For The Kids' Sake

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

The Crack

 

April 11, 2010. Sunday. Francis, along with Albert’s children, Nanay Lagrimas, Karylle, the driver and the three nannies, moved in to Luvienco Glass House in Palmaine City. Only one maid, who was designated as the caretaker of Albert’s house, was left behind. The maid was in charge of maintaining the cleanliness of the house. She was just to visit twice a week to water the plants and clean the house.

Nanay Lagrimas had settled in her former bedroom downstairs. Karylle settled in a bedroom upstairs beside the newly-set up nursery room for Baby Josh. There were eight rooms all in all upstairs, seven were bedrooms and the other one was a library.

The master’s bedroom, which Francis occupied, was beside the nursery, which was a corner room. Nathan’s bedroom, which was a corner room as well, was beside Francis’ bedroom. CJ’s bedroom was beside Nathan’s bedroom. The doors of their room were all near the upper landing of the stairs situated in the middle. All the bedrooms have a veranda which surrounded all the rooms upstairs.

The nannies and the drivers were all housed in the servants’ quarters downstairs near the kitchen.

The entire lot was 30m x 30m in area. The floor area of the ground floor was 20m x 20m. The floor area of the second floor was 20m x 20m as well including the veranda surrounding the entirety of the rooms upstairs.

The master’s bedroom was 4m x 6m in area as well as the library. The six other bedrooms had an area of 4m x 5m with a bathroom/comfort room of 2m x 2m. Each bedroom had built-in closet near the bathroom/comfort room. The master’s bedroom had a spacious walk-in closet.

The front of the house faced the main road while the back of the house faced the beach. The entire lot was specifically elevated by Francis to be ready for the high tide or flood           

There was a front gate leading to the main road as well as a back gate leading to the beach. The entire compound was surrounded by thick adobe walls which were high enough for security purpose but still revealing the elevated house.

At the ground floor of the house were – the  spacious open living area with two sitting areas; the spacious 6m x 8m kitchen with  marble top two tub stainless sink, marble top counter table, marble top kitchen table and state-of-the art kitchen appliances; the spacious 8m x 8m dining room with a twelve-seater dining table;  the 4m x 5m gym equipped with treadmill, stationary bike, cable pulley machine, abdominal crunches machine, rowing machine, aerobics steppers, weights, exercise balls and exercise mats; a 3m x 4m stock room; the three 4m x 4m servants’ bedrooms; a  4m x  5m study room with office table, storage cabinets, sitting area, conference table; and a 3m x 4m visitors’ rest room. It had a big main door at the front of the house and two other side doors. With the beach area as the north, the side door at the west led to the laundry area while the side door at the east led to the nipa/bamboo house used for relaxation.  The north gate leading to the beach was also near the nipa/bamboo house.

The west side of the house had the laundry area and the garden. The garden was just outside the dining room.

The east side of the house had the stairs leading to the back gate, nipa/bamboo house and the playground. The playground had a swing set, climber and slide, merry-go-round, monkey bars and see-saw.

The front area of the house had the garage, the driveway, the 5m x 10m swimming pool and the front steps leading to the front of the main door.

The garage and the swimming pool area were both artistically roofed with thick high-class fiberglass.