Together but Separate

Chapter 21: A Fresh Start

Kate Rojas

"Mag-ingat ka lagi, hija."

Niyakap ako ni Tita Jasmine para magpaalam. Sumama sila ni Tito Niccolo sa paghatid sa akin sa airport.

"Will do, tita. Please, take care of yourself too," sabi ko saka bumaling kay Tito Niccolo. "Especially you, tito. I do not want something bad to happen to you, especially if I am away."

Tito smiled and joked, "I cannot promise that since my best care giver will be away."

Natawa ako saka nilapitan siya at niyakap. He gladly welcomed me, and he also put his arms around me, giving me a tight hug. "Take good care of yourself too, Kate. Do not make us worry."

Tumango ako bilang sagot habang nakayakap pa rin sa kanya.

"Thank you for everything, tito, especially for letting me stay in your house."

"No, Kate. You are the one who did a lot of things for us. We should be the ones thanking you. So, thank you," sabi niya saka humiwalay ng yakap saka tiningnan ako sa mga mata. "And remember that you are always welcome to stay in the house whenever you are here because it is your house too. It might not be under your name, but you are our daughter, so you own it too. Eventually, it will be under yours and Nicko's name as our direct inheritors."

I was touched to hear that tito considered and addressed me as his daughter. The kind of joy it brought in my heart was unexplainable. Before, I could not imagine being close to Nicko's parents. They were a bit distant to me at first. Now, I felt a connection with them. I loved the feeling of being their daughter-in-law. They were so caring and thoughtful to me.

I was actually feeling sad about leaving them. I was used to seeing them every day here in Italy because we lived in the same house. I knew that when we go back home, the situation would be different.

I smiled genuinely at tito. He was like my father. I became attached to him for a short time. I felt like I found a father figure in him. Nabawasan ang pangungulila ko kay tatay dahil tinuturing niya akong anak.

Napabaling ako kay Nicko nung binitawan na ni tito ang mga kamay ko. Nakangiti siya habang nakatingin sa amin.

When he noticed that I was looking at him, he matched my stare and made his way closer to me. He was taller than me, so he had to bend his neck to look at me. As for me, I lifted my head up to look at him.

"I will miss you," sabi niya nang may ngiti sa labi pero nakikita ko ang lungkot sa mga mata niya.

Napangiti ako. That was the first time that he said those words to me. The way he said those words was so genuine. It made my heart flutter. We just admitted that we liked each other less than 12 hours ago but here he was, already showing his romantic side. He even woke up early to make me a special breakfast. He served it with a stem of white rose on the side. I appreciated it so much, especially it was the first time that someone did that to me.

I knew this was only the beginning of his sweet gestures, and I did not want to get used to it. I wanted to feel giddy every time he would do something special to me. I wanted this feeling that I had to last as long as we both live.

"Would you like me to stay?" I joked.

"I would love for you to stay, but that would be so selfish of me to make you stay when you have already missed tons of work for being here," he said.

"I don't regret it, Nick. I love every single moment I spent in here."

He nodded his head and pulled me into a hug. I closed my eyes to savor the moment. Gosh. I would surely miss this.