Good For The Heart

|| nineteen || family gathering ||

Everyone had their own agenda the day before Maine's parents' wedding anniversary celebration. Maine and RJ were asked to be seperated, the men: Teodoro, Nico, Dean, Mike, John and RJ decided to go out for a game of golf, choosing to stay away from the ladies who were running around trying to get everything done by tomorrow.

Maine had gone shopping with her mother. She needed to find a dress for tomorrow and for Lucy and Miggy's wedding and it was also the first time she had a good talk with her mother, alone.

"Meng, sure ka ba na pupunta ka sa kasal nila Lucy and Miggy? Kaya ba ng puso mo, anak?" Mary Ann asked her youngest daughter as they browsed through racks of clothes on the third store they'd visited.

Maine smiled weakly. "Nay, matagal na yun nangyare. Ano ang ikauunlad ng ekonomiya ko if I dwell on it besides, I'm happy with RJ now."

"Pero nak, bakit kailangan mo pa talaga pumunta sa kasal nila?"

Sighing Maine looked at her mother, she really didn't want to explain. She had to explain why to RJ, Coleen, Niki on why she had to attend the wedding and now she needed to explain to her mother too? But she felt she needed to make them understand too. "Nay, these two were once special people in my life. In a way, nagpapasalamat ako sa kanila dahil ganito ako ngayon, matapang at masaya. There's a positive outcome for me dahil sa ginawa nila, I think I'd be miserable the first year if kinasal ako kay Miggy and we all know that, natakot lang ako noon bumitaw kasi naisip ko na sayang ang ilang taon namin pagsama. Pero nay dahil sa ginawa niya, I had a reason to leave him. Oo, masakit yun ginawa nila pero nagpapasalamat pa rin ako,"

Mary Ann looked at her daughter, proudly. "You've grown up na, nak. Nakakaiyak minsan kasi parang ang bilis na ng panahon and now you're managing your own business, and I know Papa didn't make a mistake na ikaw ang pinamana niya ng Vineyard,"

"Napamahal na sakin yun lugar, nay. I think I always knew I belong there, pero yun nga lang malayo sa inyo."

"Pero I'm glad you're back, anak. Hindi ka rin namin na kita ng ilang buwan, sobrang namiss ka namin palagi kapag may family gathering,"

"Namiss ko rin kayo ng sobra, nay! Hayaan niyo po, bibisita po ako palagi," Maine grinned, glad that they had moved the conversation.

"Kayo ni RJ, anak. Bisita kayo palagi dito,"

"What do you think of RJ, nay?" she asked,

Mary Ann's smile widened, "Pogi, nak!" she giggled.

Maine laughed out loud, finally took out a simple dark green dress from one of the racks and proceeded to the fitting room. The dress had fit perfectly and so she immediately bought it because she was running out of time and she also needed to buy RJ something to wear for tomorrow.

They wanted to finish all the preparations for tomorrow night's anniversary celebration in one day so that the they could just get pampered and have their make overs tomorrow. After their mother-daughter shopping, they decided to go home and just relax.

The men came home at around five o'clock and so Maine and RJ finally had a chance to talk alone. They were seated in one of the benches in the Mendoza's garden, drinking yet another glass of wine and just chilling while the rest of the family were inside the house and preparing for dinner.

"So, hows the game of golf with the guys?" Maine asked, her legs stretched out and were resting on top of RJ's lap.

He grinned, "I'm so glad Sam taught me how to play at nakapractice ako, ang gagaling nila Nico at Tatay!" Maine observed him and he looked happy.

"Happy ka?" She simply asked him,
RJ looked at her, took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I'm happy, love. Alam mo bakit? Ilang years din ako na nalungkot kasi di malaki pamilya ko, it was always just me and lola and ate Marian since my mom died kaya I'm really happy na parang pamilya na rin turing ng pamilya mo sakin, I feel like I belong with you guys. Isn't that weird?"