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Chapter 1: First Kiss

Chapter 1: First Kiss

Third Week of November 2009

"She sounds like a good mom," Nicky said as she looked up at Josh. They were sitting on Josh's motorbike, watching as the sun set down at the shore of San Juan. The sky, a magnificent splatter of pink, orange and violet, mirrored by the calm sea.

"She is, I guess." Josh nodded as he tried to reach for Nicky's hand, then hesitated as Nicky suddenly squared her shoulders.

"What about your father? What's he like?"

Josh shrugged. "Hmm, you know. A father."

Nicky shot Josh a quizzical sideway glance. "What's he like?" She repeated.

"First my sibs. Then, my mom. Now, my dad. Why do you wanna know so much about my family anyway?"

"Well, I thought it's nice if I know something about them before I get to meet them."

"Meet them?"

"Yeah. Why? You don't plan on introducing me to them, do you?"

It took a moment for Josh to answer. "Of course, I do," he muttered, not meeting Nicky's probing eyes. "But, we've only gone out a few days, you know. We don't wanna-"

"A week actually," Nicky cut him off.

Josh smiled forcibly. "Exactly. A few days. We've only been together a few days and now you're all about knowing my family when you should actually be all about me."

Nicky didn't reply.

Josh drew a knowing smile. "You know, I'm starting to think you're not that interested in me. You're all about everything else and not about me."

Nicky readily glanced up at him. "You're family isn't everything else. It's a big part of being you. Besides, I just wanna know what it's like to have a family like yours." Her voice trailed off as she turned her head to the sunset. "You know. What it's like to have an older sister. And a father."

She let that sink in for a while. She waited for Josh's reply, but he didn't utter a word. His eyes were also fixed on the beautiful sky ahead. Nicky thought he probably was pondering on what she had just said.

"All my life, I wish of being a part of a big family. A big family like you seem have," Nicky went on. "Lots of brothers and sisters. And I don't have to be the oldest. And some good grandparents, too. A grandmother who would tuck me to bed and tell me bedtime stories would really be nice. Pity, but I never actually met my grandparents. They're at Manila, and it'd cost too much to visit them. And they couldn't visit us either 'cause they're too old and traveling would easily tire them out."

Nicky turned to face Josh to see if he was listening. He had been looking at her intently that the moment she glanced up at him, his eyes held hers.

A smile curved Nicky's lips. She cleared her throat and continued. "No, actually, it's because they had this stupid feud with my mom. Mama said they don't wanna see her anymore, and she won't tell me why. I don't believe my mom. She thinks her own parents hate her. I mean, how could anybody hate their own child? I don't think my mom hates me. And I don't hate my mom even if she's like that. I just can't. She's my mom. And I don't think she really hates her parents either. Maybe, she's just embarrassed to see them, especially that she isn't like her siblings who all got decent jobs and pretty decent families. Would you believe it? I still haven't met most of my cousins. Pretty much, my mom is in exile. It kinda sucks but I just-what are you doing?"

Josh was leaning down at her.

"You just ramble when you're nervous, don't you?" Josh replied in a smooth slick voice Nicky hadn't heard from him before.