At the dinner table, Mom kept piling food onto Mila’s plate, chatting away with excessive warmth, which even made the two kids a little jealous.
Eventually, when Mila couldn’t eat another bite and set her knife and fork down, I noticed Mom’s expression was slightly off. “So, Mila, has that friend of yours said anything?”
Mila understood immediately. “Oh, Mom, I was wondering why you were being so nice to me! My friend checked, and it’s a boy!” She covered her mouth, unable to hide her laughter.
I chimed in, “Well, congratulations to you both! Lily will have a little brother soon.”
Mom fell silent for a moment; her expression was unreadable – was she happy or hesitant? “Do your parents know?”
“Yeah, they found out during lunch. Dad was thrilled, saying our family finally has a boy. They’re already thinking of names,” Mila replied.
Hearing that, Mom’s face darkened even more. I began to understand her intentions. When my brother and Mila got married, they agreed to have two children: the first would take my family’s surname, and the second would take Mila’s. But now, with Lily being a girl and the second child a boy, it seemed Mom’s preference for boys was surfacing.