"Ah! Here's our newly wed." Masiglang anunsyo ni General Vicente when Yumi and Mateo entered the Great General mansion.
Everyone was there.
From her family to his.
They were already at the dining table at mukhang sila na lamang dalawa ang hinihintay nila.
They gave respect to the elders bago ay naupo na sa pwesto nila.
"What's with the scarf?" Tanong ni Victoria kay Yumi.
Agad namang napaubo ito.
The elders, however, had that sneer on their faces.
Tanging si Doña Margarita lang ang nagpatuloy sa pag-inom ng kanyang tsaa though her eyes were glittering.
Obviously, they knew exactly what Yumi was hiding. And since she had those, it only meant na malapit na din silang magkababy sa pamilya nila. That's a good news then!
If only Yumi could read their thoughts, malamang sa malamang ay mahihiling niya muling lamunin ng lupa.
"Is it your new fashion statement after getting married?" Patuloy na tanong ni Victoria.
Yumi wanted to glare at her older sister kaso ay baka lalo lamang mahalata na may itinatago siya. So she just decided to agree to her upang wag na itong magtanong pa.
"Parang ganon na nga, Ate."
Mateo couldn't help smirking a bit. His little wife was so cute...
"Anyway, bilisan niyo ng dalawang kumain, Vicente at Mateo. Malapit na mag-alas otso. Hindi niyo dapat paghintayin ang Governor General." Doña Margarita changed the topic.
Agad namang sumang-ayon sa kaniya ang dalawang lalaki.
May summon kasi sa kanila ang Governor General at kaninang umaga iyong dumating.
That's actually the reason why Mateo and Yumi finally stopped doing you-know-what this morning.
Maya maya lang din ay tumayo na ang dalawang lalaki. Hindi na rin naman kumain ng matagal si Mateo. Nakailang subo lamang ito dahil nga hindi dapat sila mahuli sa pakikipagkita sa heneral.
Mateo kissed Yumi's forehead sabay sabi sa mga naroroon na, "I'll just leave my little wife in your care today then."
"This is my family. Bakit kailangan mo pa akong ipagbilin?" Kunot noong saway ni Yumi sa lalaki.
He just chuckled before planting another kiss on her. This time, on lips.
This made Yumi and the unmarried ladies around them blushed. Lalo na si Malia.
Damn, her brother really had to publicly display his affection towards Yumi! As if they were not yet aware na patay na patay siya sa babae.
Anyway, the two finally left and Yumi had to cleared her throat just to remove the awkward atmosphere Mateo had caused.
"Ehem... Let's continue eating."
***
"Seriously, what's with the scarf, Yumi?" Tanong muli ni Victoria nang mapagsolo silang mga kadalagahan.
Doña Teresa and Amelia went to the Deputy General Mansion along with some maidservant upang isaayos iyon. Mateo had told them in advance that the kitchen had turned a bit messy.
Hindi na nito idinetalye kung anong nangyari doon but the doñas guessed there would be some work to do then pagbalik nila. Kaya naman, nanghiram na rin sila ng ilang servants kay Doña Margarita, just in case.
Mikael, on the other hand, went to Doctor Erasmus. They seemed to be planning to buy a lot of medical herbs today.
Yumi's brothers had already went to their respective jobs after breakfast too.
Kaya naman tanging sila na lamang ang naiwan doon sa mansion kasama si Doña Margarita.
The old woman had left them though and just went to have her me-time then.
"Seriously too, leave my scarf alone." Yumi told Victoria.
"What are you hiding?"
"I am not hiding anything. In fact, it is you who is hiding something from me. What? Do you think I won't be able to get wind of your little flirtings these past few days?" Yumi told Victoria. Pinaningkitan pa niya ng mga mata ang kapatid.
Agad namang napaiwas ng tingin ang dalaga sa kanya.
The others simply chuckled at Yumi's frank words. Poor Victoria being put in a hotseat by Yumi...
"Don't call it little flirtings. I was merely accompanying him around the city."
"Accompanying, huh? In fairness sayo, Ate, I didn't know you have it in you to pursue a man yourself. I remember back then when he used to visit our mansion in L City, you kept acting as timidly as possible. Now, you change your tactics. You've became smarter."
"Tch... You are more annoying now."
"Wouldn't be weird though kapag nagustuhan din ni Kuya Mikael si Victoria. You two ended up with my twin brothers..." Malia said.
"Technically, maghalf-sister lang naman kami. So only half of it will be weird." Yumi said with a shrug.
And yes...
Victoria was indeed following around Mikael these past few days.
Maybe she was just lonely dahil kasal na si Mayumi ngayon. Then Malia had Kami. Even Narcissa was involved with Rui.
Tanging sila na lamang ni Gwen ang napag-iiwanan.
And since Kuya Daichi, Kuya Asahi and Koshi were also pushing her to be in a relationship too, when she met Mikael again this time, she decided to be proactive then.
She followed Mikael wherever he went this time. The lad was known for being kind to the ladies so kahit gusto niya lang na mapagsolo, he couldn't make her go away at all.
In the end, the two of them hanged out a lot these past few days.
Naturally, this news reached Yumi because Mateo told her about it.
"Well, good luck sa pagiging stalker mo kay Mikael." Yumi said. Then she walked towards Gwen at inakbayan ito. "That's good then. Tanging si Gwenivere na lamang ang ating hahanapan."
Gwen laughed awkwardly. "Erm... I don't think that is a good idea."
"Why not? Do you want to grow old as spinster?" Narcissa asked.
"Oo nga naman, Gwen. Samantalahin mo na na naririto ka sa Capital at kasama mo kami. Para na rin makilatis namin ang binatang mapupusuan mo." Victoria said.
Tumango lang naman si Malia bilang pagsang-ayon sa kanila.
However, Gwen didn't say anything. Instead, she became bashful habang akbay akbay pa rin siya ni Yumi.
Napuna naman iyon ng babae. Her eyes suspiciously looked at her friend.
"Gwenivere, may nagugustuhan ka na ba?"
Mas lalong namula ang dalaga dahil sa tanong na iyon ni Yumi.
And just like that, they confirmed the answer to the latter's question.
"Sino?" Malia asked curiously.
"I... I cannot tell you."
"Gwen..." Nakapamewang pang tawag sa kanya ni Victoria.
"I... I really can't. Anyway, nagugustuhan ko lang naman siya. It is not like posibleng maging kami."
"Bakit naman?" Narcissa asked.
"Well... the person is already taken."
"Ehhhhh?!" Sabay sabay pa nilang react.
Napakamot na lang sa ilong niya si Gwen then chuckled shyly.
"Don't tell me it is Kuya Mateo?!" Malia asked with a gasp.
Mabilis namang umiling si Gwen. "No way! Nakakatakot kaya si Yumi... este si Kuya Mateo." Alanganin pang lumingon ang dalaga sa kaibigan.
Yumi just shrugged though.
"Sino nga kasi? Sabihin mo na sa amin." Victoria tried to force her.
Pero pirming umiling si Gwen.
"Hahanapan ka na lamang namin ng iba, since taken na yang nagugustuhan mo." Yumi said.
"Tama. Nagugustuhan mo pa lang naman siya di ba? As long as you are not yet deeply in love with that lad..."
"Of course." Gwen simply answered.
Malia, however, just observed her quietly. H
Why did she feel like Gwen was already deeply in love to that guy?
***
"So you will be sent to do an invasion to this certain country." Yumi repeated what Mateo had told her nang mapagsolo silang dalawa sa master bedroom.
Since Doña Teresa, Mikae at Malia had already come back with them, both of them, naturally had to stay in the same room now.
Although Yumi prepared the sofa for Mateo.
Well, she couldn't let him sleep with her on the same bed, you know.
She might end up wild once again.
Nakakahiya...
The others would surely hear them if that happened.
"Un... That's his plan." Mateo simply answered as he began taking off his shirt.
Yumi was almost distracted. Pero agad siyang umiling at pinilit na sa mukha lang ng lalaki tumingin.
"He can send the other generals for that. Bakit kailangang ang Papa ko pa ang ipadala niya?"
Mateo stared at her for a moment.
Yumi could see the fire beginning to appear on his eyes. She threw a pillow towards him at once.
He just chuckled and put back to pillow on bed.
"It is his way to punish both of us. His son's marriage caused him great humiliation. First, the reason of the wedding itself was already indecent. And then the wedding had turned into a vulgar display too.
"It would have been fine if our wedding had those messes too. But ours ended up perfectly. And people kept on comparing the two weddings up until today.
"So, to make the Governor General feel appease, he decides to send us away."
"He decides or someone suggests?" Yumi asked.
Mateo shrugged. "Whether it is his own thoughts or not, leaders of the country are not necessarily great decision makers. Sometimes, their pride and emotions take over their good minds."
As he said that, he joined Yumi on bed who quickly used her foot to stop him from getting near her.
"Hep! You can't. Sa sofa ka matutulog."
"Little wife, that's not possible." He said as he removed her foot from his chest and instead, held her legs and put them on his waist so she would be stradling him. That position also gave him easy access of her and could lean down on her without any obstacle.
"We can't. You are noisy! They will hear us."
Mateo chuckled. "Then I will keep it quiet. I am not sure though if you can keep it down."
He began kissing and even took a bite on her neck which caused Yumi moaned uncontrollably after that.
Well... There was the obvious answer to Mateo's concern, wasn't it?
***