– Mom, why don’t I look like Daddy? – 5-year-old Adam gave his mom a sly look. – Maybe I’m not his son.
It got quiet at the table. Dad, pushing aside a plate of soup, stared at his son, then slowly shifted his gaze to his wife. She, for some reason, blushed and looking at her son, asked in a steely voice:
– Who told you this?
– Well, they did…” Adam’s voice became even more sly. – That I do not look like a father …
– Stop talking nonsense… – Father tried to control himself. – Look closely, do our noses look alike?
– Yes, we do,” said the son nodded.
– And the eyes?
– Our eyes are alike too, – the son nodded again.
– I’ll hurt…” the wife said suddenly in a low voice, looking into the void.
– Who?” The husband even tried to smile.
– I don’t know yet…” The wife looked at her son threateningly and asked: – And yet, who told you that? Well? Tell me!
– Don’t shout at the child! – Daddy stroked his son on the head with a trembling hand. – It wasn’t his fault. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s… you know who…
– What?” burst out his mother. – What do you think you’re talking about? Are you suspecting me of something?
– If it’s not your fault, why are you so nervous?
– I’m not nervous! But when people say mean things about me…
– No one’s ever said anything about you!
– What about all those innuendos of yours? And the gossip our son collects and brings into the house! If you suspect me, then you don’t love me! And if you don’t love me…
– Maybe you don’t love me!
– Mom, Dad, why are you fighting? – my son asked in surprise. – It’s simple.
Immediately the parents were silent and stared at their son. There was a pause in the kitchen again.
– Is it that simple? – Mom asked at last.
– Simple. – My son shrugged. – I need a hammer and a saw to make me like Daddy.
– What?!
– Well, I broke a chair in class today. Again. Sara says, “How come you don’t look like your dad, Adam? Maybe you’re not his son? He fixes everything in the kindergarten, and you break everything. Dad, will you give me a saw and a hammer? The chair needs fixing…
Mom suddenly started crying and Dad started laughing. The son looked at his parents and didn’t understand what had happened to them…
