FUR

Sparks of Hope

FUR's PiOwVi

Next Day

Oh my! Oh my! Hindi kagaya nung ibang nababagabag o naiinsomnia tuwing gabi, yung puyat pero nakatulog kahit kaunti, kasi ako, wala talaga akong tulog eh. Kahit ni katiting ng isang oras wala talaga. Taena! Ampanget ko na lalo. :'(

Push ko pa ba? Eh sa hindi talaga ako makatulog eh. Na-Kuya Ed tuloy ako, 'Walang Tulugan' yung motto nun diba? Leshe!

Kaya bumaba na ako sa ground floor ng bahay namin. Oh aarte pa? Kahit dukha, two-storey building 'tong palasyo namin mga ate't kuya! Wag ka! Sampalin kita diyan eh. Haha. Labyo!

And when I reached the last step of our staircase, yes, staircase talaga, ayaw ko ng stair, wag ka! Hindi ka inaano. Masasampal na talaga kita. Walang tulog ang ate, so PMS mode ako ngayon. As I was saying, narinig kong may kausap si mama Panda bear, black&white, eating team Bamboo, ai leche, basta ganun, while sitting beside her is my nemesis, my dearest sister. Hindi ko naaaninag ang mukha ng babaeng kinanakausap nila so lumapit ako sa kanila.

Upon reaching the living room, mama Panda's face shifted to a shocked expression as she saw me nearing them. Grabe! Galing talaga ni mama Panda. I-Star Magic na 'yan! Haha. Okay. Seryoso na'to. Mukhang mabigat na atmospera ang dala nitong babaeng 'to ah? Matatadyakan ko to eh. Haha. Syempre biro lang. Kahit papaano may good manners and right conduct pa rin naman si ate. Ahihi.

Nakita ni white lady ang expression ni mama Panda and so with her sensible senses (redundunt? I know.), she turned around facing me. Yes. White lady in a white dress with a white skin complexion. Ang kinis at ang gondooo kahit may kaedaran na! Ay wag siyang magtatangkang tumabi sa'kin. Maeetsapwera ang skin tone ko pag nagkataon. Heh! Eh sa maitim ang ate niyo eh. Bakit ba? Pft!

"Anak!" - sabayang pagbigkas nina Mama Pandora at who-knows-who white lady.

Then there goes my heartbeat.

DugDug!

Fck! I cant fall for this woman. Hindi kami talo and she's too old for me. Esss... Seryoso na talaga, am I thinking that this woman has to do something with me? And why did she call me "Anak"? Oh no Freddie Aguilar! O_O

"Mama Panda? Who's this white lady, este, ang magiliw nating bisita sa umagang ito?" - trying to stay calm and still, maintaining my posture.

"Anak, Ulysses, may sasabihin ako sa'yo at sana wag kang magalit sa'kin." - Mama Panda.

"NO! Galit ako! Ayoko na! Bitiwan mo ako!" - Ako.

"Anak, 'wag tanga, walang humahawak sa'yo." - Mama Panda.

Ay? Tama rin naman mga ate. Naetsapwera nga lang ang acting ko! Heh!

"Anak, natatandaan mo pa ba 'yong babaeng dumalo sa libing ni papa Diego mo? You were just 13 back then. She's the same woman na umako sa lahat ng gastusing hospital ng papa mo. At kahit financially challenged tayo, pinush ko talaga ang pagpaaral sa'yo dun sa St. La Push, together with your sister, kasi suportado kayo ng babaeng tumutulong sa'tin.

Ang babaeng yun at ang babaeng nasa harapan mo ngayon ay nag-iisa. And I know you will hate me for not telling you this, but she's your real mother. Ang lumuwal sa'yo sa mundong iyong ginagalawan." Mama Panda said.

Then that's my que. My tears started to fall. I wanna go wild and screaming but I just can't. My mama raised me to be educated. And for sure, she, they, got a huge reason behind this.

"I'm listening. Let me here you out first." - Me.

"Pandora, let me explain these things to my son. Let's take a sit first, shall we?" - real Mama.

"So, I bet your name's Teresa? Tama ba? The one who called last night?" - Me

"Exactly, my son. My full name is Teresa Millan-Renalde(pronounced as 'reynaldi'). Your father's name is Fernancio Renalde and you have two other siblings--"

"My half-siblings?"

"No. Your siblings with me and your father. I never married another man except your father. So, let me tell you all the details of how you'd ended up with this situation...

18 years ago...
Teresa's PiOwVi

I am now giving birth to my third son. Beside me, holding my hands and keeping me still eversince I started my labor, is my husband.

"Honey, you're almost there. Let's get this done with." My husband said to me, smiling.

"Ahhhh! Ahhhh! I can do this. Wooohhhh! Rakrakan na'to!" hahaha. Ang baliw ko talaga!

"Mrs. Renalde, we're almost there. Push pa more." The doctor said.

Pagkatapos ng limang dekada, nailuwal ko na rin ang pangatlong anak namin. Pero bago ko pa mahawakan ang aking anak, nagsalitang muli si doc,

"Mr. and Mrs. Renalde, wag po sana kayong magugulat sa inyong makikita."

Lumapit si doc at...

"Uwwwaaahhhh! Bakit ganyan yan? Honey, I swear! Hindi ako nagkasalang mangaliwa. Ikaw lang ang mahal ko. At ikaw lang ang lalaking pinagkalooban ko ng aking perlas ng silanganan."

"Baliw! Wala naman akong may sinasabi ah? But I guess, I know what just happened." - Husband

"What? Tell me! Ba't kayumanggi't mabuhok ang anak natin? Samantalang tayo at ang dalawa pa nating mga anak ay mga mapuputi't makikinis. Bakit siya ganyan? Posible bang magkaganyan sa'ting pamilya? Ahuhuhu."

"Ganito kasi yun. May father had this same kind of condition before. Well, it really runs in our blood. You should've seen him, my dear. Pero yun nga't namatay rin when I was 10. But after my mom gave birth to me, it was found na hindi ko namana ang ganyang kalagayan ni papa. The doctor once said na hindi ko man daw namana, still, I have those kind of genes in me. So may possibility talaga na maiinheret ng magiging anak ko ang kalagayang natamo ng ama ko."

"But my ghad! Hindi to matatanggap ni mama hon. Matatakwil niya ang anak natin pag nagkataong makikita niya 'to. She's a beauty critique. And very soon, she will see our son as a threat to our family, to our kind. Ang taas ng ego nun eh!"

Yes. To our kind talaga. My mother was once an International Ambassadress in her early times and who had won lots of beauty pageants.

And of course, ako ba namang anak hindi rin magpapatalo. She trained me when I was a kid. And when I grew up, pati ang pagpili ng mga nobyo ko'y kanya na ring pinapakialaman. I have grown tired of her dictating my life. At sana, palampasin niya na sana 'to, alang-alang man lang sa anak namin.

After 5 months...

"Hon, happy birthday. Your celebration tonight will surely be one of your best parties ever."

"Yeah. I hope so hon. Pero ngayon rin dadating si mama. I don't want to hide Finn from her. Eitherway, I don't want Finn to grow up hiding from everyone else."

Later, on Teresa's birthday...

"...Thank you all for coming. And please do enjoy the night."

After I gave my speech, I went down and I looked for my husband. When I spotted him on the garden talking with the guests, I came near him, asking...

"Hon, where's our children?"

"Oh!? I thought they're with their nannys? C'mon, let's got find them hon."

Oh my! I think I'm having a bad feeling about this.