She's Home (3)

Greg and Mary Law was delighted to see their two daughters when they came home from the farm. Greg especially felt elated upon seeing his favorite easy-go-lucky daughter grew more fiercely beautiful and mischievous. Her aura seemed to have changed a lot from just silently thinking to being confident and firmly outspoken. He doesn't know how exactly to approach her. When she would speak and what she would say.

After dinner, Greg ordered everyone of his children to go to bed except for his wife and his secret favorite daughter. The three of them sat around the fireplace in the kitchen. They began to talk heart to heart starting from the why the arrangement was made and why was she picked among all her sisters. The couple didn't tell her, but Fem can deduce that her parents wanted to give her a larger portion of the mountain as her inheritance. They believed in her ability to secure the land while holding up to the family's integrity. Among her siblings, she is the one who possesses a sacrificial spirit and selflessness. The others, although they're not exactly selfish, aren't that as sacrificial as her. That made her different from them besides her adventurous spirit which makes her gets to her way almost effortlessly.

Fem always counted herself as the 7th child which in numerology would mean completeness. She didn't believe she was the favorite daughter because all she felt towards her father was fear.

Listening to her parents now, she can see the heavy big responsibility that was laid upon her. She felt her heart growing heavy as she listened to what her father was saying.

Fem felt suffocated and her breathing became heavier and heavier. Her eyes turned misty, unsure if it was the burden or self pity. Finally, she looked up to her father who was blankly staring at the fire.

"Papa, if you're giving me this on the condition that I will marry my cousin, then I don't mind not having an inheritance from you. You can give it to yourself favorite sons. Atleast, they will not lose your name." Fem said sternly.

"I didn't even mention about your marriage. So you know already? Who told you so?" Greg looked at his daughter. He saw a downcasted face ready to cry anytime.

Fem kept silent but her inner self was as revolting like the fire in front of them.

"Pa, why does it have to be me? Don't you have many daughters? And you arranged me without even telling me about it. This is so unfair!" She gritted her teeth in anger and wiped her eyes which were now brimming with tears.

"My daughter, you were the perfect match with your cousin and we saw it will be good for you and the family. Your uncle Douglas raised his son very well and I saw how interested he is to you. I just wonder why all those years, you did not develop a feeling for him. He obviously cares and loves you. As a man, I can see through him." Greg's voice was soft and slow watering down his daughter's fired up feeling.

Fem turned her eyes away from her father, looking away the darkness outside through the opened window. Mrs. Law who was sitting beside her husband just kept silent listening to the father-daughter argument.

Finally, Fem decided to go straight to the point. She will confront her father about the development in Mount Sleeping Beauty.

"Whose property is Mount Sleeping Beauty Papa?" She asked angrily.

Greg was cought off guard. It was long rumored that that mountain has multiple owners. The truth was that it was promised by the second Law heir to any of his descendants who will take care of him. Greg's father, Lauro, took care of his parents well when they fell sick. All his siblings were busy pursuing their own ambitions and pleasures while Lauro was living meagerly struggling to raise his family while tending to his parents under his lowly roof. Lauro's son, Greg, who was then 12 years years old, was the one who was tending to his grandfather when he breathed his last breathe. While embracing his grandfather, he cried for help in panic. His uncle Romeo, Douglas' father and Lauro's second cousin, happened to be passing by in the front yard when heard the terrified cry of a young boy inside. He peered through the door to see the young Greg crying over the stiff body of the old man.

Thus, the mountain which belonged to the old man was given directly to Greg. It was a widely known tradition in the north province that any child who witnesses and holds the hand of a dying old fellow will become fortunate. This was especially so with Greg. His father Lauro let the tradition as is. Later on though, some of Lauro's cousins asked permission to cultivate some part of the foot of the mountain. Lauro allowed it thinking they were doing it in good faith, but soon, he found out that some of them sold it to unknown people. This created a discord among the Laws and which Greg took note as he was growing matured. He trained himself to be as tough and terrifying as he is now. He worked as a farmer and farmed all the possible portions that he could. Raising cattles, goats and some horses and allowed them to roam around the barren portions of the land where only grass can grow. That way, wherever his animals and his gardens are, it is considered his and no one will have the courage to move the boundery.

Greg looked at his daughter. He slowly narrated the story of how the whole piece of land became his. Then he finally added. "I have faith in you as my child. I'm giving this to you on one condition..." He paused. Fem waited in anticipation. Would it be her marriage to her cousin? 'Oh pls,!' Her mind was revolting.

"If you promise to take care of your mother and I and be the one to close our eyes when we go to sleep. Just as I did to your great grandparents. This is like my wish, my child." Greg said solemnly and almost pleadingly.

Fem held her breath and for quite a while, her mind stopped working. Her senses became numb. What was her father saying!?

"Pa, why are you talking like this? I will take care of you even if you'll not give me anything. After all, you are my parents, and we're so many actually. Why are you saying this thing only to me?" Fem said upon recovering her senses.

"I see myself in you my child. You remember I told you I was expecting you were a boy when you were in your mother's womb? Who might have known that you're my exact female version. I'm so proud of you my child. I want you to take care of me when I grow old." Greg confessed.

Fem managed a wry smile. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This is too much a revelation for her! Yet still, one more important thing remains, will the marriage arrangement push thru?

"That's given Papa. Whom else would I get my genes from?" She replied brushing away her nervousness. She managed to gather her courage to ask.

"Pa, who do you want me to marry? I know Mark has been in contact with you before. You know him and you have given him his fair chance to prove his intention for me. If you were to recommend the best one for me, who would you choose?" She asked bold and straight, glancing at her mother who was fascinated by her daughter's beauty and brain.

Greg seem to not have expected that to come. He chuckled and focused on the fire once more. Mary who has been silent all this while cleared her throat before interrupting the silence.

"Fem, you're already grown up to know your choice. You're a smart and intelligent woman now. Before, we were so worried that you would run away with a random guy who might mean nothing to our family. That's why we arranged this marriage for your own good and for our land's security. However, when Mark came and proved himself true in his intentions, we had to compromise. So the choice is all up to you now. Whoever you choose will be fine for us." Mary's soothing motherly voice was like music to her daughter's ears.

Fem nodded. "I met Mark in the bar where I worked three summers ago. that was after my second year college. I didn't know he was that serious. It seems he had been planning things since then. Actually, he is destined in the South City where I am currently working. We met before I came home. He wants us to settle immediately. I just don't know if it's okay for you, Ma, Pa" Fem told the couple who are now all ears to her.

"Hmmmm... so you are choosing him? Do you really have no feelings for Stanley?" Greg tested her daughter.

"He's already my cousin, Papa, why should I marry him?"Fem repeated the words of Mark. "I appreciate his kindness to me but I should have fallen for him long before I met Mark if I was meant for him. It's not like there's no other way of protecting our inheritance. I'm sure, we can still preserve this even if I marry Mark." Fem replied his father.

"I have nothing to say then. It's your life after all. I don't want you to blame us later on if your marriage goes rough. But I'm sure he's a responsible man." Greg concluded.

Greg narrated to his daughter how he met Mark until when he came under his roof just to ask for his daughter. Greg was now laughing as he narrated everything to his daughter. Fem on the other hand went giddy and joked with her parents especially when her mother mentioned about the rice wine she served. After having cleared the issue of inheritance and her marriage, Fem bid goodnight and went to the main house to join her siblings to sleep. Before she slept, she texted Mark.