More Often Than Not

(Extra Chapter) From the Archives

[EXTRA] this chapter (originally part of the novelette) was written last year, november 2023.

this will be the last update in this story.

• • •

Mom ties the last maroon ribbon onto my hair somewhere on the left side of my head.

"Ready?"

I glance up. I want to ask why the venue was suddenly changed for this year's Christmas. If my memory serves me right, we finished setting up the tree a week ago and Tita Gia said she was looking forward to helping Mom bake the banana bread the morning of Christmas—today. I wonder if paano siya makaka-bake ng banana bread if iba na pala ang venue.

Mom angles her head sideways as she stares at me like that—with her copper brown hair sectioned to one side of her shoulder. I have always wanted to cut my hair that short, but Dad wants me to grow it until it reaches somewhere at the level of my waist. It was long ago pa nga; I think Dad forgot about it na, because my hair is already at the level of my waist but he doesn't even notice even during the mornings we eat breakfast at the dining hall and there's Yaya Nancey brushing my hair.

Now, I am sitting on the edge of my bed and Mom is standing there in front of me with her hands inside the pockets of her brown blazer. One thing about her, she loves the color brown so much that this house always smelled like cinnamon kahit hindi naman Christmas.

"Why, Esmee?" She sits beside me on the bed. "You don't want to go na?"

"The banana bread?" I say. "And Tita Gia?"

For a second, Mom blinks twice. Another second later, she lets out a gentle laugh before letting her palm rest on my left cheek. "We baked the bread already last night. Maaga ka kasi natulog, e'. We thought nga you wanted to help us but Tita Gia said you were already snoring." She giggles. Her eyes do that thing, too, when she giggles. "Don't worry, Tita Gia will be there, okay? We'll see her there. Now, let's carry the banana bread na downstairs—"

"And where's there?" I can't help but raise a brow. "I really thought we're spending Christmas here sa house. Sabi mo."

"I know, anak. This was out of our plan too, okay? Believe me. Giannley and I only knew about it last night! Kaya nga we baked the banana bread until midnight—goodness!" She laughs more and a second later, she pulls me out of my bed. "I'll explain later. Let's go na before Daddy honks at us! Your Tita Gia will be there, I promise! So so promise!"

And there is no place to go but to head straight out of the room! After all, when Margaretti Anne Laviste-Samonte goes frantically happy like this, you have no choice but to feel the same.

❁ ❁ ❁

When I was around six, there was this old Christmas tradition our family constructed for my Christmas as a kid to become more... Christmas-sy. It was mostly Mom's idea. First was to bake dozens of banana bread during the morning of Christmas. Not for us, obviously, because we're only a family of three plus Tita Gia. And it wasn't for me lalo because I don't like banana bread that much to finish even a loaf of it. It was for a children's orphanage run by Benedictine sisters we visited yearly whenever the clock struck nine in the evening. We gave out gifts there then I played with the kids until midnight. Apparently, Mom was friends with two of the Benedictine sisters and their mom also happened to be a good friend of my grandma.

The old tradition stopped when the orphanage was relocated to a province so far from Manila that Mom had no choice but to only send out the banana breads (or other kinds of breads now based sa magustuhan ni Mommy) and Christmas gifts via delivery vans. We never got to visit them again, but Mom and I wrote letters for those kids and the Benedictine sisters every year until now—to which they also write back. Kaya up until this day, we're still connected with them... and it feels so nice to look forward to receiving Sally and Angel's letters every year on the 26th; the two orphan sisters I really got bonded with when I was a kid.