Rewind

Chapter Thirteen: All Out

For the first time in months, my alarm clock was spared from having to wake me up early on a weekend. I sprang out of bed faster than an Olympic runner some thirty minutes before the alarm went off because I just couldn't contain my excitement. You couldn't blame me for that. Who wouldn't be delighted to finally have both parents coming along with them in a school event for the first time in five years?

I barged into the master's bedroom to find that both my parents were still fast asleep. They weren't sleeping on the same bed, as I had expected. Daddy snored heavily while lying facedown on the spare mattress he brought out from the guest room. A large microfiber blanket was wrapped around him. Mommy, on the other hand, slept peacefully under a thick layer of comforters on the queen-sized bed.

I nudged Mommy and whispered for her to get up. The gesture rendered no response from her except for a grunt. I tried doing the same to Daddy, but he didn't answer either.

For a moment, I stood still in the middle of the room and thought of possible ways on how to awaken my parents. My glance fell upon my mom, then my dad, then back on my mom again. Then a glance at the clock. 6:15 am.

When on earth are those two sleepyheads going to get up?

I was left with no other choice but to use all my might to push Mommy off the bed. And admittedly, she fell real hard. On the mattress. And for my dad, surely.

But how, in the most aggravating of circumstances, was her sleep not disrupted? Things don't usually go this way, yet now it seemed as if she's practically dead to the world. Not even the sound of scotch tape being peeled off could make her open one eye, at the very least.

The noise created by the fall finally woke him up. He propped himself up carefully on one elbow and squinted his eyes. He didn't seem to be bothered by my presence in their room. And the fact that my mom was still sleeping soundly beside him despite falling off the bed.

"Hoy, Sleeping Beauty, gumising ka na," he whispered to her, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. Still no answer.

That didn't discourage him one bit, though. "Nap time's over, Aurora. Get up," he said a little louder this time. She grunted, yet she still wasn't awake.

I decided to pitch in and tried to tickle her feet. For a person in a deep slumber, her reflexes were fast enough to be able to pull away her feet from me in the shortest amount of time.

But she still wouldn't get up.

"Daddy, ano na?"

"That leaves me with no choice."

"Huh?"

"Basta, just watch."

Daddy inched up a little more towards her, close enough to see every detail of her face. I could see that he was smiling to himself as he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Of course I expected that.

And then he slowly pressed his lips on her right cheek.

Well, I didn't see that coming. As far as I know, back hugs were more common to the two of them. Most of the time, they'd only exchange kisses after they've sent me to bed. I know because their giggles were loud enough to pass through the walls of my room.

After he had kissed her, the moment we've both been waiting for finally came. Mommy's eyes flew open to the sight of Daddy and I grinning at her. She rubbed her eyes and then squinted at the both of us.