Chapter 10

"Mom!" Sasha called to Alex excitedly as soon as she arrived. Felipe, the driver, was behind her, carrying bags of clothes from different stores. Most of them were signature stores that Alex recognized.

"Kindly take the bags to Sasha's room, Tonya," Bernie ordered as the maid came in behind Alex. The maid took them from the driver's hands and went upstairs.

Alex smiled at Bernie, who was walking towards her as Sasha kept babbling about their adventure throughout the day.

"Thank you," she said to Bernie.

"Don't mention it," he replied.

"Guess what, Mom! Auntie told me that we're going to the beach this weekend," Sasha told her.

Alex creased her eyebrows.

"This weekend?" and she looked at Bernie who nodded to her. "But, isn't it-"

"I get to meet Grandma, too, in person."

Alex was confused. Why are they going to the beach this weekend? Is there an occasion aside from Laura's arrival?

Bernie smiled at her. "What better way to celebrate your engagement, Alex, but have a beach party?"

'Engagement? Beach party? What the hell is going on?' she panicked.

Too bad Robbie wasn't there or she could have given him a deserving kick in the ass. He didn't tell her anything about an engagement party.

Could this be his plan?

She thought they agreed on a wedding, and she expected it to be as private as possible. But having this engagement party would only expose her to people of whom she would rather not deal with at all. In addition to all the chaos was the gossip magazine reporters who also grilled her with endless queries before that led her to a decade of regret and despair.

She looked at Bernie for some answers and as if reading her mind, he suddenly spoke up.

"Frances told me you two are getting married when we dropped off Rico there today. When are you going to tell me, hija? You know, I've always wanted you both to be together."

It got more confusing for her. What does he mean by that? Didn't he know his nephew was gay?

Could she be wrong after all?

But all the signs were there. It couldn't be.

"Why is everybody talking about marriage all day? Mom, are you really going to marry Dad?" asked Sasha.

She couldn't hide the truth from her daughter.

"Well... yes, honey. Are you okay with that?"

"But I thought Dad was gay."

Bernie laughed. "Who told you that, Sasha?"

"Dad did. Remember, Mom, he told us he's gay."

"Really?" and one of his lined eyebrows raised. "You're Dad is such a joker."

"So do you mean he doesn't have a lady's heart like yours?" Sasha asked curiously.

Bernie chuckled.

"Oh, honey! You're just too young to truly understand these things. Very well then, why don't you try one of the beautiful dresses that we bought while your mom and I have a chat, hmm?"

"Thank you, Auntie," and she gave him a hug. "See you later, Mom." Then she ran upstairs to her room.

"So where's Robbie?" asked Bernie to her.

"He had an important call. He's in his office. Did he tell you about having an engagement party?"

Bernie took her hand and led her to the sofa. They both sat down together.

"Alex, why don't we talk about you first? I missed you so much, hija. I felt like I lost another child when you left."

Alex lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Auntie..." she spoke softly. "I'm sorry if I didn't even tell you."

"It really broke my heart when you left... but I know you had a good reason. I just didn't know you're reason would be Sasha. But, anyway, I'm just glad you're back, hija, most especially now you're officially going to be part of my family. This is a dream come true."

"About that, Robbie and I-"

"-are going on a date tonight."

Both of them looked up to Robbie who just came out of his home office.

'A date? He must be dreaming,' she thought.

She was about to tell him she didn't want to go when he spoke up.

"Don't bother to change. Divine will be here to help you with some dresses I told her to bring. Sasha is coming, too. She's the star of the night anyway," Robbie cleared to her.

Somehow she felt relieved to know she's not going to be alone with him.

Why did she even feel nervous at the mention of a date? Ridiculous!

"Oh, my dear! I'm so thrilled. If you don't mind, Robbie. I would love to be part of Sasha's celebration tonight. I'm family, too, you know."

"Of course, Tito-"

"It's Tita," and Bernie raised his eyebrow. "Maybe you should get used to calling me Auntie from now on like Allison here, before I forget that I even raised you."

Robbie chuckled. "Okay, Auntie. You know you are always welcome to come with us. By the way, thank you for taking Sasha out."

"Oh, that's okay. Believe me, that girl is just amazing. She loved all these sparkly stuff but she was well-mannered in a way. She wouldn't ask me to buy something unless I asked her first. She was rather shy about telling me eventhough I could see, she wouldn't want to put it down. So, my heart just can't help not to buy her eventhough she wouldn't ask me. You raised her right, Alex. Sasha is not materialistic but such a sweet girl."

Alex smiled proudly at Bernie. She might not have all the riches in the world but having a daughter like Sasha was one of her greatest achievements in life.

"Let me leave you both for now and I'll just meet you there. I need to prepare for this wonderful night out we're having. So, tata for now," Bernie gave a peck to Alex and blew a kiss to Robbie who smiled back at her.

Soon he was gone.

"We need to talk," Alex told him and stood up crossing her arms.

"Can it wait later when we get back home? Divine will be coming in a few minutes and I don't want to waste anytime standing around here when we could be preparing already. How about you take a shower first?" Robbie said, ignoring her urgent plead to talk.

"Fine. We'll talk later. Wait! Why are you asking me to take a shower first? I can take a shower in Sasha's bathroom."

"Not if you don't mind walking naked from her room to mine," his eyes teasing.

"What do you mean by that? You don't mean... oh sht! No! I am definitely not going to sleep in your room!"

Robbie walked towards her.

"Well, we're going to get married soon. We definitely need to get used to sleeping in one bed. I don't think Sasha would like to share her new room with you."

"Why not? We used to sleep in one bed before. She might be looking for me tonight if I don't sleep with her in her room. Don't you remember how she reacted the first time she saw us in one room? I don't want her to think that... that we're doing it."

He took a few steps closer to her.

"What's wrong if she thinks we do? We're her parents. How do you think she came out to be?"

Another step.

"Well, she didn't know that yet. I didn't have the how-are-babies-made talk with her."

Robbie stood before her.

"Maybe we should... then maybe, if we did it somehow, she will be excited to have a sibling."

The loud pounding of Alex's heart rang in her ears as she gulped, and she found herself staring suddenly at his lips.