daggers

daggers #46

JUSTIN'S P.O.V

"let's go." stell cheerfully said as he opened the car door for me. i immediately held on to his hand as he guided me inside a house.

i stopped midway, pulling him a bit.

"kaninong bahay 'to? magnanakaw ba tayo?" but stell only chuckled and pulled me closer to him. he held me by my waist this time.

"you'll see, coffee."

"ma?" stell called as soon as we reached the gate of the house and soon after that, a middle-aged woman hurriedly opened their screen door and ran towards the gate.

"steell, anaaakk !" she excitedly said in a high-pitched voice and stell almost panicked beside me.

"ma, 'wag kang tumakbo! baka madulas ka dyan, jusko po." i chuckled beside him as he said that. ang sweet :(

"'lika, pasok kayo. sakto kakaluto ko lang ng tanghalian." she said and guided us inside. stell greeted the woman, who i assumed was his mom, and gave her a kiss on her cheek and a warm hug.

"namiss ko ang bebe koooo..."

"mama naman. may kasama po ako oh. nakakahiya~" stell whispered but loud enough for me to hear, as he tried to wiggle out from his mom's tight hug. i only giggled and watched them from a meter apart.

after they hugged, his mom opened her arms for me as well.

"halika nga rito, jah." my eyebrows rose up when i heard her call my name. i looked at stell who stood behind his mom and gave him a questioning look.

'she knows', he mouthed from behind her. i nodded and smiled, hugging her as well.

"magandang araw po, tita."

she rubbed my back. "sus, mama nalang din itawag mo sa'kin! alam na alam ko naman lahat ng pinagdaanan niyo nitong anak ko."

i looked up at stell and he was scratching the back of his neck.
"si mama talaga..."

we laughed before pulling away from the hug and his mom looked at me in the most gentle way possible.

"masaya akong nakabalik ka na, jah. at sobrang saya kong magkasama na ulit kayo ng anak ko. hindi mo alam kung gaano mo siya napasaya noon... at hanggang ngayon, ramdam ko pa rin yung saya niya kasi andito ka na ulit."

i pouted and gave stell a look on the side. he only looked back at me in a genuine way. at that moment, i wanted to cry so bad. not because of sadness, no, not anymore. but because of too much happiness.

"thank you po, ti- ay este! mama mylene." i finally said and she linked her arms around mine and stell's with her in the middle before pulling us inside the house.

"halika na! kumain na tayo at naeexcite na 'kong matikman niyo ang luto ko."

as we entered their house, stell's father was there too and some of their relatives who they live together with so i greeted them all and stell proudly introduced me to them as his "boyfriend". aaaaaaaaaa papakasalan po, opo !!! ><

i volunteered to help in setting up the table for lunch but stell wanted me to come with him upstairs. i gave his mom an apologetic look and she mouthed 'okay lang' before stell pulled me to go with him.

"eto naman, tutulungan ko lang naman maghain yung mama mo."

he giggled. "punta muna tayo sa kwarto. may ipapakita kasi ako sa'yo."

i stopped infront of the room and dramatically held my chest.

"stell naman. dito pa talaga? nasa bahay tayo ng mama mo. also, nakita ko naman na 'yan kanina ah? hindi pa ba-" he cut me off by planting a kiss on my lips.

"i love you but please, minsan talaga ang dumi ng utak mo." stell laughed and i hit his chest playfully. bwisit.

he slowly opened the door, the cold breeze of the air-conditioned room immediately fanning my feet.

"kwarto mo 'to?" i asked as soon as we entered. there was no one inside.

"dati. kapatid ko na yung natutulog dito ngayon." i noticed how he looked around, probably looking for something.

"saoirse?" he called.

W-WHAT- SAOIRSE?????????

stell called her out again then we heard a soft 'meow' coming from the side of the bed. it was saoirse! she immediately ran when she saw us and i crouched on the floor so she jumped on me and i gave her a hug.

"saoiirrrsseee!" i exclaimed while hugging her. stell sat on the floor as well infront of me while grinning widely.

"you kept her?" i asked stell with hopeful eyes and he eagerly nodded.

"when i started modeling, i asked my mom to take care of her kasi sobrang indefinite ng schedule ko eh. but when i have free days, nandun siya madalas sa condo ko." i pouted after he said that. stell kept saoirse :(( after all these years, she's still here :(( and she remembers me !!

"nga pala, i never got to ask you... why did you leave teaching?"

he sighed. but he didn't look sad though. "i found a new passion in modeling, jah. i still teach, though. kapag may mga volunteer teaching programs sa mga province, sumasali ako at kapag may nag-iinvite sa'kin na maging speaker sa isang seminar, i would always agree. pero modeling gave me a new sense of freedom. and i love what i'm doing."

i held his cheek, stroking it gently with my thumb. "i'm proud of you, stell. always."

i held the back of his neck and was about to pull him to give him a kiss but saoirse, who's still in my arms, placed her little paw on my lips. we both looked down at her when she let out a loud 'meow'. we laughed at her reaction and gave her a hug instead.

"sige na, ikaw nalang ikikiss ko! mwa! mwa! mmmmwaaa!" i scattered little kisses on saoirse's face before stell pulled me in hug, joining saoirse in between the two of us.

"thank you for coming back, coffee."

"thank you for giving me another chance to love you, tulips."