Tú Eres Mi Sol

LXXVI

"MOM! Ano to, reunion? Bakit hindi ko alam?" Richard asks his mother in jest

"Bubba RJ! This was a scheduled trip, have you forgotten? Now, go, chop chop, help your father with the luggages." Rose tells her son as he goes out to go to help his father.

"Mama, Papa. How are you both? Rob and Lia sends their apologies. They want us to video call them later." Rose says to her parents.

Richard was wrecking his head, his mother says he forgot their trip here. When he was booking his ticket at the airlines, he was told that he had a previous trip scheduled for the weekend so their just rebooking it and he'll have to pay for the rebooking fee.

He's now on his way back to his room after helping his father with the luggages. He still can't remember about his parents' trip to here. Dei has moved her things to their apartment across when his grandparents were still sleeping. He plops himself on the bed, thinking. After rolling on his bed a few times, he picked his phone to check the date today. And he realises, that's why they are here. How insensitive of me, He tells himself.

When Richard was 8, he noticed that every year his maternal grandparents would visit them starting late August to the end of September. He wondered why they didn't come to visit them during Christmas time? His mother would say that her parents loved Christmas in Spain so they like spending Christmas there. 

Being the curious kid he was, he prodded and asked his mother everyday. Until one day, it was right after lunch, his mother sat him down in their room. She told him that he has to listen very carefully and that if he had any questions, he should ask her. Not anyone else.

Of all her kids, Rose thought that Richard was the most curious and pinakamakulit one. Lia and Rob didn't ask her about this until they turned 10. Maybe because Richard was home-schooled so he was always aware of what was happening at home. 

Rose begins her tale. She said that when she was 4, her parents really got excited and told her that they have a surprise for her. She was excited, too. Her parents said that the surprise is not available yet, so she'll have to wait. Rose was always with her father in the panaderia as her mother went to school. She would help count the bread to the delight of the customers and the loyal patrons who knew her would sometimes bring her dulces, to the horror of her father because she'd finish a whole pack in one sitting.

One afternoon, after 4 months, her parents sat her down and said that her mother was pregnant with a baby. That she was going to have a brother soon. They celebrated that night. Rose was excited, she started drawing. Every night she would talk to her baby brother.

It was maybe 3 months after that they closed the panaderia for two days. She was left with Abuelita Maria, their neighbour for a two days. She asked and asked her about where her parents were. She thought they left her. Her father fetched her on the second day. She noticed that their house was quiet. Her father said that her mother was sleeping so she had to be quiet. She went back to her room, happily reunited with her two dolls. 

The next few days, she noticed that it was her father who would feed her and dress her up but he didn't mind, her father tickled her and made her laugh. It would be after two weeks that she'd see her mother, pale and sadness was evident in her eyes. She could not take it anymore, so one day after they closed the panaderia, she asked her father. Her father said that he would tell her tomorrow during siesta, when the panaderia would close for an afternoon break.

"Papa, are we going to the park?"

"Si, bebe."

They walk hand in hand and they stop and sit down under the shade.

"Mi Amor, Do you remember we said that you will have a baby brother soon?"

Rose nods.

"Hermano bebe? (Baby brother)"

"Si, Mi Amor. (Yes, my love)"

"Remember when Papa left you with Abuelita Maria?"

Rose nods in agreement

"The doctor said that your baby brother was not growing as strong and as big as you did in Mama's tummy. He died"

"Why did he die, Papa?"

"Do you remember our dog, bonbon? He became sick and he died and never came back?"

"Si, Papa."

"Your brother would not grow any more in Mama's tummy. He was so small and his body was not strong enough."

"Papa, if I get sick will I die, too?"

"No, bebe. Papa and Mama will take care of you. You have a strong body."

"Papa, when bonbon died, you and Mama always gave me hugs and said that bonbon was no longer feeling ouchie. Papa, can I give Mama a hug?"

"Si. That would be very good, Mi Amor."

"Papa, can I give you a hug?"

Jose Franco opens his arms and they hug.

Rose said that she doesn't remember this conversation until her father told her one time when she saw her mother crying in September.

It would be a week after Rose gave birth to Rob, when she saw her mother crying, that she would hear from her mother about the loss of her younger brother. The mother and daughter cried for an hour, and cried some more. 

Rose's parents lost her brother on the first week of September, so during the first week of September, Rose's father would bring them to weekend trips or to amusement parks. After Rose gave birth, they would now visit every September.

Rose would ensure that her family or at least she and her husband would always be there for her parents during these weeks, every year. 

Richard wanted to think of something to make up for his grandparents. He walked to the kitchen and found his grandparents baking. 

"Abuelo, Mamie, I thought you would be taking a siesta?"

"Mi Cielito, we decided to forgo the siesta and make your mother some picos" His grandfather answered

"Picos, Abuelo?"

"Yes, little breadsticks. Mon Cherie, it's your mother's favorite"

"Can I help, Abuelo, Mamie?"

"Si! Si! M'ijo. Get in here!"

The three of them worked to make these little breadsticks. Finally, the breadsticks are in the oven. The three of them covered in flour. 

"So Mi Cielito, about earlier. It wasn't a question, you know. Your Mamie and I know that you and Dei are together. Why are you hiding it? And when are you going to tell your mother?"

"Tell me what, Papa?" Rose asks

"Mi Amor, what did you hear?" Rose's father asks her.

"Just the last sentence, are you going to tell me what?"

"Mi Amor, I was asking RJ here, when do we tell you that we made your favorite." 

"Papa, Mama, you made me picos?" Rose asks in glee, clapping her hands

"Si, Mi Amor. RJ here helped. It's in the oven." 

Rose excitedly runs to the oven to look at the bread baking. 

Richard meanwhile was sweating profusely, he looked at his grandfather who winks at him.