Love can build a Bridge

Chapter 5

*Greggy's POV*

As I look back on the rollercoaster ride of our lives, I never felt more at peace when I decided to bring my family here in San Francisco. It took us a while to get used to it, espcially Irene who was deeply saddened by parting ways with her family. But here we are now, living privately with our two boys. Now that they're starting to grow up, I told Irene that we should gather a few people and throw a birthday celebration, since Alfonso and Luis were born in the same month. I was glad when Irene took charge of the preparations.

I went down to the kitchen and saw Irene preparing the food. From the window, I saw the decorations have already been set up.

"Good Morning hon." I said to my lovely wife.

"Good Morning hon." She replied with a kiss.

"Looks like were set for the party later. The place looks great."

"Well almost, I have to wait for the chicken to come out of the oven and put frosting on the cake."

"Well it all looks delicious. You are such an extraordinary woman." I went near and kissed her again.

"Ikaw talaga hon, mabola! Baka masundan si Luis niyan."

"Why not hon? Maybe this time it will be a girl. The heir to Mama Meldy's shoes."

Irene just laughed in response. I turned my back and decided to make a pot of coffee.

"I invited a friend of ours to the party." Irene said.

"Oh really? Who?"

"Engineer Leandro Silayan."

"Right, I remember him. I didn't know he was in town."

"He left right after finishing Daddy's project. He is now based in Springfield."

"That's good. A chance for us to get together again I guess."

I went out to the backyard with my coffee. I remembered what Daddy Ferdie told me about Leandro, and how he asked if he can have a chance on Irene. I felt bad at one point but maybe he has gotten over it now. I shouldn't feel worried about this, right? After all, Irene is my wife and Alfonso and Luis are our precious gems.

It was almost 12 when I got my two boys all dressed up and down the stairs while Irene just got all the food out to the backyard. Next thing we know, guests have started arriving. We only invited a few of our friends and some of my relatives. Bongbong arrived too since he was also around the California area. The last guest arrived and it was him. Engineer Leandro Silayan. I saw Irene and Bongbong quickly greeted him through the door. I noticed that he was with a child. Irene and Leandro approached me.

"Hon, you remember Engineer Silayan?" Irene said.

"Great to see you again Leandro!" I shook his hands.

"Thank you for inviting us to your son's birthday."

"I see you brought your daughter."

"Yes, her name is Leandra. She's turning 5 this December."

I said hello to the little girl and she waved and smiled back at me. She looked so precious, its as if she had a familiar face. Irene assisted him outside the backyard and saw that my boys are being introduced to Leandro's daughter. I'm glad to see that the boys have someone to play with in the party. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Chit chats in every corner and kids running around and playing. While I was talking to a relative, Irene joined in and I put my hands on her waist. The talk went on for a while until Irene saw a child collapsed. It was Leandra. Leandro and Irene rushed to the child. Everyone started going near them to check what happened. Leandro grabbed Leandra's bag and pulled out an inhaler. As he was trying to aid her daughter's breathing, I noticed how Irene was deeply concerned towards Leandra. I was baffled for a while but when the situation was finally under control, I still noticed something between them. I tried to meddle in by approaching them.

"Is she alright Leandro?"

"Yes. She just had an asthma attack from all of the running."

"Well I'm glad she's fine now."

I turned to my wife.

"Hon maybe its time to bring out the cake?" We both turned around and placed my hands on her shoulder.

We brought out the cake and everyone started to huddle around Alfonso and Luis. They all sang Happy Birthday and Alfonso blew all of the candles, since Luis was still unable to. Irene started cutting the cake for everyone to try. I gave a small piece of cake to Alfonso but instead of eating it, he gave it to Leandra. Leandra smiled and took the offer. I saw Leandro taking a candid photo of the two. Even my child seems to have an effect towards Leandra. When the party was over, everyone started saying their goodbyes. The last one to leave was Leandro. He kept on apologizing what happened earlier but we assured him that it was not a problem. I simply stared at them, Irene cuddling up to Leandra before leaving, their smiles towards each other seemed endearing. I tried to bring it up when me and Irene started cleaning up the place.

"Looks like our boys had fun." I said.

"Fun yet tiring. Look at them all knocked out from all of the running." She replied.

"It's a shame that the Engineers daughter can't enjoy as much as the boys."

"Indeed. *sigh* I feel really bad for Leandra."

"Yes, I noticed."

Irene must have felt a tension with my response because she kept quiet for a while.

"Well I just don't want to see any child getting sick while having fun. Remember when Alfonso had food poisoning during Christmas?" She replied.

"Ah yes, we were all in a tizzy that time."

I decided not to continue the conversation anymore. I felt like it was enough for me to hear these words from her. Irene always has a soft spot for children and I know she was only caring for the child's safety. I shouldn't jump into any conclusions and if I were to, well... I would just rather keep it to myself.