Chapter 30: Paalam

Angelica's POV

I still can't believe what happened last Monday. Kapag naiisip ko yun kinikilig pa din ako! Saturday ngayon, and I decided to come home muna. This whole week has been kinda stressful for me since I'm part of the Student Council.

Pagbaba ko palang nang aking sasakyan ay nagtatatakbo na ako papasok sa bahay namin. I can't wait to tell my parents about what happened last Monday, syempre milestone yun sa buhay ko.

I saw my parents at the living room, my mom was drinking milk tea again, yan kasi ang favorite ni mama hay si mommy ang aga pa milktea agad, habang si papa naman nagka-kape while they were both watching the new, lumapit ako sa kanila and to my surprise kahit busy sila sa pinapanood nila they're still holding each others hands.

tumikhim ako "Ehem.ehem, ang daming langgam" agad namang naghiwalay ang mga kamay nila it's like they were teenagers again.

"Oh ba't nandito ka anak?" tanong ni mommy

"Parang ayaw nyo namang nandito ako, sige alis nalang ako" I acted like nagtatampo ako

"Ano ka ba hindi itong anak mo talaga manang mana sa'yo dad"

"nah nagmana yan sa'yo" binatukan nalang ni mommy sa daddy natawa ako sa nakikita ko

"I have news pa naman" sabay silang tumingin sa akin.

"maupo ka muna anak" I sat in between mommy and daddy I linked my arms with their arms

"I had my first kiss last monday my,dy"

napabitaw sila sa akin and looked at me with big eyes, dahan dahan namang tumulo ang luha ni daddy

"Dalaga ka na talaga anak, I still remember holding you when you were born at ako pa nga ang pumutol nang umbelical cord mo"

natawa ako sa mukha nang papa ko "Ano ka ba naman dy, it's not as if I'm getting married already"

humagulgol na si daddy sa harapan ko hinampas naman sya ni mommy

"ewan ko talaga sa'yo Jester napaka iyakin mo hindi pa naman ikakasal ang anak mo! She just had her first kiss, congrats by the way anak. Ako nga na nag buntis sa anak mo for 9 months hindi nga umiyak" lalong umiyak si daddy suminghot singhot pa natatawa nalang kami ni mommy.

"She's my unica hija what do you expect and alam mo naman talagang iyakin ako"

oh diba umamin na din sa wakas!

"may point ka sa iyakin na part, you know what anak we were the same age nung sinagot ko ang daddy mo and he cried in front of the whole school, pati nuong nag propose sya at nagpakasal kami mas malakas pa nga yung iyak nya sa akin, here's the funniest part he fainted when he knew I was pregnant and he fainted again after cutting your umbilical cord HAHAHHAHHA let's look at the video later"

Tawa lang kami nang tawa ni mom we both teased dad after what she said nung naka get over na kami ni mom my parents both hugged me.

I knew that my dad would be very emotional. I'm a daddy's girl and I know hearing about what happened to me and Walter, Dad would be happy, but at the same time he would be sad since I'm their unica hija.

"Anak nga pala your dad and I have a new pet from your ninny galing US tara let's go sa garden"

My parents and I went to the garden actually malaki din yung garden namin, my parents years of hard work payed off when they got this land, when I was still young my parents planned on building a tree house for me, but since I preferred staying indoors they decided to turn it into a garden with a gazebo, pero maliit pa din yung sinakop na area nang garden, that's why when I moved out my parents decided to turn it into a place where our pets can stay. We reached the albino python's enclosure and when I saw the snake, I instantly fell in love.

"She's Artemis. She was rescued by your Ninong along the road, half of her body was full of tics, good thing your Ninang's a vet, so they treated her after a month she recovered so we decided to adopt her, she also has papers by the way"

Mom sounded so proud, I am too. I didn't expect them to buy and adopt snakes to be honest. I had a tarantula for my 16th birthday, but it got lost so I got a dog instead. They told me na they got her 2 days ago so hindi pa sya pwedeng hawakan.

That afternoon mama and I sat down at the gazebo while eating our snacks, palubog na din ang araw, our view looks amazing. I'm sure Walter's still at work since it's still five, he normally comes home at 6.

"Anak how are you and Walter?"

I looked at mama and smiled "We're happy ma, minsan nga lang nag-aaway kami dahil kay Felix. He gets annoyed when he sees Felix around me, so we end up having a fight...pero so far we've grown together ma"

"I'm happy for the both of you anak"

"Thanks, Ma"

We spent the rest of the day watching movies. Sobrang saya ko kasi it's good na alam nila mama at papa ang nangyayari sa pag-sasama namin ni Walter. I love him so much, even if we have small fights at the end of the day we talk about it and forgive each other. I know we still have a lot of things to improve in our individual lives, but as much as possible we want to grow together as a couple. I went to bed that night with a smile on my face.

I woke up in the middle of the night when I received a phone call. It's 3 AM sino kaya ang tumatawag? I got my phone and saw Walter was calling, I answered it immediately.

(Love...si grandma)

Walter was crying on the other line, I could also hear the cries from the people around him.

"What happened to grandma?"

(she and grandpa talked with dad, mom, and his mistress about their upcoming wedding nagalit si grandma, s-she had a heart attack while sleeping, her nurse was waking her up but she wasn't waking up a-and we brought her to the hospital but she was already DOA...grandpa couldn't take it that he collapsed)

dahan dahan tumulo ang aking mga luha, I knew grandma for a short period of time but I've gotten really close to her already, and hearing about this news I actually don't know how to react.

"What hospital love? pupuntahan kita"

(Philippine General Hospital)

"Okay. I'll end the call muna love ha"

(okay...)

I quickly changed into a white t-shirt and maong shorts, I got my car keys and drove off to PGH.

When I reached the hospital, I saw Walter's text kung nasaan sila kaya agag akong pumunta doon. I saw Walter with his face on his hands, shoulders shaking, he was sitting on one of the benches of the hospital. I saw his parents and of course his dad's mistress and Markus was their too beside his brother, agad ko silang pinuntahan.

"Ate s-si grandma- Markus burst into tears before even finishing what he had to say.

Tumulo na din ulit ang aking mga luha, while Markus was crying on my side while hugging me, nakaluhod naman ang kanyang kapatid habang yumayakap din sa akin. Looking at them like this nakakalungot. I feel sorry for these two, since they both grew up looking at their grandparents as their parents.

"Tita si grandpa is he okay na?"

Walter's mom looked at me, she looks healthier and better now, but her eyes were really swollen "His doctor is inside his room hija let's just wait and pray" I smiled at her and continued comforting her boys. We waited for a couple of minutes before granpa's doctor came out.

"His vitals are okay now, let's just wait for him to wake up okay" nakahinga kaming lahat nang maayos after hearing granpa's doctor. Sa kakaiyak ni Markus nakatulog na pala sya, habang ang kapatid naman nya ay tulala. I moved away his hair from his face and wiped his tears.

"Angelica, I need to take care of g-grandma's f-funeral" he started sobbing again. Seeing him like this saddens me. Pinabayaan ko syang umiyak nang umiyak but I was worried when he started having an asthma attack.

"Love inhale, exhale" I removed my jacket and turned it into Markus' pillow and made Walter sit on my seat. I got his inhaler from my bag and gave it to him.

"Wag ka nang umiyak ha, you'll have an attack again love I'll go with you okay. We'll take care of grandma's funeral baby" he hugged me tightly. I hugged him tightly as well while caressing his back in circles.

"You knew grandma had a condition, yet you still forced that stupid wedding of yours! If only you didn't tell her about that she would still be alive right now! masaya na ba kayo? Are you happy that you guys ruined my life?! sana kung hindi nyo pinilit yang pagpa-pakasal nyo sana buhay pa si grandma at okay lang si grandpa! tangina!"

I could hear the pain in Walter's voice.

"We had to get married since we have kids ilang taon na din kaming nagsasama"

that pulled my trigger. I couldn't just sit there while the mistress of my boyfriend's dad act that way, while my boyfriend's suffering.

"You still have the gut to say that when my boyfriend just lost the woman whom he treats like his mother when his mom became mentally unstable because of you? pasensya na po kung nakakabastos ang sinabi ko, but mawalang galang po kung wala kayong ibang magandang sasabihin makaka-alis na po kayo"

I saw her glare and roll her eyes at me she walked out, while Walter's dad stayed.

"Ma. Aalis na muna kami ni Angelica sa'yo na muna si Markus"

"Sige anak, mag-ingat kayo ha"

I helped Walter stand up, he was really weak and shaking. I smiled at tita bago kami sabay na lumabas ni Walter sa hospital. We both took care of grandma's funeral for later, I just told Walter to call his relatives and family friends about grandma's death, while I dealt with her funeral.

We went to McDonals right after to buy food for everyone it was already 5:30 AM in the morning, pag-balik namin sa hospital grandpa was already awake but he was crying non-stop calling grandma's name. Walter comforted grandpa habang ako naman ay tinutulungan si tita at Markus na kumuha nang damit nila. I also went home to shower and tell my parents about the sad news, nagbihis na din ako and I also brought some clothes. Pag-balik ko nang ospital the other kids of Walter's dad was already there pero niisa sa amin walang kumikibo.

I just sat beside Walter while still comforting him.

"I just can't believe he brought his other family here kahit respeto nalang sana di pa mabigay"

"Love, it's okay. Everything is gonna be fine. I'll always be here for you okay wag kang mag-alala."

Markus was reading a book, while Walter and I were just silent hawak namin ang kamay nang isa't isa, si tita naman ay kausap si grandpa.

"Thaddeus get them all out of here now"

"Papa let's not start again"

"Enough is enough! Your mother already died!" Granpa's voice thundered. Lolo was about to get up but Walter and tita stopped him.

"Papa 'wag ka na po kayong bumangon"

"Hindi yang asawa mo ayaw talagang makinig, his mom already died di pa ba yun sapat sa kanya do you want me to die too son?!"

"Grandpa please listen to mama"

I know grandpa is really frustrated. If grandma was here she would hate what's happening yun nga lang wala na si grandma. It's so devastating. Wala na akong kasamang cool grandma na kasama kong mag-bake, luto, at shopping. Everything happened so quickly.

"Papa you could've just easily agreed to my decision, Lucianna agrees with my decision pa all we need is your approval"

I could see the pain in tita's eyes alam kong nasasaktan talaga sya sa nangyayari sa kanila nang papa ni Walter.

"Throughout these years when we're married hindi ako nagkulang Thaddeus. You decided for me, I never had the chance to decide for myself"

"See you weren't even a father to me, you failed as a husband to my mom and a father to me and kuya. It's okay for you right as long as you're happy with your family...I saw my mother hanging on her bedroom with my two eyes, and now the woman who gave me warm hugs, bedtime stories, and bakes for me for my birthday is gone. You don't care about that right? As long as your other kids are happy, did you ever think of me and kuya Walter? I doubt that. Kuya, Grandma, Grandpa, and now ate Angelica and her family they filled the part you were supposed to do. I know I have no right to say what I said but I needed to say something. I needed to let it all out." lahat kami ay natahimik nang dahil sa sinabi ni Markus, he's a jolly kid I never knew this was what he's feeling.

Lumapit kaming dalawa ni Walter sa kanya and hugged him. He showed a small smile and hugged the both of us. He patted his brother's head.

"Big bro everything's gonna be just fine"

that made Walter cry again...

...........................

That's all for this chapter guys!