Sonless Mother of the Revolution

March 1889 - December 1892 (pt. 2)

"Can you tell me your name?" Amelia gently asked the child, carrying him with her arms. 'So small and frail for a child. Shouldn't his cheeks be more round?', she thought to herself. The boy didn't respond verbally, only burrowing deeper into her shoulder. Amelia closed her eyes and mentally calmed herself down; she was, after all, not the best with children and could only scare them into submission. She tried asking something else. "Do you know where you are?" It took awhile but the boy did eventually whisper: "Malolos."

~*~

"I never knew you were fond of strays, Amelia. I would've gotten him some toys!"

"Do not test me, Estrella."

Paloma chuckled as she went closer to the boy Amelia brought back home. Amelia could see the boy deducing if Paloma was an enemy or an ally, and she decided to assist him. Amelia gently pats the top of his head and he looks up straight at her, big eyes filled with wonder. She kneels to reach his eye level and softly whispers, "She's good. You can trust her." The boy tilted his head then slowly nodded. Paloma grinned, "My, my, Amelia. Such a mother hen, you are." Amelia rolls her eyes, the effects of the night finally catching up to her. "Someone has to be, or else you'd grow to be an absolute mess." Paloma stared at Amelia then broke into a fit of giggles. "I never knew you could tease, Loba Negra. Do it more often!" Her loud exclaim led to the boy burrowing deeper into himself, making Amelia glare at Paloma. "Be quiet. Do not stress him out more, I still need to change his dressings." Paloma took it as her cue to leave, "Oh well then, I must be on my way. Amelia, the ointment is stored in the left cabinet." She gently tapped the boy's shoulder and smiled brightly, "I'm sorry for scaring you, I hope we can be good friends!" And with that she left, leaving Amelia and the boy alone.

Amelia began removing the makeshift bandages, and started cleaning them. She felt a twinge of pity when the boy winced or whined in pain, so she tried to make him more comfortable by talking to him. "Paloma means well, child. She just has a very...loud personality. She never had the chance to be childish when she was young." And it was true. 

Ever since Amelia was fifteen, she began serving and protecting Paloma who just a young maiden. She was always placed into the ideal of her parents, to be the perfect daughter and wife. Sometimes, she might be feeling a little mischievous like the child that she was, but she would always get punished for it. Paloma was often badmouthed for choosing to love other women, she was ostracized for being so public about it, but instead of admitting defeat she does the opposite. Which is why Amelia felt something in her heart float when Paloma was the one who introduced the School for the Women of Malolos. Paloma defied her parents and established it along with the other nineteen women and Amelia herself. Paloma was powerful in her own right that even if Amelia didn't swear her loyalty to her before that, she would have done so in that moment.

Amelia almost didn't hear the 'wow' that escaped the boy's mouth, but she was used tracking even the smallest of sounds. She looked back down at him and the boy suddenly looked away, looking bashful. She felt very tired and apparently, the fatigue made her think out loud today.

Amelia placed the last dressing and fitted the boy back into a shirt she fashioned out of scrap fabric. She looks over his injuries one last time and then she hears his soft and scared whisper, "Who are you?" Amelia knows very well who she is, but she doesn't know how to answer his question. She was his savior, his current nurse, caretaker, but they all seem too...formal for a boy this young. She resigns within herself and answers back, "I am Amelia, and I will take care of you from now on."

~*~

December 1892; Malolos, Bulacan

She named the boy Amado, when she found out he didn't have a name. And she raised him.