Everything Has Changed

XXII

Three weeks away from the twins' birthday and Migo is almost done preparing his birthday gift for his children. This was the idea Olive gave him to make them happy and probably even cry tears of joy. He thinks that it's a great idea. No father has ever done that kind of gift to his children (or at least that's what he thinks). All he can do right now is to hope that the kids will like his sweet gesture. He just can't stop staring at his work and smile. But his ringtone takes his attention away from it. He answers his phone. "Hello, Stacey? Oh, napatawag ka?" He smirks. "Date? Seriously?" He chuckles. "No, no, of course not. It's not that I don't want to. Pero kasi..." He sighs with a smile. "Okay, fine, mamaya... Yes... Oo nga po... Indian ka dyan? Hindi ako marunong mang-indian 'no!" He laughs. "Sige, sige... Bye." He hangs up and shakes his head while chuckling. He turns when he hears footsteps in the same room where he is. He widens his eyes a bit. "Tri-- Tricia. Andyan ka pala."

Patricia shows him a small smile. "Kadarating ko lang."

He nods. "Napadaan ka?"

She frowns. "You called me, remember? Sabi mo you want to show me your birthday gift for the kids."

"Ah! Yeah, oo nga pala. Sorry." He gulps. "Halika, eto na yun."

She walks closer to him and observes every thing she sees in the room. And as her heart enjoys what her eyes are seeing, a tear suddenly falls. She closes her eyes and smiles. She wipes the tear and looks down.

He approaches her and hands her his handkerchief. "You okay?"

She doesn't take it and looks up at his work instead. "Beautiful..." She sniffs. "Nakakaiyak sa sobrang ganda."

He doesn't take his eyes off her, observing her reaction.

She chuckles. "They look so cute here, oh. Parang never nagaaway." She hears him smile and she looks at him. "Maganda, sobra. Thank you."

He nods. "Anything to make my children happy."

She takes a deep breath and looks at the present(s) again. "Ano kaya 'no?" She crosses her arms. "Paano kaya kung... Hindi tayo nag hiwalay noon?"

His smile slowly fades away.

"I wonder how our children would've grown up if their father would've been with them from the very start." She smiles. "Siguro they would've been much happier..."

He's still looking at her, thinking if he should ask her why she's saying that or not.

"Maybe I would've been happy." She looks at him, trying hard not to get awkward, although knowing that the topic itself is. "Ikaw, what do you think? If we didn't split up before, tayo pa rin kaya hanggang ngayon? Mas madami pa kayang makukulit na laging tawag nang tawag ng Mama't Papa sa bahay?"

He wets his lips as he looks down.

"Or... You think it couldn't have worked out either?"

He clears his throat. "Ako?" He looks up at her again. "Sa tingin ko... We'd still be together until now if we didn't separate." He puts his hands in both pockets of his pants. "Siguro masaya. Masaya pa rin tayo siguro hanggang ngayon."

She smiles, finally satisfied to know that he thinks the same way as she does.

He pouts and thinks for a moment before speaking again. "But it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to turn out, right?" He chuckles emptily. "Or at least, the way I wanted it to turn out..."

She frowns and her smile has hidden itself.

"I guess that's just how life really goes on with some people like me... Unfair." He shrugs. "Yung kahit gaano mo ka-gusto, kung hindi naman para sayo, hindi para sayo." He sighs. "And eventually, ang tanging mapaninindigan mo na lang ay ang kasabihan na... Everything happens for a reason. I'm sure there's a reason naman why we didn't end up together."