"Am I cute?"
"Is that even a question? You're too adorable, baby."
"Totoo ba 'yan?"
"Of course. You're too cute for a 5'11."
"So, cuddles naaaa!" Maddie said and ran to me.
She's too strong kaya napahiga ako sa couch whilst she's on top of me.
"'Yung totoo, baby, do you often forget that you're not small?" I asked whilst she's resting her head on my chest.
"Hmmm. I do. When I'm with you, I don't feel like I am Madzilla or I need to be Madzilla. When I'm with you, I feel safe, I feel comfortable, without needing to act tough. With you, I am me. I am Madeleine Yrenea, not Maddie, not Madzilla. So, thank you for being strong for me, baby." Maddie whispered, just enough for me to hear.
"You know that I'm talking about height, diba? But anyway, of course, you always have me. You can always be yourself with me, baby. I got you, always remember that." I said, kissing the top of her head.
"Thank you, baby. Thank you for being my constant. I love you."
"I love you too, my Madeleine. So much."
++++
"Ugh! I need this. Ang sakit ng katawan ko after training!" Maddie said whilst hugging me.
All of our teammates are now looking at us. Ayan na naman 'yang mga tingin na 'yan eh.
"Ate Maddie naman. You hug ate Bea like you're a little kid ah." Deanna teased.
Well, they all know naman na Maddie's clingy with me 'pag kami kami lang. She likes to be the little spoon nga, they say. So, yeah. Magkaheight lang kami but Maddie feels like ang liit liit nyang bata 'pag gusto nya maglambing and magpalambing. Uhuh. Far from the tough Maddie Madayag that they see on court.
"As if 'di mo pa alam, Deanna ah." Maddie answered without moving.
She's just hugging me whilst I wrap my arms around her shoulders. We're just standing here sa may veranda ng hotel room namin, well, room nila ni Kim as what the public knows.
"And why you guys are here ba?" I asked. Kasi nga naman, ba't ba sila nandito eh they have their own rooms naman.
"Cause we were bored." Jamie answered.
"And? We have nothing to do with your boredom."
"We want to see some drama." Kat answered.
"If you want to see drama, go to Twitter. You'll see a lot there."
"I don't have one."
"Well, not our problem."
"Ang attitude naman. Gusto lang talaga masolo si Maddie eh." Cait said without looking. She's busy with her phone.
"Inggit lang kayo 'cause you're not with your jowa." Bea rebutted and stuck her tongue out.
"Oo na, lalabas na. May real talk na eh. Buti na lang talaga shipper ako." Regine said whilst laughing.
"Salamat, Reg!" Maddie said and looked at our teammates who are now leaving the room.
"You want to rest, baby?" I asked. Dalawa na lang kami dito ngayon.
"I am resting na. Ikaw pahinga ko eh. "
"Hmmm. Here comes the soft Madeleine."
I dragged her to our bed, and of course, cuddle time.
"Bakit kaya hindi ko na mabalik 'yung dati kong game?" Maddie uttered out of the blue.
Here we go again. Napepressure na naman sya sa mga nababasa nya sa social media.
"Baby, you're reading too much na naman ba sa Twitter?" I said, combing her hair with my fingers.
"It's just that marami na ang nakakapansin, even ako naman, napapansin ko din. My spikes are not that strong pa, sometimes error pa. Even blockings ko, they even say that my jumps are not as high as before. Babe, what happened to me ba?" Maddie murmured and buried her face on my chest, and there, her soft sobs followed. It really kills me hearing her doubt her own capabilities. She's hurting, and it hurts me more.
I tightened my hug and kissed her head.
"You are doing amazing, baby. Those few games won't define who you are. You are capable of making mistakes 'cause tao ka lang. Nothing happened to you, okay? It's just that may maayos na tayong reception kaya nadidistribute na ni Deanna ng maayos ang bola. I still believe in you, our team believes in you, maraming naniniwala sayo. Maybe, some of them are just frustrated because they don't see you do most of the attacks anymore, but who cares about what they say, diba? As long as we're winning with the system and the plays that we have, 'yun naman ang importante. Masyado lang silang bilib sayo kaya gusto nila na makita kang mas higitan pa 'yung mga nagagawa mo. They believe that you can do more, and I know that you can do more, baby. Slowly but surely, Madzilla's unleashing her prowess. So, don't be too hard on yourself, okay?" I assured her, kissing the top of her head once again.
"Thank you for always believing in me, babe. I will unleash Madzilla na. Deadly duo tayo, diba?"
"Yes, we're the deadly duo. Maddie isn't Maddie without Mad and die. Kaya natin 'to." I replied, remembering what I had said in my IG story on Maddie's birthday.
"And Beatriz isn't Beatriz without beat. So, let's beat 'em all?" Maddie said, sitting up and raising her fist.
Such a cutie. I thought.
"Yes, let's get mad, ready to die, and beat 'em all." I nodded, holding the fist that Maddie put up.
"Ayun! Let's get BeaDdie activated." Maddie uttered with her wide smile.
++++
"Pass the phone challenge tayo." Maddie said, getting her phone ready.
We're all bored kasi nga walang mga magawa, some of us are talking with their loved ones whilst others are just lying on their bed or doing some workouts.
We started and when Maddie's phone reached me, I already knew what I would say.
"I'm passing the phone back to someone who thinks she's small but she's not, who thinks she's a pebble but she's a rock!" I said, with my wide smile and a good laugh. I just can't hide my happiness every time I talk about my girlfriend.
"Ba't mo binabalik sa 'kin?" Maddie said like a kid whilst I was in the middle of my monologue.
I said a lot but Maddie chose to cut it short kasi masyado na daw syang kinikilig and those words are only for her to hear, not to be shared in public. So, ayun, she edited the video, cutting the duration of my video in half.
Some might think how Maddie knew that I was talking about her, well, she knows that she's my pebble, my little spoon, my baby Maddie, my precious Fly Fly.
And what I said was not just because she's my adorable girlfriend, but to also remind her that she's not small, she's not soft in games, she's still my Madzilla, she's great, she's one of the rocks of the team, she's my rock in games.
She's my pebble, but she's also my rock.
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Naitawid rin. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA