Fading Love

Fading Love 8

"Why did you do that?"
I spat out as I was rubbing the side of my face that Jessica had slapped.
"You're going to come here, unannounced, and then kiss me like we were still lovers. For God's fucking sake, I have a boyfriend!"
Jessica yelled at me while still in a complete panic, and then I saw someone swiftly coming at us. It was Isaac Benedict fucking De Leon.
"What the hell are you doing here topless inside Jessica's house?"
I maneuvered towards him, actually about to let my fist fly into his face, when Jessica shouted at me.
"He's my boyfriend!"
The three of us fell silence.
"I am?"
De Leon confusingly pointed a finger at himself, trying to confirm what Jessica just said.
"Will you just stop bothering us and move on with your life? I can sue you for trespassing and harassment."
Jessica said this while her hands were on her waist.
"Can you please just get out?"
She calmly said this this time while pushing me towards the gate, and I just felt my blood draining from my face.
"But, but." I was already stuttering, but I immediately grabbed the envelope with the medical records Dean had given me.
"How do you explain this? You can't just drive me away again after you left me with no reason at all."
I already broke down in tears and went on my knees, but God, I don't care if I was a six-foot-three, all-grown-up man. I need to know the truth.
"Please, I want to know all the truth. Why did you leave me that night without even saying goodbye? How true are these documents, and is that bastard really your lover?"
My voice was already breaking after those pleas.
"So now you've been going through my records? And excuse you, mister. You don't get to crash here and call Isaac a bastard."
She turned around and left me while I was still on my knees.
"Jessica, please."
I held on to her arms.
"Did you leave a baby outside our house seven years ago?"
Her eyes widened, and there was pain in her expression.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
She pushed me to the side and immediately entered the gate.
I was still about to follow her when Benedict stopped.
"I'm going to talk to her, but please, just go home now, bro."
He sincerely said this and closed the gate.
I sat there completely devastated, and Alec had to even help me get up.
"We're not giving this up, okay?"
He said this as he was trying to lift me up.
I took a last glance inside the house when I saw a little man, almost the same age as Elysse.
The boy was a spitting image of me. It can't be just a coincidence.
Alec drove me back home. I can't shake the face of the child I saw out of my mind.
"Alec, I swear, the boy looked exactly like me."
I blurted it out as my friend was driving.
"Yep, I saw that. I can barely believe it. I mean, why would Jessica keep your child from you?"
He was also puzzled by my ex-girlfriend's reasons.
My mom was the first person I saw.
"Mom, you've kept the things Elysse had when she was left outside our house, right?"
I immediately spat out without even greeting her. I saw Alec wave and smile at her while he was helping himself with some juice from the fridge.
"I believe so. Why?"
"Can I see it?"
Although confused, my mom rummaged over her drawer to find the box of things that was with Elysse on that day.
I snatched the box from her hand as soon as I saw it and dashed to my room.
They were just white cloths, but when I poured them out, there was a note written.
"Elysse Margarett."
So that was really what she was named, even before I named her? And I clearly recognize whose penmanship it was. It was Jessica's.
I also saw a sunflower pendant. It was from the necklace I gave her on our second date.
There's no fooling around anymore, Galanza. I have every single right to know the truth and to know my kid.
I slowly knocked into Myla's room, where Elysse was peacefully sleeping. I silently stared at her as I dropped to my knees.
How did I not notice?
Myla got out of the bathroom, and she instantly hugged me when she saw me in tears.
"Hey, what's the matter?"
I couldn't find the strength to answer, so she tightened her grip on me.
"After all this time, I've been with my daughter, but I never got the chance to know my son."
She was also dumbfounded by what she learned.
"What do you mean you never got the chance to know your son?"
She let go of me, but she made me face her.
"Jessica bore our twins, and for some reason, she disappeared and blatantly denied it."
I broke down in my sister's arms because she's the closest thing to solace right now.
I hugged Elysse and kissed her forehead so gently that I did not wake her up, but I did, and she saw me with my eyes bawling.
"Kuya, are you okay? Why are you crying? Did something happen?"
She sat up and worriedly asked me.
"No, baby. Kuya's fine, and nothing happened."
I forced a smile on her.
"Go back to sleep now. I love you."
I hugged the kid again and tucked her in.
She pouted and scrunched her eyebrows. I can't even unsee Jessica doing that face right now. She always does it when she's annoyed, sad, or confused.
"I love you too, Kuya. You should take some rest, too. Goodnight."
Elysse sweetly said this as she yawned and went back to sleep, while I just sat there wondering why I didn't even recognize Jessica in her.
She's so smart and talented. She's got her mom's eyes and her smile.
Maybe I was so fixated on grieving my past that I overlooked the life there is to live.