Thirteen Letters

Aster Maverick. I've heard similar names from the people around, from acquaintances, from the internet, or even from just eavesdropping to some random people I walk pass by the streets of Manila. But I never knew how beautiful it was until Lucas introduced me to it.

'Aster', he said meant star in ancient Greek. 'Maverick', well, I could say it's pretty much related to it, only that it was the name of the excellent pilot from a well-known movie played by the great Tom Cruise.

Originally, I wanted to name him after Lucas. A junior, like Jarrick, although before I got the chance to tell him about it, he approached me and said he wanted to name our child Aster Maverick.

It happened the night after we celebrated a little gender-reveal party in our house's backyard. My family and his, our friends, served as our main guests.