Holding Unto You

chapter 37

after packing everything we waited for ash here sa sasakyan

along the way habang pauwi kami Chloe is staring the windows habang nakakalong sakin

"Chloe, go sit at the back. It's dangerous na nakakalong ka wala ka sa seat mo and you dont have seatbelt" sabi ni Ash dahil kanina pa si Chloe nakakalong lang sakin

"hug naman ako ni mommy ah" sagot ni Chloe kaya mukhang hindi talaga to babalik

"mapapagod si mommy" sagot din ni Ash kaya napangiti nalang ako

"hayaan mo na, ngayon lang naman" I told him bago tinuloy ni Chloe ang panonood sa mga sasakyan na kasabay namin

we cant remember kung kelan nya ako tinawag na mommy, there was a time na she calls me mommy then next tita ulit. lately lang nya ako straight tinatawag na mommy kaya natutuwa kami ni Ash

"mommy, hanggang kailan po kita mommy?" tanong ni Chloe out of the blue kaya nagkatinginan kami ni Ash

"kung hanggang kailan nyo gusto ni daddy" sagot ko and smiled

"bukas po hanggang sa susunod na marami pang bukas, pwede po ba yun?" tanong nya and I nod

"oo naman" I told her and I saw smile on Ash's face

tanghali na din kami nakaalis sa the farm kanina since tinamad pa kami ni Ash bumangon

maaga kami ginising ni Chloe kanina, nahiga pa sa gitna namin para lang magpaalam na magsiswimming sya ulit

we let her swim for a while since the sun is good for her din

kaya ngayon nagyaya pa si Ash na magdinner muna kami

after eating una naming hinatid si ate sa bahay before heading to Eli's apartment

"daddy dun nalang ako sa inyo tulog" ulit ni Chloe

kanina pa kasi sya nagsasabi na gusto nya matulog sa condo kaso ayaw pumayag ni Ash

"hindi nga pwede nak magagalit mommy eli" sagot  ni Ash

along the way nakatulog din si Chloe

he parked sa harap and pababa na sana kami when we saw Eli talking to a man 

kakalabas lang nila ng gate and looks like an argument

I opened my windows so I can hear them 

"hindi mo nga sya pwede kunin! Umalis ka diba?!" rinig ko na sabi ni Eli and Ash was about to go down but I stopped him

"Eli ibang usapan yung atin lang at kasama yung bata!" sagot nung lalaki at napapataas na ang isang kilay ko

"anong bata?! nababaliw ka na ba?! may nakita ka bang bata sa taas?! wala diba!?" sigaw na sabi ni Eli

"Chloe! the little girl! I had you investigated kaya alam kong may anak ka!" sagot nung lalaki kaya nagkatinginan na kami ni Ash

"Eli anak ko ba yun? sabihin mo naman" the guy was kneeling infront of her

I bet hindi kilala ni Eli itong Expedition since ang laging gamit pang sundo kay Chloe ay yung camry

"oo na! anak mo yung masaya ka na?! wag mo na kami guluhin kasi masaya na sya sa bago nyang daddy. hindi ka nya kailangan" sagot ni Eli 

I cant stop my self kaya bumaba ako at binato sa kanya yung sapatos ko

I was able to grab her hair, I did not stop kahit nararamdaman ko na hinihila na ako ni Ash

she's now lying while I'm still pulling per hair and slapping her

I can feel her nails on my arm but that doesn't matter

I want to pull every piece of her hair and ruin her face like how she ruined my relationship with Ash using her lies

"love, cat fight is not your thing. ang daming nakatingin" rinig ko na bulong nya kaya tumayo na ako

lumayo na ako but Eli attacked me just in time the door of the expedition opened

"mommy!" sigaw ni Chloe while crying and run to us

napahiwalay din si Eli nung narinig nya na umiiyak si Chloe

Chloe hugged me while still crying

"bakit mo sya inaaway?" tanong ni Chloe in between sobs while hugging me

"anak ako mommy mo lika dito" sabi ni Eli but Chloe wont let go of me

"nak" tawag ni Ash while kneeling para magpantay sila

"love ka ni daddy kaso kailangan mo makilala totoo mong daddy ok ba yun?" tanong ni Ash and I can feel the sadness in him

"papamigay mo na ako?" umiiyak na tanong ni Chloe and Ash wiped her tears

"no hindi yun ganun, daddy wants to keep you kaso hindi pwede. Remember yung kwento mo? diba yung friend mo nangheram ng doll mo tapos kailangan nya ibalik kasi sayo yun? ganun yun nak, I love you kaso hineram lang pala kita kaya kailangan kita ibalik" explain ni Ash 

"hug daddy and kiss me goodbye" sabi ni Ash kaya nilapitan sya ni Chloe

Chloe hugged him and he kissed her a lot of times on her cheeks

He cant stop his tears while hugging Chloe

"sweetie, mommy loves you too ok?" sabi ko and Chloe kissed me on my cheeks

after that Ash walked towards to the man, Chloe's real dad

I can see na kinakausap pa ni Ash si Chloe 

Ayaw bumitaw ni Chloe kay Ash but her dad still tried

Eli is here nakasandal lang sa sasakyan while crying and holding her face na puno ng bakas ng sampal at kalmot ko

saglit lang din sumama na so Chloe dun sa lalaki

Ash opened the back of the expedition and I saw him get Chloe's bags

one bag na puro damit at yung isa na mga extrang gamit ni Chloe

I also saw him get an envelope from his files and handed everything to the man

for the last time he kissed Chloe, Chloe waved a goodbye for me so I smiled to her

I didn't expect na dadalhin na talaga nung daddy nya si Chloe 

Eli's here shocked about what happened

Ash pulled me palapit sa sasakyan and opened a door for me

"Chloe doesn't deserve to have you as her mom, nakakaawa ka" rinig ko na sabi ni Ash bago isara yung pinto ng sasakyan

umikot sya para makasakay

as we go I saw Eli crying in the middle of the road

Ash grabbed my hands and his attention focused on my arms full of scratch from Eli's nails

no wounds but still its so red, buti hindi mahaba kuko nya

I have long nails kaya may maliliit akong kalmot sa kanya na sumugat

"I love you, with or without Chloe" I told him kaya tinignan nya ako

"I love you more, from now on we're going to start our own" sagot nya and kissed my hands

until now I still cant believe what happened

after all this years, my sacrifices means nothing. No it means everything to me and Ash

with Chloe we're able to experience a glimpse of parenting, we learned things we can use for our family

Chloe made us really happy, so I cant say that my sacrifices means nothing

memories with Chloe is still priceless

I know Ash may not say it much but he's hurt, he treated her like his own daughter

Hoping Chloe will grow to be a fine young lady, maybe someday our paths will cross again