"Wha...t?" Reba couldn''t believe her ears. She thought she had heard it wrong.


    "I want you to stay as my mother."


    "But... I thought you... you wanted to have a romantic rtionship with me?"


    Rudy quietly nodded and said, "That''s true. But I think it''s for the best if we don''t do it. You mean a lot to me, and I want to preserve the already pure rtionship we have. You will still be my Goddess and my Queen, and I will do anything for you."


    "I see..." Reba got up from the couch and headed toward the kitchen to wash her hands.


    "Mom, I am really sorry. It pains me as much as it pains you. In fact, some of me still want to have a romantic rtionship with you."


    "It''s okay. Don''t worry about it." Reba continued washing her hands even though it had been a minute.


    "..."


    "You certainly didn''t have any problem when you slept with Jessica and Lilim, who were much younger than me when you met them in the past. "


    "So Angelica told you everything, huh?" Rudy got up from the couch and walked to Reba.


    "Don''t y dumb!" Reba turned around and furrowed her brows at Rudy before saying, "I have raised you for eighteen years, and I have known you even before that. Do you seriously think you can fool me by ying dumb?"


    "I am no idea what you are talking about," Rudy yed dumb.


    "You are not stupid enough to let Angelica tell me everything. It seems as though you nned it beforehand so you wouldn''t have to tell me about the harem yourself. And please tell me you were just trying to tease me and that you are not actually serious about your decision."


    "I am half serious."


    "I knew it!"


    Whatever Reba said was true, and it was indeed all part of his n. He had purposely told Angelica that he had already told Reba ''everything'', while he actually hadn''t. And he knew that Angelica wasn''t a tight-lipped person, so he hoped that his n would work.


    Rudy ced his hand on Reba''s waist and pulled her close before hugging her.


    Reba''s face flushed a little as she said, "Don''t do such things to me if you don''t want our rtionship to be like that."


    Rudy chuckled softly and said, "You didn''t let me finish my answer."


    "Do you like teasing me that much? Or are you taking revenge on me for all those times when I was harsh on raising you?"


    "Heh. My revenge is sweet, not bitter." Rudy looked at Reba''s lips and slowly moved his face forward to kiss her, but he stopped and controlled himself.


    Reba pumped her head on Rudy''s forehead and asked, "Tell me your answer, please. I can''t bear this feeling anymore."


    "I want our rtionship to stay as it is. I want us to be mother and son. But sometimes, we can be more than that."


    "..."


    "I am touching you right now, so I can read your mind."


    Reba separated from Rudy so he wouldn''t read her mind anymore.


    "Did you seriously just think that?" Rudy asked with a judging look on his face.


    "That was just a passing thought. And it happened because you said something so unreasonable!"


    "I don''t think I am being unreasonable. You are asking me to leave you behind as a mother and ept you as a lover. I don''t have my birth parents, nor do I Know who they are. Of course, I don''t care about them, and you are the only parent in my life.


    I am sure you were worried about the same thing as me. You didn''t want to leave me behind as a son and ept me as a lover, right? I don''t want to lose my mother, and you don''t want to lose your son."


    "But I had to choose either one, and I did." Reba nodded.


    "What if I don''t want to choose?"


    "Then you are being greedy."


    "Let me exin in simple words."


    "I think I know what you are trying to say, but sure, go ahead and use simple words."


    "We can have a normal mother and son rtionship when we are doing nothing-- which is, most of the time. And we can have a lover rtionship when we are doing something like lovers do."


    "And how is any of that ''not being'' unreasonable, huh?" she questioned.


    "But you yourself said that it would take time for you to develop romantic feelings for me again. So until your feelings transits to that phase, we can live my way, right?"


    Reba pondered for a while and said, "Okay, I am okay with that, but I have one condition!"


    "I saw thating." Rudy chuckled. "What is your condition, dear mother?"


    "This! She poked her finger on Rudy''s chest and said, "You won''t refer to or call me ''mom or mother'' when we are having a lovers moment, okay?!"


    "..."


    "If you truly want to respect our pure rtionship, then you must keep it pure!"


    "Fine" Rudy raised his hands as though he was surrendering. "So we are cool now, right?"


    "That depends on what you mean by that."


    "Is that so?" Rudy licked his lips and stepped closer to Reba, but Reba stepped back and kept her distance from Rudy until she hit the kitchen tform, and there was nowhere else to go.


    "Step back!" Reba hissed like a cautious cat.


    "You are living alone with a young boy in histe teens. And you just gave him an ''okay'' pass to do anything he wants with you. It''s toote to be afraid, miss."


    Rudy hugged Reba and added, "Thank you for putting up with my selfish ass, Reba."


    Reba hugged Rudy back and sat on the tform before wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.


    She looked him in the eyes and said, "You just called me by my name."


    "You know what that means, right?"


    Reba didn''t say anything in response and pressed her lips on Rudy''s lips.