Yanna
The team was just coming out of a meeting room when Yanna badged in that morning. She wasn’t sure if it was good that they caught her dropping by the office when she was supposed to be resting. Or waiting for the baby’s arrival. Afterall, she had filed for early maternity leave.
“What are you doing here?” her manager, Olive, greeted her, along with the rest of the team. “You should be at home!” she admonished Yanna but gently rubbed her round belly. “Kiddo, I hope you’re not as stubborn as your mommy.”
“How far along are you?” Parker, her back-up for the project, asked.
“Thirty-seven weeks,” she grinned, rubbing her belly, feeling a slight stir inside as if the baby was thrilled that they would be meeting soon.
“You don’t look like you’re going to burst any moment now,” he commented. “Is it a girl?”
“A boy actually.” Yanna had forgone the theatrics of a gender reveal party. She believed it only entailed unnecessary expenses that could be used to buy other stuff for the baby instead.
“Baby daddy must be thrilled,” Parker grinned before heading to his work station. He had been aloof with her since she turned down his invitation to go out with him. She was in her first trimester then. Parker knew and didn’t care, it seemed.
Unfortunately, Yanna wasn’t ready to jump into the dating scene. Or to have new digital footprints in social media when she had deactivated hers after asking DJ for space following their argument. She hadn’t known she was already pregnant then. And she didn’t have the guts to tell him.
Even until now.
Her best friend, Rhea, had called her out numerous times for keeping the pregnancy from DJ. It’s not that she didn’t want him to know about the baby. She did. But only until she’s got everything under control. Only until she could show him that raising a child in the metro without relatives close by was possible. That raising a child and keeping her job was possible.
Otherwise, DJ would have pushed for what he thought was easier and more convenient if they were going to build their own family: relocate to Tarlac where his relatives lived who could help in anything and everything.
Of course, Yanna knew he had a point. Afterall, how could a person like her who had lived on her own in the Metro since high school, take care of a baby?
But she had dreams of her own which she had already built in Manila with blood, sweat, grit and hard work. Dreams already within her reach at thirty-one. She simply couldn't bear to uproot herself and see all those to go down the drain and restart in a different place. So when they couldn’t see eye to eye on the matter, she had wanted the space so she could weigh everything down, see things through his perspective. Without him giving her the puppy eye every damn time they were together, knowing it was her weakness.
Rhea had told her it was pride talking and Yanna agreed on some level. But unsure of how to tell him, she had not reached out to DJ in the past eight months.
Nor did he.
Perhaps he got tired of waiting and gave her total freedom instead.
Which was a punch in her gut, if it were true.
But whatever happens to their relationship, Yanna was thankful that she had a piece of DJ with her. Literally.
The fact that her baby was cooperative made it all bearable. Her pregnancy had been nothing but easy—no morning sickness, no weird cravings, no water retention in her face or feet. The backaches and shortness of breath and frequent trips to the bathroom had been normal apparently, as what the members of the mommy group she joined had said.
So far, so far, she had not experienced any false contractions that had her rushing to the ER. No water breaking in the shower. No spotting, too. She had taken tremendous effort to eat healthy and stay healthy. Heck, before she would put food or drink in her mouth, she'd first research if it was safe for the baby. Rhea would come along during her regular checkups with her OB-GYNE. But most times, she'd go to appointments by herself. Yanna had been able to manage everything on her own. And she hoped it would stay that way.
“Parker isn’t as organized as you, but he gets the job done,” Olive told her as soon as Yanna was done pretending to check her stuff in her locker, breaking her train of thought. “Don’t worry so much about the project. I’ll make sure to oversee the progress.”
"Thanks, Olive. I'm just in my unit if something comes up."
"Jeeze, Yanna, think about your baby more, will you?" Olive almost begged. "Go home and rest, you don't need the stress from the working environment."
"For the record, the walking is actually good for me and the baby," she defended. “I’m just really passing time before I head to my check-up.”
Olive shook her head in resignation. "Call me or anyone in the team if you need anything. It might be you who'll need our help if something comes up. Remember: it takes a village to raise a child."
A village that was readily available had she agreed with DJ’s plans, a small part of herself pointed out.
"We're your village." Olive reached out to press Yanna's arm, reassuring her that she made the right decision. Because she was once in Yanna's shoes — a pregnant woman about to take care of her baby alone. The difference between them was that Yanna ghosted on the baby daddy, not the other way around.
Yanna blinked fast to stop her eyes from watering. It was one of the side effects of pregnancy hormones. Her emotions were all over the place. "Thanks, Olive. I really appreciate it."
When she finally left the office, she debated whether to go to the nearest mall to resume her walking exercises or to go to a salad store for a healthy drink. That had always been her strategy: to narrow down her options to two and choose the better one. Black or white, milk tea or yogurt, drama or comedy, sleep or eat, to stay or to leave. Yanna had always picked one side and stuck to it no matter the consequences. To her, there were no gray areas.
She was halfway through her strawberry smoothie when Rhea and her boyfriend, Kyle, picked her up in time for her OB appointment. Yanna had initially refused the help as Kyle used to be DJ’s officemate. But he reassured that hers wasn’t a story for him to tell. Besides, they lived in the same condominium and avoiding him was near impossible. So far, Kyle had kept his words.
“Girl, does the internal exam hurt? I noticed you keep wincing.” Rhea sounded curious when they left the clinic with the doctor’s recommendation for her to keep walking as the baby was still in breech position.
“Just...uncomfortable,” Yanna muttered. It was one of the things she didn’t look forward to as the pregnancy progressed. If only she could tell her OB to drop the IE and just base everything on the baby’s heartbeat instead.
“Really? I thought you’d become used to it since you’d had sex and all.”
Yanna’s face warmed. “Oh my god, Rhea.” She surreptitiously looked around them to make sure nobody heard their conversation.
“What? It’s an innocent question. Is it different when you’re being prodded by the OB-GYN versus having sex?”
“Yes,” she quickly answered in a hushed voice.
“Is that because you haven’t had sex since getting pregnant and you’ve become tight again and all?”
“Christ. You sound like an overly curious grade schooler, Rhea.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” her best friend laughed as they headed to the coffee shop near the hospital where Kyle was waiting. “Anything else you need to prepare for the baby?”
“Got it all covered.” Even prior to the start of her maternity leave, Yanna had done her research on the basic things that the baby would need. As a matter of fact, she had already prepared a hospital bag for her and the baby in case she went into labor earlier than her due date. Though she’s hoping they wouldn’t have to go through that.
Rhea rolled her eyes. “What did I expect? Of course, you’ve got everything covered now. Except informing the dad.”
“Rhea—” In every appointment she went with Rhea in tow, they always, always had this conversation.
“DJ needs to know, girl. It’s his right. Do you really want your baby to grow up not knowing his dad?”
“Of course not.”
“Then, what are you waiting for? Tell. DJ.”
“I know, I’m just…” she heaved a deep breath. “We haven’t spoken since…”
Rhea gave her the stink eye as she pushed open the glass doors of the coffee shop where Kyle was waiting. “And whose fault is that?” When Yanna looked away, Rhea sighed, dropping the conversation for now. "Are you going to be okay on your own? We'll be gone for two weeks."
"Of course. Besides, my cousin’s staying with me in case of emergencies," Yanna shrugged, nonchalantly. "Don't worry about me and enjoy your much-deserved vacay. My baby can wait until you get back." She gave her belly a gentle pat as if making an agreement with it.
---
DJ
Relieved. And excited.
But mostly relieved.
These were what DJ felt when he logged off that day. His one-week leave had officially begun. He initially requested for two weeks but his backup bargained for one saying he wasn't as well-versed with the statutory and company benefits as DJ was. And a BPO company like theirs that never ran out of new hires each day, a lot could happen in two weeks related to employee benefits -- statutory and company-provided.
It just sucked that their recruitment team couldn't seem to hire a permanent employee to be his partner. For the past eight years, he would always end up training someone new every six freakin' months. Sometimes, even less.
Another drawback: he couldn't go on a three-day leave no matter how his body clamored for it. The vacation wouldn't be worth it if employees or even his teammates called him asking for his signature or instructions. It happened all the time and it felt like he just worked from home.
DJ could have left Star Global many times, like his former teammates who fled due to the sheer volume of work. But as the family's breadwinner, he needed the money to make ends meet. He also knew that companies usually preferred fresh graduates willing to do the work at much lower pay compared to people like him at their early thirties who could demand higher income. So he sucked it up and stayed even when he was dead-tired six days of the week because work almost always spilled through the weekends.
The good thing about sticking with the company though was that getting promoted not only meant increase in compensation. His privileges also changed. He would earn another day off if he worked on a holiday or rendered at least four hours of overtime work instead of claiming OT or holiday pay. And these additional time-off would be forfeited if left unused for ninety days.
So yes, his manager was reluctant to approve his long leave. Because allowing DJ to use his well-deserved break was better than getting escalated to higher management for employee neglect. Or worse, dealing with a labor case.
"Oh, wow. You're actually home early?" Danielle, his youngest sister greeted him with a bear hug when he opened the door to their house.
DJ planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Yep. And will be a couch potato for a full week," he grinned.
Danielle's eyes widened as she released him. "You finally resigned?" she gasped.
"Technically, a five-day vacation leave. But this weekend and the next make it nine." He chuckled when she wrinkled her nose. His twin sisters didn't really like his company saying he was overworked. They weren't wrong though.
"Tell me you'd turn your phone off the whole time." His other sister, the older between the twins, Denise, came out of the bedroom wearing an oversized tee and a pair of shorts. It seemed like she had just gotten home from her job at the bank.
When DJ gave them an apologetic smile, Denise rolled her eyes. "You really should look for a new job, Kuya. Your company is sucking the life out of you."
To that, DJ didn't comment. But maybe he really needed to check other jobs nearby. Although, was there another company in Tarlac that could match the compensation package of Star Global? He admitted to being and feeling overworked, but he had bills to pay and once in a while, to spoil the twins even with simple dinner out or movie dates at the nearest mall.
"What's all this?" DJ cocked his head towards their square foldable dining table. Two boxes of pizza, and several unopened packs of what he could smell as pasta and chicken awaited.
Danielle grinned. "I got my first paycheck."
Relieved. And excited.
DJ's emotions for getting a long leave were magnified by his sister's achievement.
"Congratulations!" Now, it was him who gave her a hug so tight, he even lifted her a few inches from the floor. Denise joined for a group hug, too.
"It's all thanks to you, Kuya," Danielle said, a quiver in her voice, and Denise agreed with a vigorous nod.
To be able to support both girls from highschool to college on his own since he turned eighteen was an achievement for him, too. Now that both of them have their own income, it was like a ton of bricks was lifted off his chest, his eyes watered.
All of their hard work and persistence paid off.
"What do you plan to do for a week?" Denise asked in between bites of the mozzarella sticks.
DJ came up blank.
It came as a surprise. The lack of excitement in how he spent his leaves. After his girlfriend ghosted on him, he usually dedicated his leaves to catch up on sleep. Perhaps he'd just do the same for the next nine days.
The twins exchanged looks and his eyebrows hiked up. “What?”
Danielle nudged her older sister to speak up which Denise did. “Maybe it’s time for you to get a new girlfriend.”
To this, he shook his head. They had been hogging him to date someone. But how could he when his promotion eight months ago might have also played a hand in his last relationship ending on a bad note.
“Or use it to make it up with Ate Yanna?” Daniella suggested in a small voice.
DJ felt a kick in his chest and managed to look away from his sisters' piercing looks. Funny how her name still affected him so much.
“We haven’t told you,” Denise continued. “But Dan and I both think we’re part of the reason why it didn’t work out between you. Because we kind of weighed you down. But now, we can provide for ourselves, Kuya...”
“Nope.” DJ shook his head and stood up to pace around their small dining area. They had talked about this before. He stopped to look at them square in the eyes. “You were not the reason. It didn’t work between us because our plans for the future don’t match. That’s it. Besides,” he ran a hand over his hair that needed a trim. “I don’t even think she wants to talk to me.”
“How do you know? Have you even tried?”
DJ rubbed his face with his hands. “I’ll...take a walk,” he announced and didn’t wait for them to stop him.
It wasn’t for lack of trying that he still hadn’t reached out to Yanna. He simply couldn’t. Because there was no way for him to contact her. She burned all the bridges that connected them -- her social networking sites, their mutual friends didn’t have her new number, her best friend blocked him too. Didn’t that equate to her wanting a clean break-up even when she said she only needed space?
His phone vibrated madly in his pocket and he grumbled. Just mere hours after his shift ended and he already had work calling him. He really couldn’t catch a break. With a frown, he answered the phone.
“Heeey, DJ! It’s Kyle!” the guy greeted as soon as he picked up. For someone whom he had not spoken to for a long time, Kyle Aquino sounded cheerful. Almost tense.
“Kyle!” DJ grinned, his frustration dissipating into thin air. “Are you back from Canada?”
“Yeah, I've two weeks! How have you been?”
“I’m good. I’m actually free for the next nine days. Do you want to hang out?”
“Oh?” The tension in Kyle’s voice changed into something that sounded close to surprise and excitement. “I was actually hoping if you’re free for a staycation ‘coz I know you’re frugal and shit.”
DJ grinned at how Kyle remembered he didn’t want to spend a lot. That was why travelling wasn’t in his plans during his vacation. “I call it practical.”
“Yeah. But I have a better plan. Would you like to house-sit for a week? My unit just needs looking after while me and my girl go for R&R. I’ve got PS4 and XBOX 360. You can knock yourself out playing all week, I swear I won’t charge a cent.”
Perhaps it was the kind of break he needed to spice up his own R&R. “Sure. Tell me the details.”