KABANATA 17 — It's A Boy
'Good morning, Veign. I hope this is really you I'm texting. BTW, this is Lukas. Got your number from an unknown sender last night. Tagal kong pinag-isipan kung ite-text ba kita dahil nakakahiyang nakuha ko ang number mo nang walang pahintulot mo. I hope it's okay with you. And I hope you have a great morning today.'
That was the message I received from Lukas the next morning. Hindi ako agad nakatulog kagabi kaiisip kaya naman tanghali na akong nagising. The message of Lukas was the first thing I saw after I woke up when I grabbed my phone just a minute ago. At sa hindi ko malamang dahilan, pinagaan ng mensahe niya ang mabigat kong damdamin.
And so, I replied.
Ako:
'Hi, Lukas! Yes, this is Veign. Of course, okay lang! Truth is hindi maganda ang gising ko. Until I saw your message. Don't worry, okay lang naman sa akin. At least, now I have someone on my contact list that I could randomly text aside from Minerva.'
Hindi nagtagal ay nakatanggap agad ako ng tugon mula sa kaniya.
Lukas:
'That's great! So that means, we would text a lot?'
Kinagat ko ang aking labi dahil napapangiti ako ng mensahe niya. Bigla ay ninais kong tugunan iyon nang may mas malalim na kahulugan. But I didn't want Lukas to misinterpret my message. Lalo na't mga salita lang ang dumarating sa kaniya at hindi niya naririnig ng personal. He might misunderstood it for something else.
Ako:
'Kung hindi busy, bakit hindi? :)'
Iyon na lamang ang tinugon ko.
I got out of my bed, washed my face and went back to my bed to see another text from him.
I brought my phone with me when I left my room. Tuloy tuloy ang pag-text ko hanggang sa pagbaba sa hagdan. Masuyo kong nireplayan ang bawat mensahe ni Lukas para sa akin. His messages were only about asking me if I was fine because I told him that I couldn't sleep last night. Sinigurado ko naman sa kaniya na maayos na ang lagay ko. Somehow, I felt better the moment I received that message from him a while ago. Ngayong alam kong may makakausap ko, umayos na ang magulong isip ko.
Kung hindi pa nag-text si Lukas, marahil hanggang ngayon ay nasa loob ako ng aking kwarto at nakatitig sa kisame.
Plano kong kumuha lang ng makakain sa kusina at babalik din ako sa itaas. But then I saw the kids on the dining table, already eating their breakfast.
Naging ritwal na talaga ito sa mansyon tuwing umaga. Since the kids were in the same room, they would always wake up at the same time. Kahit na hindi naman ako sigurado kung sabay ba talaga silang nagigising o isa lang sa kanila ang nauuna at nanggigising sa tulog pa. But almost everyday, especially if there's school, I would see them eat together.
Madalas ay si daddy lang ang hindi nakakasabay sa amin dahil sa trabaho nito.
"Good morning, Ate Veign!" Rio greeted me as he chew his food.
Napangisi ako. Nilapitan ko siya at hinalikan sa pisngi. "Good morning, Rio."
Habang tumatagal ay palapit nang palapit ang loob ni Rio sa akin. Naglaho na ang dating tahimik na batang una kong nakilala. He was also becoming a little bit more jolly than the first time I met him. Although Froilan was still more cheerful than him, I could still see the improvement in his personality.
Beside him was Lev Matteo who was also eating his own food. Hindi ko inalintana ang pagsunod ng mga mata niya sa akin. Nilapitan ko si Froilan na nakangisi na rin habang ngumunguya.
