“Pickle Berry, what an adorable name,” Klaus’s mom said, feeding the little girl who was letting herself get spoiled. She was seated on her lap, eating the food.
“Pickle Berry is more like the name of a fruit, but it indeed sounded amazing.” Anna shook her head. The name given to the little snake girl sounded funny yet unique in a way.
“So, do you want me to do your hair for you after you are done eating?” Klaus’s mom asked, and Pickle Berry nodded.
“I want my hair done by Grandma.”
Klaus’s mom laughed, hearing her call her Grandma.
“Since Klaus is your big brother, then you can just call me Mother. Calling me Grandma makes me look old.
Though I don’t mind being called Grandma, ” she laughed. Then she turned and looked at the faces of the ladies inside the dining room.
“I wouldn’t mind being called Grandma at all.”
The ladies blushed, understanding where her mind had just wandered.
“How about you ladies, do you want a makeover?” she asked.
“Can we say no?” Nia asked.
“Probably not,” Klaus’s mom smiled, making the ladies accept their fate for the week they would be staying.
After Pickle Berry finished eating, they moved out and started spending the day, knowing full well it would be five days long.
But the small snake girl seemed okay spending time with the lady who wanted nothing more than to keep holding the adorable silver-haired snake girl in her arms.
“So, Pickle Berry, you said you want to learn some things. Care to share what you want to know?” Klaus’s mom asked, now sitting under the same tree she and Ohema were under before the ladies arrived.
“I want to know more about Big Brother. I want to know more about when he was growing up,” Pickle Berry replied, and the ladies opened their ears to hear about their shameless husband.
“Then you better listen,” Klaus’s mom started.
“Your big brother was one lazy bum growing up. He didn’t know how to eat, bathe, or even brush his teeth.
In fact, at the age of five, when every other human child was running around the house, he would just stay in bed, sleeping his lazy bum off.
That shameless bastard.”
Queenie and the ladies exchanged looks and giggled.
“However, he was sweet. Whenever he was awake and around the house, you couldn’t help but love him.
He wanted to become a combat medic so he could save the warriors who put their lives on the line so we could live in peace.
He would sit beside his dad’s leg, holding onto his knee, and say, ‘I want to heal people, Papa. I want to help the heroes.’
His dad was a warrior, you know, so he always wanted to make sure his kind was okay”
The ladies smiled at the thought, and Pickle Berry’s eyes sparkled with admiration. This was a rare moment for her to get to know Klaus from when he was a kid.
Kaden had told her about his childhood, but she knew the bastard had lied about a lot of things. So, learning about him from his mother was indeed very touching.
So far, she had learned a thing or two about her big brother.
“He used to follow me around the house with a toy medical kit, patching up the walls and chairs like they were wounded soldiers.
One time, he even tried to bandage a bird because it looked ‘too tired.’ It flew away before he could finish, and he cried for hours.”
“Awwww,” a few of the girls chorused while Nia tried to hold back her laugh.
Klaus’s mom just laughed. She herself was enjoying the trip down memory lane. Klaus’s childhood was adorable.
“But while he was this lazy and adorable kid, he all changed when his dad died—”
“Went missing,” the ladies corrected unanimously. Klaus’s mom smiled. She knew Klaus still believed his father was alive and out there waiting for him to find him.
He even made his ladies aware that his father was alive and would find him, so at the back of their minds, he was still alive.
“Thanks for the correction, ladies. But like I said, Klaus changed when his father went missing, and we were kicked out.
Overnight, he changed from a lazy kid to a man who wanted to protect and take care of me. He became a man, and soon, his dream of becoming a medic was gone, and now he only wanted to become a warrior.”
Klaus’s mom smiled again, but the ladies could see the pain behind her eyes. Klaus, indeed, had changed overnight, and that broke her as a mother.
“Do you know he stopped schooling just so he could start working and provide for the family? I am really proud of him for that, though it’s painful whenever I remember that.”
Pickle Berry sighed and asked, “Big Brother really did that?”
Klaus’s mom nodded proudly. “He did. And at that moment, I knew he would never return to the adorable and lazy him.”
Everyone nodded and mentally imagined his adorable side. Klaus’s mom saw that, so she knew what to say next.
“He might act cool now, but he was a total crybaby back then. But he is the pride and joy of every mother, so, at the end of it all, he is the man he is now because of the circumstances that happened to him growing up.”
“It sounds like Big Brother grew up faster than he should have,” Pickle Berry said, and the rest of the ladies, including Klaus’s mom, nodded.
“However, he has many amazing and adorable stories I can share with you all. One time, he got stuck trying to climb the pantry for sweets.”
“Tell us! Tell us!” The girls wouldn’t let that story go. Klaus’s mom smirked, but she told them no.
“He managed to pull a chair to the counter and tried to climb, but halfway up, he slipped and landed head-first in a basket of onions. He cried so hard he couldn’t smell anything for days.” She laughed so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes.
Even Pickle Berry was on the verge of rolling on the floor.
“But all jokes aside,” Klaus’s mom said, smiling fondly, “he grew into someone who makes us proud. Lazy or not, he’s got the biggest heart. And now, it looks like that heart has grown even bigger… seeing how many of you it holds.”
The room fell into a soft silence, full of warmth and laughter.
Pickle Berry looked at the smiling faces, and she couldn’t help but smile, too.