What Love Is

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CJ knows that he's incredibly lucky. He knows that not everyone has two parents who are together and happily married. He knows that even less get to witness the love and depth of devotion that his parents have for each other. But the older CJ gets, the more he realizes that Clark and Leah have set his standards for love incredibly high.

When he was five, Daddy surprised him by picking him up from school. Usually it was Tito Tonio that picked him up.

CJ's eyes lit up when he saw Daddy outside of the school. He ran down the steps and into Daddy's waiting arms. "Daddy!"

"Hey Buddy!" Daddy hugged him tightly and lifted him up off his feet.

Henry followed at a slower pace behind CJ. Daddy put CJ down and gave Henry a big hug too. CJ noticed how Henry's smile instantly got wider.

"Daddy, bakit kayo ang sumundo sa amin?" CJ asked. "Wala po ba kayong work?"

"Umalis ako ng maaga dahil magpapasama ako sa inyo." He took one each of CJ and Henry's hands and they started walking to the parking lot.

"Magpapasama saan?" CJ asked.

"Ibibili natin ng surprise si Mommy."

"Anong surprise?" CJ wondered.

"Birthday po ba ni Tita Leah?" Henry asked.

Daddy laughed. "Hindi niya birthday."

"Anniversary niyo?" CJ asked. But that wasn't right, it was their anniversary last month. That's why he knows the word anniversary.

"Hindi namin anniversary. Diba last month lang 'yon?"

They reached the car and Daddy helped them put on their seatbelts.

When Daddy was behind the wheel, he said "Gusto ko lang i-surprise si Mommy dahil mahal ko siya."

They went to a flower shop and Daddy asked what kind of flowers they thought Mommy would like. He pulled out a bouquet of roses but CJ frowned.

"Diba roses ang binigay niyo sa kanya last month?" He asked.

Daddy studied the roses. "You're right. Roses is what I always give for special occasions. Classic pero minsan nakakasawa rin."

Henry looked a little bored beside him but CJ was taking this task seriously. He circled around the shop, examining all of the flowers. There were pink pointy ones that looked pretty but didn't seem right for Mommy. There were white flowers, purple flowers, blue flowers... flowers of all colors. Finally CJ saw some that reminded him of Mommy. He pointed.

"Sunflowers," Daddy smiled. "Why sunflowers, Buddy?"

"Dahil pretty siya and happy, like sunshine, like Mommy."

"You know what? I think that's perfect."

Daddy took a bunch of sunflowers and paid for it. When they got home, Mommy had merienda ready for them on the kitchen table. Daddy hid the flowers behind his back and presented them to Mommy.

"Wow!" Mommy said in surprise. "Para saan 'to, Daddy?"

"Just because I love you," he smiled.

"Thank you." She kissed him. "I love you too."

CJ watched them stare into each other's eyes, doing that thing where it was like they were speaking without words.

"You know what? CJ and Henry helped me pick the flowers out," Daddy said.

"Talaga?" Mommy pressed a kiss to both CJ and Henry's foreheads. "Thank you, mga Anak. Sige na, kain na."

CJ and Henry dug into their sandwiches while Mommy put the Sunflowers in a vase. Then she placed them on the center of the kitchen table. When she was walking around the table, Daddy pulled her onto his lap and Mommy's laughter rang out in the kitchen. She fed Daddy the rest of his sandwich.

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