Take A Chance On Me | A Juan GDL Epistolary (Completed)

16

Memories suddenly came flashing before my eyes as I stepped inside the Gomez de Liaños' house. The endless days of the summers I couldn't possibly count with my hands. High school shenanigans. Tita Anna's cooking. Watching the brothers play basketball and fighting upon who the better player was. It was happiness. Bliss.

"Oh my God, is that you, my dear Penny?" Tita Anna welcomed me in her arms, hugging me tightly and almost squeezing the life out of me. "You've grown so much!" She continued while caressing my hair, slightly combing it with her fingers and it felt so warm inside, as if I yearned her touch for a long time. "Oh, how I missed you! Bakit hindi ka man lang nagpasabi? Sana nagluto ako! How long are you gonna stay with us? A week? A month?"

"Ay, hindi po Tita. Just visiting the boys and you po. We wanted to hang out and maybe catch up." I explained.

"Oh, but you can at least stay the night, right?" She pleaded.

"Huwag na po, Tita, nakakahiya. Ihahatid naman po ako ni Juan pabalik sa dorm." I humbly told in response of the generosity.

But Tito Bert disagreed. "Hindi na, hija. Gabi na. It's best if you stay. You're very welcome here."

And Tita Anna reaffirmed. "Ano ka ba! Nahihiya ka pa sa amin? You're already like a daughter to us, you know that!"

What she said made me so happy that I couldn't disagree more. It has been quite a long time eversince I felt that important and loved. And so, I decided to stay the night.

After a while, when everyone was snuggled and cozy at the couch for Netflix, we suddenly heard clamoring upstairs and footsteps running down the stairs.

"Ate Penny! Ate Penny!" An excited and barefooted Jaime in pajamas ran towards me. He slumped right at me, wrapping his arms around my body like what his mom did.

"Oh, no. Don't break my ribs, Jaime!" I joked and he abruptly got back to his feet, embarrassed of how excited he was. The brothers also teased him with how he acted. But to me, it was nothing but cute!

"Jaime, come back to bed!" I heard a distant Tita Anna shouting.

"But, Ate Penny's here! Maybe I can sleep past my bed time just this time. Please!" He shouted back and begged his mom, hands clasped together in prayer.

"Penny? Come on, help me out." Tita Anna hinted at me.

"Let's see, Jaime. What's your favorite video game?" I asked the little one.

"Super Smash Bros!"

"Oh, great! I promise you first thing in the morning, when you wake up, we'll play Super Smash Bros. But you have to go back to bed now. Deal?"

"Fine...You promise?" Jaime bit my offer like bait.

"Of course, I'm a woman of my word." I reassured him by raising my hand to swear. He calmly hugged me again and said goodnights before going upstairs with Tita Anna.

"Kabisado mo talaga si Jaime." Javi pointed out the obvious fact. "Oo naman. Para ko na yung baby brother."

In all honesty, they were all like brothers to me. I looked back at each one of the boys. Appreciating all their smiles and laughter. Asking myself what I did to deserve them all. Such good people. I could only wish for a family as perfect as this.

I was having a moment when Juan and I caught each other's eyes. A small "thank you" rolled out my tongue. He softly smiled at me and a rush of emotions surged like a defribilator powering up my cold, empty heart. A tear fell down my cheeks and Juan's smile turned to a more concerned frown. No one saw it but him. Everyone was busy searching for something to watch.

His face quietly asked if anything was wrong. My hand waved at him in disagreement and hinted that everything was alright. That's a complete lie.

I quickly composed myself and wiped the tear away, driving away from my deep thoughts and changing my mood as I asked the boys.

"So what should we watch guys?"