Strings of Fate

Strings of Fate : Chance (01)

2014 - Wellington, New Zealand

Arabella

"C'mon kids I'm going to be late for my rehearsals! Your breakfast is ready!" Ara shouted for her kids as she is in a hurry. 10AM ang call time niya and it's already 9AM.

"Coming Mom!" She heard the both if them answered.

It's been 10 years since she left the Philippines and never came back.

Her eldest Aries is already 13 years old and her youngest, Amalthea is 9 years old.

She never had the chance to tell Argus that she's pregnant, the truth was a month after she left the Philippines he called her and said he wants to follow her to NZ but she declined.

He doesn't know about Aries and she had no idea how she can explain the existence of her son to him. Magugulo lang ang lahat.

After she turned him down, their communication slowly stops.

The surprising news came two months after when she suddenly fainted during Aries' dentist visit.

Looking back, the first thing that came to her mind was to tell Argus the news. She even thought of finally accepting his marriage proposal, if only to give her unborn baby a chance to have a father, something that she failed to give her eldest.

She called him immediately when they reached their house.

She remembered how excited she was when he answered the phone and ask him if he can visit her in New Zealand. However what he told her next was enough to make her frozen solid on her feet.

He said he cannot visit because he's getting married in three months time.

That moment, she decided not to bother him anymore. She's late. He's already marrying someone that is not her.

Somehow, she felt hurt and regretted that she didn't said yes to his proposal, she wanted to ask him why? Yet she didn't.

Instead, she wished him goodluck.

No one knows she got pregnant as well aside from her family. She never told them who the father is.

When she left the Philippines she was determined to leave it all behind and just come back when she's ready.

She initially thought that she will just move-on from Rob, she didn't anticipated that she had to deal with letting go of Argus as well.

She was just disappointed? Argus is the only constant man in her life and him getting married would mean she would somehow lose him as well.

She decided to just focused on her career as a theatre actress and her kids.

She is a very proud mother of two wonderful kids.

"Good morning Mom!" The two greeted her and kissed her cheeks.

"Good morning babies!" They grunted by the way she called them but accepted her kisses anyway.

"Mom, our grades are already released and guess what?" Amalthea excitedly asked her.

"What? Did you do well or baka naman you're bagsak a, remember if you guys failed there will be no wish granted?" She knew that her kids always do well in school she just like to tease them.

"Mom! don't you trust us? Kami bumagsak sa school? That's impossible!" Aries boasted while smiling widely, sa dalawa si Aries ang mas comfortable mag tagalog, both knew how to speak in tagalog since ang nanny nila while growing up is also a filipina but Aries knowing that he is a filipino insisted that he should be good in that language too, while Amalthea, although nakaka intindi ng tagalog she is not much of a speaker because when she was younger she loves to play and interact with other people kaya mga locals palagi ang nakaka usap.

"I was just kidding you guys, I know you guys are excellent and will always do well. So what do you guys want as a reward? We can go on a vacation, I will just do this last show and my contract already ended and will not renew until after 4 months so we can go wherever you want to go. Thea, diba you said you want to visit the Bahamas? We can go there next month." She excitedly told her kids, knowing that their school won't start again until after 2 months. Amalthea's birthday is also coming up in December.

Biglang sumeryoso ang mukha ni Aries at bigla siyang kinabahan.

"Mom, we want to go to the Philippines." Natigilan naman si Ara sa sinabi ng anak.

"Why? I thought napag usapan na natin 'to mga anak? You know that I'm not ready yet to go back and face whatever I left there in the Philippines?" The kids didn't know the real story about what happened to her in the Philippines.

She's still a coward for that.

"But when will you be ready Mom? I want to meet my father" Amalthea asked and she's nearly in tears. Naawa siya sa mga anak niya because she knew it is hard to grow-up without a father.

"Mabuti pa si kuya, kilala niya yung Daddy niya, samantalang ako—" Amalthea wasn't able to continue because she already bursted in tears.

Arabella's tears escaped her eyes as well. Masama ba siyang ina because she deprived her daughter of meeting her father?

Her heart broke upon seeing her daughter in that state. She then saw Aries hugging his sister.

"Amalthea, I'm sure Mom has reasons why you cannot meet your Dad yet. Pero diba? My Dad said, he can be your Daddy too?" Aries told Amalthea, trying to console her.

It was true though, that although she and Rob are no longer together he still reach out for the sake of Aries, and the effort he give to Aries is also extended to Amalthea.

He's a good man now. They are good but not good enough to be back together and whether she admits it or not— somehow, she's still waiting for another chance to be with him.

Umaasa siya, na baka— sa huli, sa dulo— sila pa rin dalawa.

"Please Mom! He doesn't need to know who I am, I just wanted to see him." Amalthea pleaded from her brother's embrace.

"I don't know anything about him except he is your friend and I was an accident." She was shocked upon hearing that.

"Where did you hear that?" She asked in disbelief. She never said anything about Argus. They don't even know his name.

"I heard you and Tita Sharon talking one time. She said I look so much like my Dad as I grow and she said that it was sad that he never knew about me— then you said, what's the point when it was just an accident that he got you pregnant." Amalthea cried harder at that.

It hurts Arabella to see her crying. At 9 years old, Amalthea is smart enough to understand that her life isn't normal and Arabella's guilt is eating her everyday.

Amalthea went to her and hug her while crying. "Mom, I'm not a kid anymore, I understand that you are not ready maybe because our dad hurts you before but you don't have to be involved in this. I just want to see him and at least get to know him a little bit and then I will wait for you to be ready to tell him about me."

"Can we talk about this once I get home from my rehearsals?" She's stalling for time to answer because right now nalilito talaga siya.

Maybe it's time to go back, maybe it's time to face him again.