Cards: Ash Crisanto

Chapter 42: Enemy

Mere's POV

"I named him after my grandfather Thierry Ezkales, and Aelyxis is from my parents' name. Aera and Felix." kwento ko habang nasa kotse kami, magkatabi kami sa likod.

He kept on asking me things about Aelyx and of course I'm more than happy to oblige, lalo na pag nakikitang kong kahit papano'y natutuwa siya. Well. 'Kahit papano' is the the key word, dahil hindi naman siya ganong masaya lalo na't hindi warm ang pagtanggap ng anak niya ngayon.

Aelyx doesn't want to be touched by anyone other than me. Alam kong gusto niyang hawakan ang anak pero dahil siguro wala pa sa mood si baby ay panay ang iyak nito. Buti nga ngayon at nakatulog na.

"Do you have his pictures on your phone?" he asked, I hesitated since ang dami kong pictures sa personal phone ko, including my pictures with Onyx, hindi naman marami but there are still some.

I pulled my phone out, holding Aelyx with my other arm. I quickly typed the password then opened Aelyx's album para yun lang ang makita niya.

It's not that I'm keeping it a secret na medyo meron kaming something ni Onyx, it's just that, magulo ngayon I'm walking on a thin ice here with Ash I don't want him to flip shit with this one. Inabot ko yun sa kanya.

"Seth's the one who took that. I passed out kasi. Took me days bago magkamalay..." he looked at me sharply,

"Why? What happened?" I shrugged, indicating that it's no big deal even if that time, it really is. Muntik na kong mamatay bago ako ic-section, 3 days kaya akong naglabor!

"It's normal for a woman to have complications during delivery. Especially in my case, maselan ako magbuntis."

Natahimik si Ash, ngunit kitang kita ang pagtagis ng bagang niya. In this kind of reaction from him, it feels like I'm looking at a whole new person, I've never seen him this gloomy...and dark.

I took the phone from him, putting it down. Saka ko inayos ng buhat si Aelyx at iniabot sa kanya. Hindi siya kumilos tila hindi napapansin ang pag-abot ko.

"He's asleep, you can carry him." he took Aelyx from my arms, hesistantly. "He's so heavy na. Nakakangalay." Ngiti ko ngunit di ako sinuklian, ang suplado!

"Akin na yung phone mo." sabi niya, inabot ko ulit iyon sa kanya, dahil sa hindi naman nalock ay di ko na tinignan.

"Who's these guys?" pinakita niya sakin ang picture, napakagat ako sa labi ko.

It's our picture sa beach in Cali, around 1 year old si Aelyx kasama namin ang mga pinsan ni Klaus at kapatid ni Onyx.

"I know Klaus and that guy." sabi nito habang nakatingin sa mga mata ko. "You two seems so close Therese, did you really try to replace me?"

"I did try, and I tried so hard." namamaos kong sabi, "I became friends with Serena's uncles first dahil kapit bahay ko lang sila, sa kanila ko nakilala si Onyx, and I don't know. Naging malapit ang loob niya kay Aelyx, well, you can't blame him, your son can be really charming if he wants to." he smiled a little, but only a little. Nawala rin iyon agad, hinalikan niya sa ulo ang anak bago naging seryoso muli.

"Then why are you single now?" his eyes gave nothing away. Just pure coldness and indifference.

"I told you already. I couldn't love him enough, and he knows it."

Nagbrowse pa siya ng nagbrowse, most of it was Aelyx's pictures pero may mga naliligaw na picture namin nina Onyx pero may mga kasama naman kami.

"He loves to swim?" Aniya ng makita ang litratong nakasakay sa surfing board si Aelyx at nakalutang sa tubig.

"Yeah." tipid kong sagot, nagbrowse pa siya ng nagbrowse paminsan minsan'y nangingiti sa pictures ng anak pero mas madalas ay bakas sa mukha nito ang lungkot at pangungulila. At ako ang may kasalanan nun. I kept our son for myself, sobrang selfish ko.