Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating at all, I hope you're not mad at me. I've been so busy since our semester is ending and there are lots of deadlines we have to chase. I think this is quite short compared to the chapters I made before but in this chapter you will have a glimpse of what happened 11 years ago. I hope you will enjoy it!
Xoxo, Ames.
P.S. I haven't proofread anything yet. I already warned you!
P.S.S. I just want to let you know that I appreciate every word in your comments so keep them flowin'. I will reply if I have the time. mwah~
/virtual hugs/
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xiv
STA. MARIA BULACAN, 2031
Channy was silent the whole night and Rio noticed the peculiar behaviour of her twin. She knows that bothering Channy would be the last thing she needed so she acted based on her instinct. Rio is talking nonstop about random things. Alden found it weird but then dismissed it, after all this is Rio's family too. She just might be excited in meeting her grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousin. He thought.
Mary Ann—or Nanay as what her grandkids fondly calls her— is just observing and listening to Rio and everyone's conversations. There's a tear that is planning to escape in her eyes when Maine turned her head to her mom and noticed the tear. She held her mother's hand and Mary Ann touched hers. They stared at each other until the tear fell.
"Nay.." Maine cooed.
"I'm just so happy. I never expected I will witness this day, I'm just absorbing everything that's happening. You are here, Channy is here, even RJ and Rio are here. Anak, have you ever thought of mending your relationship with RJ?" Mary Ann asked.
"I'm thinking about it." Maine just timidly smiled.
"Anak, aren't you tired? I know your kids will be happy if you befriended RJ again. Why don't you start all over again as friends?"
"I don't want to risk it Nay.." Maine simply said.
"If you're afraid of what might happen then that means you still care for RJ. You fear of the possibility of the two of you coming back together and maybe you are unconsciously praying for it as well."
"Nay.." Maine want to detest what her mother said.
"What I'm trying to say Maine is give it another chance, 11 years of suffering RJ went through is enough. I know he still loves you and you confirm it yourself that he's not dating anyone." Mary Anne smiled.
"Look at your little angels and RJ" Mary Anne continued. Maine looked at her family and indeed, it was sight of could have been's. RJ is feeding Channy with the dessert while he's draping his right arm in Rio's chair who is busy talking to her Auntie Niki.
"This is how we could have spent our family dinners for the last 11 years anak. We could have celebrate the different milestones and achievements of our family in this house, sharing food in this table." Maine stared at her mother, it looked like she read her mind. She pondered on what her mother told her.
"I'm sorry for wasting all those years Nay. I will try but then what happened before scarred me but even though I know the truth while I was still in New York, it was too late. Now that I returned, I have changed and so did Alden."
"Are you sure RJ changed? Have you thought that what happened also scarred him and he still thinks that you don't know the truth? Have you ever wonder that up until now, he's still blaming himself for what happened?"
Maine looked at her mom and then Alden. He was done feeding Channy and turned his head towards their direction. He smiled and Maine only looked away.
I want to say sorry so badly but I always remember what happened 11 years ago.
Maine thought
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NUVALI, 2020
Richard disappointed Maine again and for the nth time, she forgave him. She wasn't like this before. She easily get frustrated and was sometimes impatient but one thing motherhood taught her is understanding and patience. She feels like she's raising three kids instead of two.
Richard went for a few drinks with the cast of the new movie he was working on and Maine waited for him 'till morning. The kids won't stop crying and was finding their daddy. They only stopped around 4 am, that was the time where she saw Jerald carrying her drunk husband in their door.
"Napa-sobra?" She simply asked.
"Oo eh. Mukha ngang stressed eh. He kept saying how tired he was with everything." Jerald said while laying his friend to their bedroom.
That moment, Maine knew what he meant. Even though Richard is tired from work, he insists of cooing and calming down one of the twins if they cry at night. He always say that she carried them 9 months so its his turn to take care of the twins. Maine is a full-time mom and housewife. She actually enjoys it but she knows her break from showbiz will end soon considering the twins are already one year olds.
Richard woke up with an extreme headache, he saw some pills and water on the bedside table and smiled. Maine knows him too well. Despite of his headache, he happily descended the stairs. His wife was preparing their breakfast with Manang Bebeng. He signaled Manang to keep quiet. While Maine was preparing the soup for her husband, Richard snaked his hands in his wife's waist and rested his head on her shoulder. Maine managed not to cut her finger when Richard surprised her.
"Good morning love." He said before kissing her temple.
"No hangover?" She simply asked.
" I do but I know my beautiful wife will take care of me." Richard smiled.
"Nakakatuwa talaga kayo, parang kayong bagong kasal" Manang Bebeng said and the couple just smiled. Richard was busy observing Maine's hands while clinging unto her like a koala while Maine is working on his soup when a showbiz segment of a show echoed in the kitchen.
"Sino itong aktor na galing sa isang sikat na loveteam ang di umanong tinatago ang kanyang pamilya at buntis pa ang tinatago niyang misis! Isang bayan ang sumusuporta sa tambalang kung saan hindi aktibo ang kanyang pares sa showbiz dahil nagpapahinga daw ito. Maraming umaasa na magkakatuluyan ang tamabalan pero mukhang wala ng pag-asa , happily married na daw ang sikat na aktor." Said the girl the in the show.
"Naku, sino na naman kaya yan?" Manang Bebeng wondered loudly while the couple is busy in their own world.
While Richard is away to shoot some scenes in Palawan for his new movie, Maine decided to bring the twins in Bulacan. One time, she visited a friend near their Nuvali house when she went back to get some extra clothes for the twins.
"Meng, may mga mail ka pala, nilagay ko coffee table." Manning Bebeng said.
"Ay sige po, thank you po." She quickly grabbed the stack of mails and before she headed her way back to her twins in Bulacan, she bid her goodbye to Manang.
"Sa makalawa na po babalik si RJ baka gusto niyo po munang umuwi sa probinsya niyo Manang?" Maine asked.
"Salamat Meng, gusto ko nga sanang dalawin yung tiyahin kong may sakit."
"Ayan manang, okay lang po kami dito sa bahay. Sige po, una na po ako."
Among the stack of mails was a black envelope that had pictures that could change their lives.
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Throughout the ride back to their home, both Channy and Maine were quiet. Rio chose to sleep and ask Channy later and Alden chose to focus on the road. When they arrived, the two silently walked inside and went to their bedrooms. Alden then carried Rio who was still sleeping and also went upstairs. He placed Rio in their bed and kissed Channy good night.
In the middle of the night, Rio suddenly woke up and she found her sister still awake with a laptop on her lap.
"Channy, what the heck are you doing?" Rio soberly asked.
" Do you think they will return like this?" Channy asked, pertaining to the video she's watching. It was a fan-made video about the beginning of their parent's loveteam.
"I'm sure they will. Dad still loves mom and he'll do anything to get her back. See, our plan worked. We're staying in one roof like nothing's wrong." Rio smiled.
"Yeah but they have separate bedrooms." Chaney said.
"What's wrong with you? You used to be really optimistic and enthusiastic when it comes to our parents." Rio asked.
"Ri, what if they will never get back together and find someone else?"
"That will never happened. I would never allow them." Rio said.
"What if we need to do it because they are happy with that someone else?"
"Channy, why are you thinking like that? They will get back together." Rio reassured her twin.
"What if we will never be a family again? What if they found someone else and build their own families and what becomes of us? The children of the first family? The middle children? The one that will stay to their Dad's family in the first two weeks in the month and the other half to their Mom's family? What? We will be like a pingpong ball that goes to and fro? And we have to deal our Dad's wife, Mom's husband and our future half-siblings? What if there is no hope and that will happen?" Channy started to cry. Rio can only hug her twin.
They are not ready to face their fears but the looming presence of that possibility scares them so much.