Without Preamble

Epilogue

Epilogue

The following month, Anelle gave birth to a healthy baby girl, and Reigner was the most excited brother ever.

Once Rebekah heard that Anelle and Noah had their child already, she took a sabbatical. She did her best, but she never won against the woman whom she knew took Noah's heart from the start.

She faintly heard of Anelle during their first time on a bed together. He was on top of her and about to come. He called out a name but Rebekah did not hear it clearly. But she had been smitten to the handsome engineer back then. What woman in her right mind won't?

He had everything a woman wants: brains, good looks, money, and the most gentleman she has ever met.

"Do you want this?" he had asked her after their first kiss. "I do not want any kind of commitment right now. Just for fun," he added.

She had been warned by the mutual friend who introduced them: He never went on a second date.

But she was determined. She rented a condominium unit near the unit of Noah in Santa Rosa, Laguna where he had been working back then. He was already one of the most in-demand freelance contractors at that time. His unit was just a couple of doors away from her, she made sure of that. He stalked him and learned of his schedule by heart. She'd deliberately "bumped" into him one night at their common basement parking.

"Ooops, I am sorry Miss!" Noah had apologized, picking up her fallen grocery items. And she was disappointed when he frowned while handing her the fallen canned goods and boxes to add, "Hmmm, you look familiar..."

She opted not to remind him they've previously had what he might have called a one-night stand. "I live in this building!" she said forcing a smile. No man she has ever dated told her such a thing. They always remembered her! And they shared body juices!

Noah's face brightened. "Really? That's good! What floor?" he asked as they walk towards the service elevator.

"Eighth. And you?"

"What a coincidence! We're next-door neighbors!"

She faked a surprise. "Really? What unit are you in?"

"Four, and you?"

"Oh my God, I am just on the 6th! You should drop by, I won't mind a drink or two?" she wasted no time.

"Sure! I'd bring dinner?"

"Hmm, okay, if that is what you prefer." She had a few bottles of wine ready because everything had been planned. Dinner, too, but she let him think he was contributing as a new neighbor. "She really cannot believe the guy has such a short memory about her. She can recall vividly everything they did in the out-of-town event of engineers in that night at a Batangas beach – from the flirting at the sea while they swam to the time Noah sneaked out of their cottage at dawn. Even if she had also been drunk at that time. But she will be patient with him.

Through her prodding, Noah drank almost all of the content of the Johnny Walker she prepared for him. In Batangas, Noah had peeled off a condom before he penetrated her. This time, she made sure he was too drunk to even attempt reaching out from his back pocket. At the peak of their mating, he said the name again several times, and it hurt her. She became determined that Noah is going to forget about her.

So, she found another game-neighborly excuse to invite him for another drink, in case the second encounter did not make her pregnant.

In the following times that she tried to invite Noah after their third mating, she noticed he was avoiding her. He declined several times. She had been hurt because it meant she was not his type. But she became hopeful after two months when she checked her calendar: she already missed her monthly period! She immediately when to her doctor to confirm the pregnancy because she would not trust a DIY test kit. She felt like winning the lottery when her doctor confirmed her status.

She knocked on the door of Noah the following morning and had been hurt once again when she saw a woman in his bedroom when he opened his door. He only had a towel wrapped around his waist and he was hesitant when he said, "Rebekah, come in..." He stepped aside to give her way.

"I need to tell you something important," she said even before taking a seat on the lazyboy set inside his spacious 2-bedroom unit. Hers only has one bedroom and much smaller than his.

Thinking it might be a small favor she was going to ask, Noah did not have second thoughts to invite, Rebekah to "Sure, spill it out!" His face was cheerful. He always looked cheerful.

The woman in his bed has awakened and was calling him. "Noah, do we have breakfast or are we going to have breakfast at McDo?" she asked, unaware Rebekah was there.

"I am pregnant, two months," Rebekah said to spite the jealousy she felt for the woman.

Noah's smile turned into a frown. "And I am the father?"

She nodded. She felt deeper for him when he did not ask for her to abort the child, but instead, "What do you plan to do with it?" with concern in his eyes.

"I want to proceed with the pregnancy..." She wanted him to propose marriage and waited as he was silent for a while, unmindful of the woman who has gone to the unfamiliar kitchen mumbling that she will prepare her food.

"Well, I'd give you my share of the pregnancy and other costs, and if the baby will live, I will give you a monthly allowance. Maybe, I'd also want to see the baby or the child... I don't know... Will that be okay with you?"

This time, Rebekah was able to force tears, due to the frustration she was feeling at the moment because she was expecting him to at least ask her if she would want to get married. "My parents are gonna kill me, but I want this baby..." she said in-between sobs.

Noah stood up and sat beside her. Pulled her to his chest to comfort her. "Shhhh. I will not forsake you. We will both look after the baby, I will be a good father...."

"What do you mean? Are we going to marry? Because if my parents find out that I am bearing a child without a husband, they are going to disown me..." she forced more tears and sobs.

The doubt and hesitation on Noah's face became very apparent to Rebekah, and although it ate her feelings, she was willing to gamble, everything despite him saying "I don't think I can..." Anelle's lovely face flashed on Noah's mind at that time. It was she he wants to marry and spend his life with. He had been intending to go back to her on his coming vacation days.

"I want the baby to become healthy, happy, and secure," Rebekah said. "And it can only happen if we are married... if we are a family..."

Despite his ardent desire to have Anelle, Noah was forced to marry Rebekah because he did not want his child to come out of this world as a bastard, as Rebekah insisted. Rebekah was confident that Noah would eventually return her feelings for him, but he had always looked distant, and although the man tried his best, even in their love-making, the woman Anelle was between them, for he always uttered the name especially at his peak, and even in his dreams.

After several years, Rebekah accepted defeat against the woman she has never met before. She started staying at her parents' or friends' and cousins' houses or spending more time outside their homes. Sometimes, she tried to flirt with men she met, and even let them bring her home but it was all there is to it. She loved Noah and it might take time before she will feel that kind of love again for another m