Two Proposals, One Wedding

Present Tense: Renald

The sound of Alice's sisters knocking on her front door woke her up, her three nieces and nephews hugged her and went inside, settled on her living room couch, and her sisters headed straight to the kitchen to make some coffee and a light breakfast.

"Geez Alice, where have you been last night?" Adelle asked as she pulled out some bread and placed them on the counter.

"No, the question is, did you at least get any sleep last night?" Andrea questioned as she put the kettle on and tore open a few packets of instant coffee, put them in a coffee cup, and waited for the water to boil.

"I went out to see Glen last night. I had jetlag okay, leave me alone," Alice walked to the couch where the kids were playing and lay on the spot that they hadn't touched yet.

"Mommy Alice! Can we watch TV?" Zia asked as she climbed onto her aunt's belly.

Strained on how surprisingly heavy this kid is, Alice said, "Sure, put on some cartoons if you want."

"Zia! Get off your aunt!" Adelle yelled from the kitchen.

"Put that down, Kyle!" Andrea ran towards Kyle who was playing with a pair of scissors from the coffee table. "You need to baby-proof this house, Alice. This is ridiculous."

"Hey, I was unpacking some stuff last night." Alice reached for the TV remote and put on a kid's show from Netflix. The kids started to settle on the couch and all of them watched.

A few minutes later, Adelle yelled again from the kitchen saying that breakfast was ready. Alice stood up and paused the show so the kids had something to eat.

"You guys need to eat faster, we need to hit the road in an hour. The traffic in the city is crazy if we get there later in the day." Alice sipped her coffee and took a bite of toast from the middle plate.

"Mom, are we going to see Mavis?" Kyle asked as he played with his scrambled eggs.

"Maybe, we'll go visit grandma first before we do anything," Andrea answered.

Not a few moments later, Chuck pulled up with his van and Alice's sisters threw their bags in the back of the vehicle and the kids excitedly settled in their seats. Andrea went inside first and Adelle noticed that Alice had thrown her bags in her car.

"You're not riding with us?" She asked.

Alice looked up and let out a big sigh, "No, I'll follow behind. Go with the gang, Andrea needs help with the kids anyway. We'll keep in touch by phone." She locked up the house, started the car, and drove off.

The scorching heat was familiar to Alice, the heat from the countryside was not as intense as the heat from the city. She stood in front of her grandmother's grave, staring at it feeling guilty as it had been years since the family buried her. "Hi Lola, I hope you're okay. I guess I came by to say...I'm lost, and I need you." Alice heard voices coming closer, it was laughter from the kids, only this time, there were more voices than the usual four monsters.

"Figured you'll be here. Guess it had been a while since you were here." Adelle pointed out.

"Who's the other kid?" Alice turned to look at the kids.

"That's your cousin's kid. Mavis," Adelle gave a sour face upon mentioning the word 'cousin'.

"If you still have issues with him, why is his kid here?" Alice asked.

"His brother brought her over, he was babysitting when he found out we were in the area." Adelle let out a heavy sigh.

"It's getting close to lunchtime, let's take the kids somewhere to eat. I'll take the kids, meet us at that mall close to home let's see if Mang Inasal has a place for us."