn't believe he'd said it out loud.
"Sorry, what was that?"
She hadn't caught it.
Daniel blinked, quickly covering,
"It's nothing. You heading home to visit family?"
She chuckled happily, face glowing.
"Not exactly. I'm relocating to be with my husband."
"Relocating?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, we got married late last year.
I wanted to join him right after the wedding,
but since his rank isn't that high yet,
he couldn't get us housing on base.
So we had to wait."
She sighed, a little frustrated now.
"I'd hoped to wait until the baby was at least a year old,
but he wasn't having it.
Said families should be together,
and that base life was way better than me struggling alone back on the farm."
"I couldn't argue with him,
so here we are, baby and all."
She sighed again,
but her smile refused to fade.
Daniel opened his mouth.
"Doesn't your husband think it's... embarrassing to have a wife from the sticks?"
Her smile vanished.
Replaced by a look of pure disdain.
"What kind of question is that?
Didn't anyone ever teach you that people are people, no matter where they're from?
You're military—shouldn't you know better?"
"What, you look down on people from the countryside or something?"
Daniel flinched, shaking his head quickly.
"No, that's not what I meant.
It's just... I've heard some guys in the service say they don't want their wives joining them if they're from small towns.
Like it makes them look bad."
Her expression softened a bit.
"Maybe some guys are like that.
But my husband's not."
"I mean, I used to worry about that too.
Where I'm from, even the college kids who came to volunteer thought they were better than us."
"But…"
She looked down at the baby, her expression turning tender.
"But my husband told me the day he married me,
he'd take care of me for the rest of his life.
He said if anyone looked down on me,
it was because they looked down on him first—
because we're from the same place."
"And he told me,
he's gone most of the year,
and I'm the one holding it all together at home.
He owes me more than he could ever repay."
The baby was full now,
rubbing his eyes with chubby fists.
The woman gently moved his hand away,
then began to hum softly.
"Go to sleep now, little kitten,"
"If the big bad cat comes, I'll chase it away."
…
Daniel stopped breathing.
In that moment, the woman before him blurred.
He could see another version—his version.
Himself,
sitting beneath the old tree in front of that broken-down house,
Liam curled in his lap,
and that same lullaby on his lips.
"Go to sleep now, little kitten,"
"If the big bad cat comes, I'll chase it away."