After Work [Rodrigo Duterte x Leni Robredo]

Xxviii. Disclosure

David arrived at home earlier than Leni upon arriving from his week long business trip in Singapore. He received the medical test results he had with Leni weeks ago for their IVF baby and he knew what it would contain.

Negative

The data declared. He always knew about it but he thought it was the right time to tell Leni about his incapability to have a child. She has always been understanding and she was never judgmental of anything. He sat on the couch as the thought of him not being able to have a child bugged his head.

Leni entered the door looking lifeless and drained. She was out of her mind, she was drowning in confusion and worry for her son. Her eyes were slightly sore from crying, she had her eyeglasses on to somehow conceal it.

The weight on her shoulders felt heavier as she saw David waiting for him at the couch. Disgust and fury rose on her chest but she had to be careful of her actions since her child was in his hands.

"Hey," he kissed her temple. "Where have you been?" He was worried upon noticing her eyes sore and her body looking so weak, "are you alright?" He asked but she refused to answer.

She was containing her rage for him. She passed by him and went straight to their room to change and wash her face. She weeped in front of the mirror and wiped her tears with the running water from the faucet but she just couldn't help but cry thinking what could have happened to her son.

She couldn't let another day pass without knowing where he is and what is happening to him. She wiped her face with a towel and went out to finally face David.

"Are you alright? You're making me worried." He asked. "Okay lang ako." She avoided his eyes and went to the dresser to fix things up.

He exhaled heavily and thought she was on a bad mood and it's not the best time to tell her about his secret. They allowed a few more days by with the weights on their shoulders. Leni did her best to control her emotions and avoid upsetting David despite her hidden frustration to him.

—

Leni went home with a better mood than the past few days. She had a quick meeting with the Cebu and Davao representatives which included Digong. Seeing him helped her mood to flourish a bit. He even invited her to the annual gathering of the partners of Davao, Metro Manila and Cebu.

David was relieved to see her finally smiling again. He invited her to eat supper with him at the dining room after cooking for her. She sat opposite him and forced a smile, "nagluto ka pala, hindi ka nagsabi."

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice to cook something for you. You seem to be in a terrible mood lately." He explained, she just smiled.

"Buti hindi pa rin ako kumain sa labas." She shared and ate the food with him as they talked about their day.

"Leni," he finally decided to confess. She looked at him while swallowing the food on her mouth. "The hospital sent our medical results already," he began, "I've been wanting to tell you about it but I didn't want to grill on your bad mood." He immediately reasoned out the delay of their talk.

She engaged into the conversation, "anong resulta?" She asked.

He smiled faintly, "it wasn't a success."

She was a bit astonished but it relieved her as well. She didn't want to have a child with him anyways. "Well, it don't always work the first time. We can keep on trying." She suggested insincerely and resumed eating.

He panted, "no."

She was interrupted again, intrigued by his response. "What do you mean no?"

He reached for her hand and held her firmly, he looked at her with a guilt in his eyes. He couldn't lie to her anymore, he trusted the foundation of their relationship.

"I can't give you a child." He revealed.

It took her a while to understand. She was taken aback by his sudden confession. "What?" She uttered.

"I didn't tell you about it because I was scared you'll leave me but we're not getting any younger and we're getting married soon so I wanted to be completely honest with you." He explained.

She cared less about his confession, kung gusto mo maging totoo saakin sana sinabi mo na kinuha mo yung anak namin ni Digong 'di ba? She mocked him inside her head.

"I'm incapable." He disclosed.

She pretended that it was something that broke her. She exhaled heavily and smiled weakly, "I really thought we can still have a family."

His heart broke to know he shattered her dreams of having a family with him. "I'm sorry, baby." He kissed the back of her hand and approached her.

He made her stand and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry." He kept apologizing.

Leni comforted him and made him feel that she still accepts him despite his flaw and inability to give her a child.

—

As soon as they recovered from being emotional, David brought up his idea of adopting.

"You want to have someone who's not any way related to you as your child?" She asked wondering if it was ideal for rich families like him to adopt children since they'll be the one to inherit his wealth.

"Yeah. I want to adopt a boy. We can adopt a young boy, two to three years old so we can still be a parent to him, watch him grow." He expressed his ideas.

A fire ignited on her chest again, kunwari gusto niyang mag-ampon ng batang lalake na two years old pero gusto niya lang maipasok siya sa buhay ng anak namin ni Rody. Her blood boiled in anger. She figured out his plans.

He wanted to introduce her child with Digong to her as their adopted child. He wanted to hide the fact that it was her child with the man he's been competing with for her attention his whole life.

Napakademonyo mo talaga, David. She swore inside her head.

She wanted to rage in front of him, confront and point out all his lies but she thought playing along will be her only way to finally see her child. Her eyes glistened in emotions, he felt happy as he saw her tears as a sign of happiness.

"Okay," she agreed. "Mag-adopt tayo ng baby boy. I'd love that." Tears finally ran down her cheeks. He embraced her, his heart was skipping in happiness thinking he made her that happy.

"We'll have a baby boy." He guaranteed and plotted out his next moves to fix Roni's papers so they can officially adopt him.

Leni kept her straight face as she rested her head on his chest while he was hugging her loosely. He kissed the top of her head but it didn't appear anyway sentimental or romantic to her.

All she could ever think of is how to get Roni away from David.