Damnation Of Devotion ✔

30: Epilogue

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Lani, please!"

Marching through the pouring rain, Lani's anger lessens by the chilling beads from the sky. Her anger bubbles up again when her friend, David, chases her from the coffee shop she had just left.

"They will cut you off if you keep it!"

"Do I look like I give a shit, David? They always criticize every choice I've made and never taught me after! Not a big loss."

"The money they have—"

"No use if they won't give money to my baby. My job isn't lucrative, but enough for both of us."

Her belly bump isn't big yet.

It's been months since she last slept with Sammy, in spite of the late lovers' advice.

Sammy has gone to his home country since last month. Not once did he pick up her calls and messages until he blocked all of her ways of contact last week. Left Lani devastated for three days straight. Barely ate, slept, and cleaned herself up, although she bucked up for her baby at last.

She didn't tell him she was pregnant, knowing it would push him away. He would've forced her to abort their baby, even though it was his fault for pressuring her into unprotected sex. Luckily, she doesn't get any STD or disease after a last-ditch effort at making him faithful.

He fled without reason. She should've taken her giant friends' advice, but she is too in love with him.

Her parents have never been supportive, only financially when she followed their choice of career. Her friends come and go. Her giant friends... didn't take her as their friend, but she understood about their travels. The little bean in her belly is the permanent love she hopes for. In hopes she will raise them to be a better person than everyone she knows, including herself.

David scolds, "Think about this!"

"Already did. For three months."

"During that time, Sammy still—"

Lani huffs. "Sammy doesn't influence my decision about this. I love him but I'll love this baby more. You know how I've always wanted children."

She enters her car. Before she can shut her door, David yanks it back and exclaims, "Not like this. Not when the child is a part of him. They'll remind you of him."

"They will grow up to be their own person, no matter whose genes they inherit. I'll move on. With my baby."

David groans in surrender and lets the door go. She slams the door shut and her friend walks away.

Staring at the blurry windshield and stroking her belly, she whispers, "I'll give you a better life than I ever have. Ho'ohiki wau iā 'oe, e lilo wau i makuahine maika'i loa."

____________________

"Bitty!"

Little Bituin moves away from her Barbie dollhouses and skips down the stairs to her mother, Nik, and father, Aiden, who are lounging in their grand living room.

"Ano ito, nanay?"

Nik beams and envelops her. "My baby, you'll have a baby sister! A miracle! After years of trying—"

Bituin gasps, appalled. "I don't want it!" She wriggles out of her mother's hug.

Aiden holds her shoulders firmly, close to reproaching. "Ano ang mali, Bitty?"

"Tatay! She replace me! Nanay will give more love to her!"

"Aking mahal"—Nik clicks her tongue with a fond expression—"we'll love both of you equally. She will be your best friend too."