"I don't want to marry your brother." mahinang sabi ko kay Zayden.
"Hmm?" he glanced at me.
"I don't know. I'm confused. Dati ay desidido na ako but now..." I shook my head again.
He smiled and hugged me, his head was on the back of my head as he pushed me closer to his chest. I can feel his heartbeat.
"I won't let you marry him anyways. I'm never signing those annulment papers." seryosong aniya.
I chuckled and slightly moved away to look at him. "What about your company?"
"Zack and I are brothers. You can stay married to me and our companies can still merge." he shrugged.
I nodded and hugged his waist. "We should talk to our families."
"We will, princess. What about tomorrow night?"
"Sakto, babalik na si Yaya bukas kaya may kasama na si Levi. I'll tell my parents and you'll tell yours." I agreed.
He kissed my forehead and smiled softly. "Why did you say yes to this wedding anyway?"
"I needed the money that my parents offered... for Levi. I knew raising a child is expensive, I was afraid that I'll have money problems in the future so I wanted to have emergency savings."
He nodded. "You're a great mom."
"Thank you. I try my best. Levi means the world to me."
"And I'll help you raise him... But in one condition." bigla niyang pahabol. Nagtataka ko naman siyang tinignan.
"I don't want to be Levi's tito anymore, princess. I'm father material. He should call me daddy now." seryosong sabi niya.
I chuckled and smacked his arm. "'Wag mo sa'kin sabihin yan, anak mo ang kausapin mo."
I was indirectly telling him that I now consider him as Levi's father. He deserves to be Levi's father... and me and my son deserves him too. He immediately knew what I meant and that made him smile.
"Okay, princess. Kakausapin ko ang anak ko bukas." nangingiti siyang tumango-tango.
Our families didn't contact us for a while after the last dinner. They were probably giving us time to handle things our way.
So the next day, we did as planned. Zayden called his family and I called mine. The Zamoras volunteered to host kaya doon kami pupunta ngayong gabi.
"I think we should bring Levi with us."
I was doing my makeup when Zayden suddenly talked to me. I glanced at him and Levi. They were playing Legos in the living room again.
"Your family will be there, Zayden. Hindi pa nila kilala ang anak ko."
"Anak natin." he corrected. "And that's why we'll bring him with us, para ipakilala."
I sighed and thought about it. I already know that tonight will be filled with serious discussions kaya nag-aalangan akong isama si Levi.
"Maybe next time." I was really bothered. Feeling ko ay may hindi magandang mangyayari mamaya kaya ayaw kong isama ang bata. Mom's instincts, probably.
Levi has been very clingy with Zayden these past few days. Pakiramdam ko'y mas mahal na niya si Zayden kaysa sa'kin. Inii-spoil din kasi nitong isa, araw-araw walang palya sa pagbibigay ng mga laruan, pagkain, at damit.
The fact that they love a lot of the same things also adds up. They get along so well, minsan iniisip ko nang mag-ama talaga sila. Sa dalas nilang magkasama, feeling ko nga din ay magkahawig na sila.
"Levi, come to mommy first." tawag ko pero tinitigan niya lang ako at yumakap kay Zayden. Sumimangot ako at umaktong nagtatampo. Zayden laughed loudly.
"Go to mommy, baka magtampo." nakakaasar niyang sabi.
Levi giggled and ran to me. "Wabyu, mommy." suyo niya.
I rolled my eyes but chuckled after. Sinaklot ko siya at hinalikan ang noo. "I'm still your favorite, right?"
He pouted and glanced at Zayden, as if asking for help. My mouth parted. I feel so betrayed!
I poked Levi's tummy kaya natawa siya at pinigilan ang kamay ko, ayaw sa kiliti. "I love mommy and Tito Ey-den!"
Natatawang lumapit si Zayden sa'min. I stuck my tongue out when our son called him 'tito' again. Kinausap na niya ang bata kaninang umaga about calling him 'daddy' but he said that he'll let the kid take his time to adjust.
Yumuko siya at humalik sa ilong ko at sa ilong ni Levi bago dumiretso sa kwarto at kumuha ng twalya tapos ay dumiretso na sa banyo.
Sobrang feel at home na talaga siya, hinakot niya pa talaga lahat ng essentials niya dito! Shower gel, shampoo, toothbrush, mga damit, twalya, pati skincare niya! As in kumpleto! Ni-hindi ko nga alam na nag ii-skincare na din pala 'tong isang 'to. No wonder his skin is so healthy, mamahaling skin care pala ang gamit.
"Baby, Tito and Mommy will go out tonight, hmm? Is it okay if we leave you here with Yaya Marie?"
"Iwan ako?" he said in a small voice.
I nodded. "Because kids are not allowed there, anak." I had to come up with a lie.
"Can... can Ti... Tito Ey-den shleep here ey-ter?" he suddenly requested.
Gulat ko naman siyang tinignan. "You want to sleep beside Tito tonight?" I asked.
"Yes, mommy." he said in a small voice and nodded.
"Ask tito, hmm? If he'll say yes, then okay." I agreed and smiled when he cheered happily.
Zayden was wearing a plain white polo paired with black slacks. Am I too assuming if I say that he purposely matched my white dress?
"Tito, shleep 'kaw here eyter?" mabilis na sabi ni Levi nang makita si Zayden.
The latter glanced at me, as if asking for permission kaya tumango ako at ngumiti.
"Sure, Wevi. I'll sleep here later. Me and mommy will try to get home as early as we can, okay?" he assured.
We used my car again on our way to his parents' house. When we arrived, my parents were already there, kasama na din nila si Katelyn.
They looked surprised when they saw me and Zayden arrive together pero hindi naman na sila nagtanong.
Katelyn immediately rushed to him para makipag-usap. I mentally rolled my eyes, suddenly feeling jealous.
Sa condo mo naman yan uuwi mamaya, Celestine.
"Hey," Zackary showed up in front of me kaya nawala ang iniisip ko.
"Hello." I greeted back. Nagulat ako nang humawak siya sa bewang ko at iginaya ako papunta sa dining table. I noticed how Zayden glared at him kaya para akong baliw na nagpipigil ng tawa pero natigil yun nang makita si Katelyn na kumapit sa braso niya.
I sighed. This will be a very long night.
I noticed how Zayden was supposed to sit beside me pero hinila siya ni Katleyn kaya sa tapat ko siya napaupo. Si Zack naman ang tumabi sa'kin.
We started eating dinner in silence pero mayamaya ay nauna nang nagsalita si daddy.
"I'm assuming that you called us here to talk about the wedding, am I right?"
I bit my lower lip and glanced at Zayden. He smirked at me and quickly winked kaya napaiwas ako ng tingin.
"We're actually here to say something important po." I told them.
"How did you two..." hindi tinuloy ni Tita ang sasabihin niya at tumingin nalang kat Zayden.
"Me and Celestine have been bestfriends since we were kids." Zayden started explaining. "None of you knew that because we never really mentioned it. We thought it wasn't a big deal."
"So how come you two got married?" naguguluhang tanong niya pa.
"We fell in love." Zayden glanced at me and smiled softly. "But we had a huge misunderstanding, that's why we separated three years ago."
"But how did you two get married without us knowing?" takang tanong ni mommy.
"It was a civil wedding po." ako na ang sumagot. "Biglaan lang po pero we also planned to have a church wedding… hindi nga lang po natuloy kasi nagka-problema."
The whole table went silent, they were probably trying to process everything we just said.
"So how's the annulment going?" Katelyn suddenly blurted, breaking the silence.
I blinked quickly and immediately glanced at Zayden. He looked annoyed with my cousin's question pero hindi niya yun gaanong pinahalata.
"I, uh... sent annulment papers to Zayden but I never got them back." Ako na ang sumagot. Zayden glared at me but I just shrugged. I mean, that's the truth naman ah?
"We're not pushing through it." he glanced at his parents.
"Huh?" gulantang kaming tinignan ni Katelyn.
I bit my lower lip and put my utensils down. I felt tense so I rested my back on my chair.
"My wife and I are trying to fix our marriage. We actually came here to talk to you all about it."
I nodded a bit. Napag-usapan na namin 'to. We'll call the wedding off.
"But you two already broke up, right? No need to fix that silly marriage of yours. You two will probably just mess up and break up again." napailing si Katelyn, natatawa.
My brows creased and I suddenly felt annoyed and insulted. I saw how Zayden's jaw clenched but he chose to calm himself.
"My wife and I have decided about this already. I'm trying my best to make it up to her."
"I have no problems with that." singit ni Zack.
"Thank you." mahinang sabi ko sa kanya. He smiled and nodded.
"What?! No! The wedding has to push through! Celestine, just process the annulment papers already!" nagulat kami nang tumayo si Katelyn at bigla nalang sumigaw.
"Katelyn, please sit down." Sita ni mommy sa kanya.
"No, tita! Everything is already planned, bakit pa nila babaguhin?! Just get married to Zackary already!"
"Katelyn, sit down." si daddy naman ang sumita ngayon.
Katelyn's eyes watered, she looked so mad all of a sudden and she just stormed out of the dining room.
Nagkatinginan kami ni Zayden, parehas na gulat dahil sa nangyari. Without a word, I followed her out to talk to her.
"What's your problem?" takang tanong ko nang maabutan ko siya sa garden.
"You!" she yelled and pointed at me. "You're my fucking problem, Celestine!"
I was shocked with how she acted pero pinili kong kumalma. "What's wrong?"
"You fucking ruined everything!" tears started falling down her cheeks.
I was taken aback with what she said. "Katelyn-"
"You knew I like him! I told you I like him! He should've been mine! The setup was already fucking perfect, ang kapal ng mukha mong mag marunong! You already agreed to marry Zack, 'di ba? Tangina, panindigan mo!"
Hindi na ako nakapagpigil at naikuyom ko na din ang mga palad ko sa inis. "I'm still married to Zayden, Katelyn. Choosing to fix our marriage was a mutual decision-"
"Why did Zayden even take you back?! You're a fucking slut! You cheated on him with another man tapos ngayon makikipag balikan ka sa kanya?! Ang kapal ng mukha mo!"
My brows creased. "How did you know about that?" I'm sure no one else in our family knew about that issue because no one even knew about our marriage in the first place. And I'm also pretty sure that the only people who knew about what happened that night was me, Zayden, my rapist, and whoever sent the video to my husband.
I noticed how Katelyn stopped. Hindi siya umimik at masama lang na tumingin sa'kin.
My eyes watered when I started having suspicions. I didn't want to think about it but it was possible...
"How did you know, Katelyn?!" hindi ko na napigilang sumigaw. "No one else knew about that cheating issue so how did you fucking know about it?!"
"Because I was behind all of it!" ubos ang pasensya niyang sigaw. "I did everything to sabotage your marriage because I want Zayden for myself! I framed you, Celestine! I was the one behind that video! I was the one who ruined you fucked up marriage!"