Chapter 1. The Search
“Are you sure, you wanted to do this?” Marideth, my friend asked me for a million times. I rolled my eyes at her.
“Yes, I am sure. There is nothing wrong in wanting to have a child.” I checked the layout of the ad I am asking her to post in her website.
“Oo nga wala ngang mali sa gusto mong magkaanak. Every woman wanted to be a mother, but are you sure you wanted to advertise it? I mean, you can have a child without announcing it to the whole world. Many men are willing, you just have to ask them.” Here we go again, ever since I told her about what I wanted she is so against it.
“Mari, I already told you the reason why I can’t just pick any of my boyfriends to father me a child. They won’t agree to my conditions. And besides I don’t want any of their genes mixing our genes. Can you change the font to Arial black, the font size should be 24 and it should be red.” Iniba ko na ang usapan kasi ayoko nang mag explain ng mag explain. Ayokong nag eexplain ako.
“Red?”
“Yes, red. It should be in bold red, so it can easily capture attentions, it should be arial for it to look formal and not a scam and it has to be big so that they would think that it is serious enough for me to spend that much for this ad.” I saw Mari write the changes that I wanted for the ad. She looked at me with a resigned expression. She knew that I am serious about this thing and nothing could stop me whenever I set my mind into doing something.
You may think that I’m weird, frustrated, crazy, insane or whatever adjective you may call me. Sino ba naman ang gugustuhing anakan lang ng ibang tao at iwan na lang ng ganun ganun na lang? Yung ibang babae nga naghahabol pa kung mabuntis sila ng kanilang boyfriend para lang pakasalan sila to save themselves from the shame and the ridicule of the society. But I am not like them. Hindi ako ibang babae.
You may also wonder kung sino ba talaga ako. Okay, I am Joanne Phoebe Zamora. 26 years old. Independent, Free spirited and hard headed. I live alone in my own condo, have my own car, my own business, have 3 dogs and 4 cats for a pet, and 3 boyfriends for nothing. I am not rich pero hindi ako naghihirap. I am contented with my life or so I thought. I hangout from time to time but not often. Nakakagala ako kung saan ko gustong gumala. Masasabing complete na ang buhay ko parang centrum. . Totally independent, care-free. I am totally happy with my life until one day. The day that change everything. The day that I felt incomplete. The day that I saw a mother and her baby at the mall. I felt an overwhelming jealousy towards that woman. An emptiness that only a child could suffice. In that moment, I made a decision. I need to have a baby. ASAP.
3rd day.
Nandito kami ngayon ni Marideth sa office niya looking through the applications of the aspiring babymakers. Ang dami! Hindi pa kasama doon ang mga e-mails that I am personally checking. Kunsabagay sino ba namang lalaki ang ayaw sa ganun? Walang matinong lalaking tatanggi sa opportunity na makipagsex sa isang babae at babayaran pa!
In 3 days time, 100 men send their resume through snail mail c/o Mari.
“You have to check kung sino sa kanila ang papasa sa taste mo. How about the email?”
“They’re flooding it. I can barely keep up.” What with having 50 emails of resume per day?
“So what do you think?” Looking more excited than I am. Sa dami ng nakita niyang papable sa nag aapply na excite na din ang bruha.
“I will screen the applications and I will inform you kung sino ang tatawagan for an initial interview.” Then I left her and bring with me the applications.
5th day
Andito na ulit ako sa office ni Mari and I can see that she is watching the video of her interview with an aspiring babymaker. She keeps on rewinding the interview of a single guy. I emailed to her 20 names for an initial interview after checking 250 applicants and she already interviewed all of them.
Pinanood namin ang interview niya with the 20 aspirants.
“Ayaw ko sa kanya, masyadong maitim.” She raised her eyebrow.
“Don’t you think he is too loud?”
“Look at those hands, they’re everywhere. Ayokong malahian ng bakla.”
“How can he father me a child if he can’t even look at you in the eyes?”
And so on and so forth. Hanggang dumating kami sa part ng lalaking kanina pa niya nirerewind ang interview.
“He is good.” Mari said after the interview. I raised my eyebrow.
“I don’t want him.”
“Why? He is good, handsome….”She seemed so shock na hindi ko gugustuhin ang nagustuhan niya.
“Can’t you see that he stammers when you asked him some questions? He is not articulate.” She looked at me sharply offended that I didn’t want the guy that she thinks is the best among the interviewees.
“I don’t want him.” I throw the resume of the stammering guy at the garbage can.
“Ano ba talaga ang gusto mo? Babymaker or speaker of the house?” She said agitated.
I just smiled at Mari.
6th day
Maaga akong pumunta sa office ni Marideth to check on the new aspirants. Naka more than 50 aspirants na ako when I noticed an envelope that is a little bulky compared to the other envelopes. I took it and opened it pero there is another envelope inside it. When I opened the second envelope I was shocked sa nakita ko.
There is a condom inside na hindi pa nabubuksan. But what made me smile wider is the caption outside the label.
‘TRY ME! I FIT.’
Napangiti ako.
Indeed, Let us see if you really fit.
At napahagikgik ang malanding kunsensiya ko.
A/N: Ito na muna. Tinamad na akong maglagay ng quotation marks sa Chapter 2, Bukas naman ulit. Pero araw araw ang update nito. Kung hindi ko magawa araw araw, sabunutan niyo na ako.
