BREAKS IN A SIGH

The next day, Sage knocked at the door of his mother, Luna. ''Who is there?'' she asked. ''Mom, it's me, Sage'' Sage said. ''Push it open, son, it is not locked'' Luna said. He opened the door and saw his mother taking a look at her newly purchased clothes. ''Good evening, mom'' he said as he sat on a stool next to his mother. She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. ''Good evening, son, you look worried, what is it?'' Luna asked with her eyes fixated on his face.

Sage smiled, and stood up, took some of the clothes her mother had bought, started picking and looking at them, one after the other, saying how great they looked, as though he actually cared about how bad they were or not. Luna was not paying attention to what he was saying. She only placed her suspicious gaze at him. When it seemed to her that her son was not paying attention to her gaze at him, she walked to him and placed her right hand on his shoulder. ''Tell me son, I can feel it, I can see it, I am not a child. What is bothering you? You came here not looking happy, unlike you. Leave those clothes, sit down and tell me what's going on'' Luna said and sat at the edge of her bed as she dragged Sage along. He smiled, but still was noticeably with some facial expression of some hard feelings. ''But mom, I am okay'' he said, trying to force smiles out of his frozen cheeks. ''Now, no, you are not going to tell me that, I gave birth to you and have spent my life with you for decades, I mean decades, not just some years. Son, I understand you. Tell me something. So, what is it?'' Luna said, imploringly. Instead of opening up as his mother had asked him to, he stood up. ''Mom, just finish what you are doing, I am not running out. I will be waiting in your sitting room'' he said, and took a walk to his mother's personal sitting room. It was a smaller sitting space attached to her bedroom. ''I see. But whatever it is, my son, don't overwork yourself'' Luna said, as her eyes trailed him while he walked to a sofa chair there and sat down. She stood up, and tried continuing from where she stopped, but was overwhelmed by a feeling of uncertainty over his noticeable discomposure and facial de-tachment.

She tried to forge ahead to finish what she was doing, but found out she could not continue until she understood what it was. ''Son, are you sure you are okay?'' she asked while holding a gown in her hands. ''Mom, I am good'' Sage said as he took the remote control from the armrest of the chair, trying to take off the attention of his mother from him, so she could fo-cus on what he met her doing when he came in. It seemed their conversation was going to be long that he wanted her to finish what she was doing before he started engaging her, or may-be there was more than necessary inside his head? ''No, son, you are not, now stop pretend-ing'' Luna said, dropped the cloth and walked to the sitting room and sat next to him. Sage ended up laughing. But her mother, Luna, was not anywhere close to being amused. This was a son that grew up from her arms, and like she said, had known her for decades. ''Let's go talking, because I am not amused by your cover-ups. So, son, what's eating you up from in-side that even your beautiful smiles and laughter are ghostly remains of what they used to be?'' she asked, desperately. Her words made Sage more emotional this time, so that his eyes reddened up. ''How long have you held that remote control, yet you have not used it to put on the television? Come on, son, what is it? I am your mother. You know I love you. Tell me something, and I am not going to hurt you for telling me'' she continued as she now placed her hand on his shoulder. Sage unconsciously dropped the remote control on the side stool, or did it slip away from her freezing palm? He emptily robbed imprecisely his left palm on his head trying to get some composure before delving into the reason he had come to meet his mother. ''Put it all together, son, I am listening'' Luna said, as she fixated her eyes on his lips so she wouldn't miss a word that would come out of his mouth. ''Mom, are you pregnant?'' Sage asked as he bent his head, towards her. There were echoes of silence, before Luna tried to organize her thoughts so she could come up with reasonable words for his question. ''Son, is that why you look worried. Of course, I am pregnant'' she said and adjusted her body on the chair, maybe to get the whole of how her son felt about it. ''Oh, mom, and you have nev-er told me'' Sage said, terribly. Luna laughed out loud and Sage became both stunned and confused. ''Son, do I need to tell you that I am pregnant? Are you my husband?'' Luna asked, humorously as she laughed over it. Sage adjusted his body, and was now, with strong-er courage, to go deeper into the purpose of his coming. ''Mom, there is a reason why I am worried now, after all, I shouldn't have bothered myself if someone was not bothered about it, already'' Sage said. His words hit Luna in a way that looked as though she was taken una-wares. ''Son, what do you mean? Is it because of my age?'' she asked, closely. ''Mom, that's inclusive, but not all about that'' Sage said, and leaned heavily on the backrest of the chair, before her mother removed her hand from his shoulder and took a breather. ''So, tell me, who is worried, and what's the reason? I didn't even know that the pregnancy had started to show'' she said as she started looking at herself with disbelief and some creative amusement. ''Mom, I am worried'' Sage said again, with depictions of concern written all over his face. ''Son, say something, what is it?'' Luna asked, imploringly. Sage was trying to think out something from his head. ''What's it? Don't worry about my life, I will push through it. My age should not bother you. I am strong'' she continued. ''I am not talking about all that, mom. There is something'' Sage said, now with a frowned face. ''It's alright, make me un-derstand you, son'' Luna said, in appeals. ''Mom, daddy is worried'' Sage said, and uncon-sciously or unconsciously, picked up the remote control from the side stool. ''Your dad?'' Luna asked, curiously. ''Yes, my dad, he is not happy, and he made it clear too'' Sage said, frowning his face with worries shown on his face. Luna took a breather, thinking about what to say. ''So, what about his worries?'' Luna asked, in sulks. ''I mean, mom, he did not deny his worries'' Sage said, looking at her with the same ugly glare, showing some depictions of disappointment. ''So, why are you looking at me like that?'' Luna asked with indignation. ''Mom, it seems you are not getting it, or are you?'' Sage said angrily. ''Now, make me un-derstand. Because I would like to understand why becoming pregnant for my husband has become a problem. Not that you are afraid of me being able to carry the baby to term, or doubt my resolve to carry the baby. So, isn't it better you tell me what it is?'' Luna asked. ''I am worried mom, because my father said the pregnancy is not his. That's why I am worried'' Sage said in a low voice, yet its bass tone was loudly deafening. Luna was shocked to hear that from her son. ''Son, who told you that lie?'' she asked audaciously. ''Mom, it is the same man'' Sage said. ''Who? Which man'' Luna asked, looking as though she was about to lose her anger. ''Dad, my father'' Sage said. Luna became more worried. ''When did he say such a thing to you?'' she asked. ''Is it more necessary when he said that? I just decided to have it discussed with you today. Is it true?'' Sage asked, resolutely. ''What do you mean by that?'' Luna asked, daringly. ''That the pregnancy is not his?'' Sage said, ignoring her anger. ''How dare you ask me such a silly question?'' Luna asked, aggressively. ''Because he told me so, I decide to clarify this with you before I have another discussion with him, on this'' Sage said. Luna looked at him scornfully. ''What, mom? Why are you looking at me like a bad person, here?'' he continued. ''You mean somebody talked down on your mother, and asking her disrespectfully was all you could do?'' Luna asked him in words that lacked base for understanding. ''Mom, I have not disrespected you, any way here. I mean this was what daddy told me, and I thought the right thing was to have it discussed with you. I am no longer a baby'' Sage said. ''Oh, you mean, you have grown so much that you can talk to me any way you feel, right?'' Luna asked in glare. ''Mom, not that, I don't mean that I have grown to disrespect you. Mom, you know I don't'' Sage said, but just that when he tried to continue, his mother interrupted him. ''But that's what you just did now'' she said. ''No mom, I never did. Let's see it this way, we have had a wonderful family that not only myself boast of, but including my friends, and this coming at this age of our family life, and you think I should not be worried, mom? Am I kidding or what?'' Sage said. Luna took a breather to wrap her head around her words just to make sure they came out smelling better. Sage dropped the remote control on the side stool. Luna smartly looked deeply at him to know maybe the level of his disgust of her now ''I am not saying you should not express your feeling but then'' Luna said and paused. ''But, what, mom?'' Sage said, questioningly. ''Son, I mean that's not how to ge the right information from a family member, especially a parent, or am I not one?'' she said, trying to play guilt into the head of her son. ''I am sorry mom, if I had sounded rudely. It wasn't intentional. No, I did not mean to be disrespectful. I apologize'' Sage said. This made Luna lower her head, or maybe she was creative about it, in order to rob her son emotionally, of things he may have created in his mind against her. She needed a breather, not just a breather, but a space in time, so she could have a word with her husband about it before engaging her son, or maybe have some words created to make him calm down and mind his business. ''Stop, mom, I don't want us to be too emotional with this. It is a difficult accusation if you ask me, and if it was a lie dad just told me, I don't know'' Sage said and paused right there. His words appeared to his mother as things coming from a mind that was so made up to get to the root of a thing. ''Please, let's continue, mom'' he continued as he started patting his mother on her shoulder in a tone of apology. Luna became really emotional, not for anything else, but because her game had come under threat, not from anyone else, but from her own child who she still remembered how his pregnancy came about. ''I am sorry mom, about my tone of voice'' he said further as tears started gushing out of her eyes. ''Sage, does it mean that you have not found out that your father doesn't sound right all the time recently? Does that mean you don't interact with him? I don't know what's wrong with Axel these days. If he gets angry he can say anything without minding how hurtful those words are. Okay, see how you carried that anger to me. It was so disrespectful. I don't know where to place it. I am so pissed off now'' Luna said, in a creative tone that could change the mind of a lie detector if it has one. All she needed was a breather to think about this whole thing; how to subdue Mr Axel with his deception or maybe with another. ''Son, if a healthy man meets an ovulating healthy woman, what does your biology says happens?'' Luna asked, wittily. Sage smiled. ''Boom, pregnancy'' he said, comically with smiles depicting his joy about what he had just heard from his mother. It was now his conviction that his mother had not got the pregnancy somewhere else, other than from his father. He came close to his mother and started apologizing, but then, Luna chose not to talk. ''It is okay, mom. I want to go somewhere now. I will be back soon. I love you mom'' Sage said and stood up. Her mother only nodded her head to affirm she heard him clearly. She had become tired, yet silently worried about what had just happened. Sage left the apartment.