Years After (Completed)

11 - Dilemma

Laura was tossing and turning in bed as she becomes restless after their talk with Althea. She prefers that Althea gets mad instead of simply saying that she wanted to go to sleep. She wants to know what is on Althea's mind but she does not want to pressure the eldest of the Monteiro grandchildren. Perhaps, giving her time to absorb all the revelations is the best way to do.

"Are you bothered too?" she heard Victor suddenly said.

"Hindi mo maiaalis na mag-alala ako. This is not how we planned of revealing the truth to her. Nung hindi pa nya sinasabi, natatakot na ako, ngayon mas lalo akong natakot. Hindi kasi ganung reaction ang inaasahan ko. She quietly cried and I wanted to stay with her all night. I want to hug her the whole night and repeatedly tell her that we love her so much." Laura said.

"Let's just leave her alone for a while to ponder everything. Wala naman siguro tayong nakalimutang sabihin sa kanya, at tingin ko nasagot naman natin nang maayos ang lahat ng tanong nya. She is only sixteen, and her reaction is normal. Let's just hope that she takes the truth with an open-mind. Althea is a smart girl, she'll figure out that we intend to keep the secret, to protect her, because we love her too much" Victor said.

"I will miss her." Laura said.

"Kung magsalita ka, as if she is going away." Victor said.

"Ano pa ba ang dapat kong i-expect? Kapag ok na si Althea, syempre she will prefer to live with Allie and Daniel. Nakakalungkot kayang isipin na empty na yung room sa kabila paggising ko sa umaga. It will only be Lauren and I in the kitchen, since tinanggap ko nang impossibleng makasama ko sa kitchen si Carrie." Laura lamented.

"If that happens, nasa kabilang kalye lang naman sya. She still can join you sa cooking and baking session nyo ni Lauren. As for the empty room in the morning, let Vino transfer to her room para hindi naman empty paggising mo sa umaga." Victor said.

"We already have planned for the kid's own room, once they reach thirteen. Althea's room will stay as it is, I don't want her to think that she is replaceable in this family. Nobody will transfer to her room. Each of our children will have their own place in this house. Iisipin ko na lang na nag-sleep-over sya sa mansion para hindi ako malungkot." Laura said.

"We have another problem." Victor said.

"I know what is it Love, how are we going to tell the kids that Althea will live with Daniel and Allie. That adds to my dilemma, lalo na si Vino, we both know how close he is to Althea. Malulungkot si Vino kapag lumipat na si Althea sa mansion." Laura said.

"That bothers me too Ri. I don't know how Vino will take this sudden change. Ang hirap pa namang basahin ni Vino, hindi ko alam kung ano ang nasa isip kapag nalulungkot." Victor said.

"Carrie and Lauren too, you know that they believe in Althea than I, when it comes to girl's stuff. How shall we tell them, na hindi sila malilito?" Laura said.

"Don't forget Nathan, sya ang laging nakasiksik kay Althea during bedtime stories. This is not really easy, Ri. But I know that this too will pass. Only now that I realized, na dapat pala talaga noon pa natin sinabi kay Althea. Yung time na mababaw pa ang comprehension nya and will just accept the facts thrown at her because she is still young. Siguro kung sinabi natin sa kanya ang tutoo noon pa, sana katabi natin syang matulog and we can continuously tell her how much we love her, hindi katulad ngayon na nag-aalala tayo because we do not know what is on her mind." Victor said.

"I just hope that she will not hate us for keeping the truth from her. And I pray that she'll find in her heart how much Allona and Daniel love her." Laura said. "Tinawagan mo na ba si Daniel? Alam na ba ni Mama?" she asked