Seven Mothers: All Seven Of My Mothers Are Heavenly Goddesses?!

"Luca..." She suddenly call, her voice sharp yet tinged with incredulity as she stared at my phone screen.

"Y-Yeah?" I responded, already feeling the impending doom creeping closer. I plastered on an awkward smile, knowing exactly why she was calling my name.

Her head then snapped back to the phone, as if giving it another glance would somehow change the situation. She scrolled faster now, her finger moving like it was on a mission.

But the list kept going. And going.

Finally, she let out a dramatic gasp, turning to me in slow motion as if the weight of what she'd seen had physically drained her. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and her voice trembled slightly as she asked, "Luca…Why in the world do you have so many numbers?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but she immediately held up a finger, silencing me. "Wait, no, don't answer that yet." She turned back to the phone, her hand gripping it like it might fly away if she let go. She scrolled again, and again, faster this time. Her breathing quickened, and she muttered under her breath, "Still at N…Still at N?!"

She gulped audibly and glanced back at me, her face pale. "I've been scrolling for a solid minute, and I'm still at N." She said, almost breathless. "Luca, what is this?! How much further does it go?!"

"Well, you know… it's—" I cleared my throat, trying to maintain a neutral expression.

"No." she interrupted, waving the phone in the air like it was some incriminating evidence in a courtroom. "You can't 'well, you know' this! What is this, some sort of phone book? Did you collect every number in the city? Is this…is this normal?!"

I shuffled around, my awkward smile refusing to leave my face.

My mother's mouth opened, closed, and then opened again as she struggled to process it all. "Luca, there's no way this is just…Normal!" She looked back at the phone, scrolling furiously again, only to give up with a dramatic groan. "I don't even want to know how far it goes. This is—" She paused, holding the phone away from her like it might explode. "You have more numbers than I have ingredients in my pantry!"

"Well, I am popular…" I muttered under my breath, though I wasn't sure she heard me over her theatrical sighs.

She glared at me, her hand still gripping the phone like it was a cursed artifact. "This isn't popularity, Luca. This is madness!" She jabbed a finger at the phone. "How do you even keep track of all these people?! Do they all have nicknames? Is there some sort of organizational system I'm missing?"

"Mom, it's really not that serious—"

"It's very serious!" She shot back, her voice rising an octave. "Do you know what this means? Do you understand the implications of this?!"

"Uh… that I need to delete some contacts?" I blinked at her, trying not to laugh.

She groaned, tossing the phone onto the couch beside me and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Unbelievable. My son has enough numbers to start his own phone company." She threw her hands in the air. "I was expecting a lot, Luca. I knew you were popular. But this?!"

"What can I say? I'm thorough." I shrugged, trying to suppress my grin.

She gave me a flat stare, then sighed dramatically as she leaned back into the sofa as she said, "Well, if I'd known this was what I'd find, I wouldn't have asked for the phone in the first place."

Her defeated tone was so over the top that I couldn't help but laugh, which earned me a glare from her. But the corners of her lips twitched upward, betraying her amusement despite her exasperation.

"Oh, Luca." She said, her voice filled with false exasperation. "I was ready to scold you for the sheer number of contacts in here, but now? Now, I'm just...impressed."

"Impressed? That's…not what I expected." I frowned, unsure of where this was going.

To this, she held the phone up like a prized artifact, her finger scrolling slowly through the endless list as she continued to explain why exactly she was impressed.

"Do you even realize what this looks like, Luca? You don't just have a lot of contacts; you've got multiple entries for practically every girl. It's like you've collected every single possible surname for each name in existence."

She then glanced at me, her eyebrows raised in mock admiration. "Luca, are you collecting surnames now? Like some weird hobby? Is this what they call social networking these days?"

"Mom, it's not like that." I sighed, rubbing my temples.

"Oh, really?" She smirked, holding the phone closer to her face. "Look at this—'Emily Watson, Emily Carter, Emily Thompson, Emily Brooks.' What is this? A phonebook for Emilys?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but she kept going, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"And look at this one: 'Sophia Black, Sophia Green, Sophia White, Sophia Grey.' Luca, you've collected the entire color palette of Sophias!"

"Okay, I get it. Can we stop now?" I groaned, pushing myself back into the sofa.

But she was on a roll, scrolling through with exaggerated fascination.

"Oh, no, I'm not done yet. 'Jessica Hill, Jessica Lake, Jessica River'? Are you assembling a nature-themed collection? What's next—Jessica Mountain?"

I let out a dramatic sigh, muttering under my breath, "I was really hoping you'd just be mad and get it over with."

"Oh, I could be mad." She said, turning to me with a playful glint in her eyes. "But honestly, this is so ridiculous that I can't even bring myself to lecture you. I mean, Luca, this takes effort. You've got a talent for tricking girls."

"Or maybe I just have a lot of friends?" I crossed my arms, glaring at her half-heartedly.

She shimmied around, crossing her arms with a smug smile. "Okay, whatever you say, Luca. But still, I'm impressed. You've managed to make something as simple as a contact list into a work of art."

"Glad you're proud." I said dryly.

"Oh, I'm not proud. But I am entertained. That's gotta count for something." She laughed, shaking her head.

She then raised an eyebrow at me, her curiosity practically radiating off her. "Alright, fine. You've got a ridiculous number of contacts, sure. But tell me this—if you were to call one of these girls, would they even pick up?"

"Why don't you find out?...Go ahead, call anyone on the list." I smirked and said which caught her off guard.

"You're serious?" Her jaw dropped slightly, her eyes widening as she stared at me in disbelief. "I-I can really call anyone I want to."

"Sure. Go ahead. It's not like I have anything to hide." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"This feels like a trap." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

I chuckled. "It's not. I promise. Call anyone you want. Just know..." I added with a sly grin. "I properly ended things with most of them…Except for the ones that ended horribly."

Her head whipped toward me, her expression a mix of shock and intrigue.

"Horribly? What do you mean by horribly?"

I waved my hand dismissively.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Misunderstandings, dramatic exits, some yelling here and there...Nothing too crazy."

She stared at me, her curiosity clearly getting the better of her. "You really shouldn't have said that." She muttered, scrolling through the contact list with renewed enthusiasm. "Now I have to see what happens."

"Pick carefully, Mom. You don't want to end up in the middle of one of my 'horrible endings.'" I grinned, resting my head on my hand as I watched her go through the list.

She ignored me, her focus entirely on the screen as she scrolled past the endless list of names. Finally, she stopped on a random contact. "Alright, I've got one." She declared, holding the phone up dramatically. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Luca."

"You're the one who's curious. Don't blame me if it gets awkward." I raised an eyebrow.

She inhaled deeply, steadying herself as if she were about to enter a battlefield. "Here goes nothing."

With that, she pressed the dial button and immediately put the call on speaker. And not before she could even let out a breath, the call was connected and a voice was heard.

But the funny thing was that the voice that came through the speaker was not what my mother had expected—far from it.

Instead of the bubbly, slightly immature tone she assumed would greet her, the woman on the other end spoke with an elegant and composed voice that carried an air of refinement.

"Luca? I wasn't expecting a call from you." The woman said warmly, her words calm yet precise. "This is a pleasant surprise."