My Peculiar Family

"MY PECULIAR FAMILY"

"Are you sure about yourself, John?" Father couldn't believe what I told him. His eyes were wide open as if he had heard that the end of the world had come.

"I am absolutely sure, Tatang. I love Mary, and nothing can stop me from bringing her to the altar," I replied.

"But Mary, for God's sake, is a widow with a twenty-four year old daughter," Father argued.

"So what?" I replied.

Mary was about my age. She got married at an early age, but her husband died when Jane, their daughter, was only three years old. Now at 46, she was still pretty. Her skin was still as soft as the skin of her daughter. In fact, when one saw them together, he might think they were sisters. Both of them were, shall I say, gorgeous and sexy. But for me, Mary was the fairest among all the ladies in the world.

At that time, I was 45, but still single. I had a girlfriend once, but when she dumped me for another man, I never courted another girl again. Tatang, whose name was Peter, was alarmed when I turned 36, and was still a bachelor. So he doubled his effort in egging me to get married.

"John, my son, when will you bring home a wife? I want to see my apo (grandchild) before I finally join with your mother in her grave," he used to say.

I was really determined not to fall in love again until I met Mary about two years ago. She was working in a restaurant as a waitress in the poblacion. I happened to eat in Geron's Restaurant, where she worked one day. It was she who served me, and the moment I set my eyes on her pretty face, my dormant heart began to be alive again! And from that day on, I became a regular customer of Geron's Restaurant. There were five young waitresses in that restaurant, but I always preferred Mary to accommodate me. Then I began paying her a visit in her home, and began knowing more about her. I learned about her past love life, about her early marriage, about her daughter Jane, and the early death of Florencio, her husband. The series of visits culminated in courtship, and the rest was history!

"Well," father sighed, "if you are really bent on tying the knots with her, then so be it. You're already old enough to decide for yourself. You will have my blessing."

"Thank you, Tatang!" I exclaimed. "Next week, we'll go to poblacion and arrange for our marriage."

"Wow, at last my only son will bring home a wife!" father said with gladness. He looked like a child who was given candies long denied of him.

So to cut the very long story short, I and Mary exchanged vows. As a matter of Filipino practice, I brought her home to Pindangan, our barangay, including Jane, of course. Two years later, Mary gave birth to our firstborn son whom we christened Paul. At age 26, Jane was so excited to have a baby brother, but Tatang was the more excited; for at last, he had seen his first grandson. When Paul was more than one-year old, Tatang and Jane took turns in baby-sitting him. Oftentimes, they baby-sat the boy together. That went on for several months. Within that period, I noticed they way Father looked at Jane. Many times I caught him casting amorous glances on Jane, especially when Jane was wearing her shorts! Meanwhile, Jane's closeness to Tatang never escaped my attention. She prepared Tatang's snacks, washed his dirty clothes, and even massaged Tatang's back... things that a wife did to her husband! Then one day, the unexpected happened.

I and Mary were already on bed one Saturday night when she put her arm across my chest and said, "You know, I have noticed that Tatang and Jane are very unusually close to each other."

"Well maybe because Jane is longing for the attention of a father, while Tatang is yearning for the love of a daughter. And such longing they find to each other," I explained.