Maine's phone rang in the middle of the night. No one really calls her on her phone so when it rang at 3am, Maine almost jumped when she got startled.
"....h....hello...." She answered groggily after "seeing" Geb's name on her screen; her eyes were still heavy with sleep so she wasn't able to focus them immediately.
"Maine!" Geb excitedly said.
"B...Bakit?! May nangyari kay Rj?!" Maine sat up on her bed with a start.
"Maine!"
"Ano nga!? Anong nangyari?"
"Maine' ang una nyang sinabi kani-kanina lang....mukhang gusto na nya ulit magsalita!"
"Huh!?....Talaga!?" Maine replied, tearfully.
"Oo...may sinasabi pa syang "Mommy" saka iba pang parang words pero di ko masyadong maintindihan....pero parang nagsasalita na sya...."
"Wow! Salamat sa good news!!"
Maine excitedly finished whatever work she had for that day so she could visit Rj right away. Even Donna was surprised at Maine's spritely attitude that day. The client they were dealing with was not very nice to them but Maine didn't seem to mind. She happily chatted with the client who in the end, was more pleasant.
However, Maine's expectations burst when Rj hardly said anything that afternoon. He just grunted, growled and made a lot of sounds. When they thought he had uttered a word, it turned out to be just more sounds.
"Ganyan talaga....isipin mong parang baby ulit si Rj....pinag-aaralan ulit nya lahat-lahat...." Geb told her after her visit. "Diba nga nung una, ayaw magpaiwan sa gabi pag-uuwi ka na...umiiyak parang bata....pero now, okay na sya...di na umiiyak at tinataas ang kamay para magbabay sa yo...."
"Oo Meng...tiyaga lang talaga...." Donna reassured her.
"Oo, anak....nagpapasalamat nga kaming andyan ka lagi para kay Rj e....lahat tayo naghihintay ng kanyang "pagbalik"....nakaantay na tayo ng ganito katagal....wag susuko, anak...." Mommy Cherry reassured her.
In the weeks after, Rj uttered more words which Maine actually heard and witnessed. At first he was mostly parroting his therapists or Geb but soon regained understanding of what was being told to him.
Like a growing child, he was drawn to cartoons and picture books which he liked looking at. Maine saw this as an opportunity for Rj's "development" and she was encouraged by his therapists and doctors to read to him regularly.
Reading became their new routine. Maine would read to him a "bedtime story" every night before she went home.
