Always The Bestfriend

Chapter Twenty Eight

4 years later..

"Mommy! Mommy!" sigaw ni Zeke. He kissed me sa cheeks pagkapasok niya ng bahay. Kasunod niya si Axel. Axel kissed me on the cheek too.

"Hi, boys. How was school?" I asked them. Umupo silang dalawa sa silya.

"It was great Mommy! Nabigyan kaming dalawa ni Kuya ng Star!" masiglang sabi ni Zeke at pinakita ang kamay niya na may star.

"Wow naman. Ikaw, Axel? What happened today?" I asked Axel.

"It was fine po." He answered. I chuckled at Axel's answer.

Si Axel ang tahimik sa kanilang dalawa. Hindi katulad ni Zeke na madaldal at maraming kwento. Hindi siya laging nagvovoice out ng thoughts. May sarili din siyang mundo. But my twins are smart for four year olds.

"Hey, babe." Tawag sakin ng lalaking kakapasok lang ng kusina.

I smiled when I saw him. He was wearing a suit. Siguro galing itong trabaho. He hugged me then he kissed my temple.

"Hi." I greeted back.

"Tito Ian!" Bati ni Zeke sa Tito niya. He hugged Ian and Ian laughed.

"Hey, Zeke." He greeted and ruffled Zeke's hair.

Ian Devis. He was a dear friend of mine. I met him one at my shop. Malimit siyang bumili ng perfume ko dun for his Mom eh. He used to court me pero tumigil din agad nang sinabi kong ayaw ko. I have two kids. Sinabi niya sakin noon na having kids is not a problem for him. Aalagaan naman daw niya but I refused. Ayoko talaga eh. I told him to that I treated him like an older brother.

"Boys, magbihis muna kayo while I prepare merienda." sabi ko. They both got off the chair and went upstairs to change.

"Don't run, Zeke!" I said.

"So, how was work?" I asked Ian. He sighed and slumped down on the chair. He loosened his tie and I helped him. Bumalik ako sa stove para tignan kung ayos na ang spaghetti sauce na niluluto ko.

"Tiring. Ang daming paper works." He said and I chuckled.

"Perks of being the CEO." sabi ko dito. I turned off the stove and faced him.

"Yeah." He said. "Nakameeting ko si Storm kanina." He said again and I stared at him.

Storm. Hearing his name made my tummy twist. I bitterly smiled.

3 years ago...

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked Storm once he got inside our room. Kakatapos ko lang paliguan ang mga bata. They were already three kaya medyo mahirap na din silang paliguan.

Storm sighed. "I think we should stop this?" He said. Kumunot ang noo ko. He went to the cabinet and took out his luggage from the top part of the cabinet.

"What?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"

"This. We should stop this. All of this." He said and he finished packing his clothes.

"Storm, may anak na tayo..." I said and lumapit ako sa kanya at hinawakan ang braso niya. Lumayo naman siya sakin.

"I justㅡI can't do this anymore." He said. Hindi siya tumitingin sakin. I was trying to catch his eyes pero ayaw niya talaga magpahuli.

"But.." I said.

"Look, Sunny. I don't love you. I tried but I just can't. Si Rain padin kasi eh. It has always been Rain. I'm sorry, Sunny.." he said while looking at me straight at the eyes.

"Oh." sabi ko. Hindi ko na alam ang sasabihin ko eh. Alam ko naman na hindi niya ako kayang mahalin. I would sometimes follow him pagkaalis niya ng office. Pupunta siya lagi sa bahay ni Rain and they would date somewhere. Minsan naman nakikita ko na tumatawag si Rain sa kanya o kaya ay katext niya.

"I'm sorry, Sunny." He said before getting his luggage and leaving me there.

I smiled bitterly when I remembered the scene. That was three years ago but it seemed like it was just yesterday. He chose Rain over the twins. I cannot believe him. Matagal na akong hindi nakakarinig ng balita tungkol sa kanya. Hindi ko pa din siya nakikita simula nung gabing yun. Maybe nasa ibang bansa na sila. May pamilya na kaya sila? Do they have babies na din?

"Really?" sabi ko kay Ian. He smiled pero hindi umabot sa mga mata. He nodded at me. I nodded too then I prepared the twins' meryenda.

Ayoko pagusapan si Storm. Nasasaktan pa ako. He knew I love him pero he chose to hurt me. Siguro he thought it was the right way. But it wasn't part. For his part siguro, oo. Pero sa part ko? It was not. It hurt me, yes. I thought na makakamove on ako agad kasi nasaktan talaga ako but no. Hindi pala. Nasasaktan pa rin ako hanggang ngayon.

I called the twins and they followed me downstairs. Umupo agad sila sa silya.

"Yay! Spaghetti!" Zeke exclaimed. I smiled. Paborito ng dalawa ang spaghetti. It was always their favorite lalo na kapag may hotdog ito.

They started eating happily. Axel and Zeke were telling stories. I sighed. Kahit kapag tinitignan ko sila, nasasaktan ako ng kaunti. They looked like their Dad. Namimiss ko naman si Storm kahit papano. I still love him kasi eh.

"Kuya has amos." Natatawang sabi ni Zeke habang tinuturo ang kuya niya. Tumawa din si Axel at pinunasan ang amos sa mukha niya.

"Your kids are so cute." sabi ni Ian. I smiled at him and nodded.

"Yes, they are and I love them."

---

"The end.." I said then closed the book that I just read to them.

Axel yawned and went near me then kissed my cheeks and hugged me. Ganun din ang ginawa ni Zeke. I hugged them back at kissed their cheeks.

"Goodnight Mommy." sabi nilang dalawa.

"Goodnight, babies." sabi ko pabalik.

They crawled back to their beds and I tucked them. Axel was hugging his pillow which was mine before. Zeke naman was okay with his blanket.

"I love you, Mommy." sabi nilang dalawa.

"I love you too, babies. Sleep na kayo." I said before turning the light off and opening their night light. Lumabas na ako ng kwarto at dahan dahan sinara ang pintuan.

Pumasok ako sa kwarto ko na katapat lang ng kwarto ng mga anak ko. This house was different. Hindi ito yung bahay ni Storm. I left Storm's house two weeks after Storm left.

Humiga na ako sa kama. This day was a bit tiring. My perfume shop was still open. It had a lot of branches na nga eh. With the help of Blair ofcourse. Speaking of Blair. She and Matthew were always bickering parin pero I think that Blair likes Matthew and Matthew feels the same.

I lied down sa kama and I looked at the ceiling. Laging ganito. At the end of the day, I would end up alone in my room and staring at the ceiling, letting silence and loneliness embrace me. I sighed. I wish Ian was here but he wouldn't lessen the loneliness in my heart. It wouldn't fill up the big hole in my heart. Only one person could fill that up. Unfortunately, that person is no longer in my life.

I closed my eyes when I felt tears building up. Ugh. I'm not going to cry again. It's stupid to cry all the time just because of one person who left me. Babalik ba siya kung iiyak ako? Hindi. Crying is useless. Well, hindi naman siya as in useless. It helps naman sometimes because it somehow lessens the pain and heaviness that I'm feeling right now.

I closed my eyes and let myself dose to sleep. Maybe tomorrow would be a different day. Maybe tomorrow something will happen. Huh. Who am I kidding? Nothing special is going to happen tomorrow.

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