Unreciprocated Feelings Between Me And You

chapter | t w e n t y - f o u r

twenty - four | new countries and old faces

THE AIRPORT MUST be the happiest and saddest place there is in every country.

There are so many people walking around and I can see different expressions on their faces. Most of them are happy and their excitement is evident. I'm sure they can't wait to experience all the opportunities awaiting them. I'm also sure that the others can't wait to be reunited with their families. It doesn't take long for me to see people crying their eyes out. They're afraid to leave everything they know behind. For those coming back with frowns, I wonder what stories they're too scared to tell.

The beating of my heart is ringing in my ears as I walk out of the airport. I've been on edge since I was on the plane. The anticipation of knowing they're here and that I'm about to see them again is too much for me to handle. All of this seems surreal. I've been preparing myself for this moment for so long but I don't think any of it has registered in my brain yet.

I feel like I'm about to faint when I pass through the sliding door. I force myself to keep walking, knowing that a few steps are the only thing getting in the way of me and my family.

The first person I see is tatay. He runs my way and wraps his arms around me. When I feel him tighten his embrace, I let out a sob and melt into him. Tatay's entire body is shaking and that's all I need to know that he's crying too. When we pull away from each other, he laughs while wiping away my tears. Some of my tito's and tita's also came with him and they hug me too. The last person to embrace me is mommy. She isn't crying like tatay is but she has tears brimming in her eyes. I smile at her, knowing what's going on in her mind.

Our dream—it's finally fulfilled. We're home!

On the way back to the city we live in, I look for nanay and they tell me she's waiting at the house. She wanted to come but she still needs a lot of rest. It takes us more than five hours before we arrived in Batangas because of the traffic. I haven't come home in a long time and my God did the traffic surprise me.

I'm looking out the window and the more I see of Philippines, the more I realize I no longer remember anything of this country. I've been away for far too long. It's only the people that have stuck to me. Everything is new. It dampens my mood but it's like I've been given a second chance at the same time.

It's as if something has been lifted off my chest when I see our two-story house. It doesn't look familiar anymore. They changed the color of the gate, of the walls. They also modernized our garden. But despite all that, it still feels like home. It feels even more so now because of the banner they've put up. They're all outside and they have big smiles on their faces. They're welcoming me back to where I belong.

The entire Francisco clan is here. Nanay and tatay have children who stayed here in the Philippines but half of them migrated to other countries. I didn't know that all of them are going to spend the holidays with their parents. After 25 years, our family is complete again.

Tita Cara and tito Winston are the first ones to tackle me into a hug. I let out a hearty laugh when tito Winston picks me up and twirls me around. Tita Cara is the second daughter in the family but she is the third child of nanay and tatay. I'm closest to them because they're the ones who helped my grandparents raise me. She's very fond of children because they don't have a kid of their own. She's infertile.

Tito Daniel hugs me next. He's the fourth child in the family. Aside from tita Cara and tito Winston, tito Daniel also helped raise me. We're very close too. He wasn't there the day I went to America because he's already working in Abu Dhabi at that time. He's the only one in the family who hasn't married. At his age, I don't think he will.