Taste of Love

Chapter 14

"Mama, are you mad at me?"

Out of a sudden, bigla ay tinanong ni Galaxy habang pabalik na kami sa kompanya. Kukuhanin ko lang ang mga naiwan kong papeles na kailangan pirmahan at isang first aid kit para gamutin ang bukol ni Galaxy.

"Why'd you ask?" I asked him at tiningnan siya sa rear view mirror. Nakatingin din siya sa akin, pero ng nakitang nakatingin ako sa kaniya, tumungo na lang.

"Because I got into a fight and I'm sure your mad"

It's already 5:00 pm, medyo marami ng tao sa kalsada, marahil ay nag-aabang ng masasakyan pauwi.

"Well, I'm not mad about it... but I'm not happy either"

He didn't reply so I guess he knew what I meant about that pero gusto kong ipaliwanag sa kaniya na..

"I'm not mad, in fact I am proud because you knew when to fight baby. But that doesn't mean I'm happy with the outcome, you hurt yourself. I don't want that to happen again, Galaxius Leandro. Are we clear?"

"Yes mama" matamlay niyang sagot sa akin, maybe he's reflecting on what he did kanina.

Maybe it's time for him to ask about this thing that have been bugging me.

"We're here, let's go to my office then we're going to somewhere, Gal"

Nag-park ako sa parking lot ng company. Sinipat ko ang oras, we still have time. Maabutan pa namin ang sunset.
Tamad siyang umalis sa backseat ng kotse.

"Mama, I'm sorry po"

Akala ko ay hahabol siya sa akin, pero
hindi. He just stood there, beside our car at nakatungo.

Nilakad ko ang pagitan naming dalawa at dahan-dahan akong umupo sa harap niya. Compared to other kids, he's a bit taller and more chubby.

"That's okay. Mama isn't mad about it. Let's hurry, mama has a surprise for you. Cheer up, I love you, okay?"

Dahan-dahan siyang tumingin sa akin at pinipigilan ang maliit na ngiting sumisibol sa kaniyang cute na labi.

Nakakagigil.

"Let's go now baby, baka ma-wala na ang surprise ni Mama sayo!"

____________

"Wow! It's so beautiful here mama! Sobra pong ganda! Dapat dito tayo nag-house po"

It was a 20 minutes driveway from the city. Ngayon nandito kami sa coastal bay ng siyudad. It is still part of Manila though, but this place is near the sea. The place where his father and I used to date when we wanted to run away from the city.

Dito ko napiling pumwesto sa elevated part ng coastal bay. Mostly here are rocks but there is white sands at pag baba sa staircase-like na bato ay mararamdaman na ang tubig dagat.

"Do you like my surprise?"

"I love it so much!"

Nakaupo kami ng anak ko sa ilalim ng Coconut Tree. I'm only wearing my casual slippers, nag-palit din ako ng damit. Pinalitan ko rin ng damit si Galaxy, he's now wearing his favorite shirt. Well sabi niya favorite daw niya yon, which is my t-shirt nung dalaga pa ako. It's a simple black shirt na wala ng manggas. Tinastas ko yung manggas non kasi sobrang init, but one day while cleaning my closet, Galaxy saw it and asked me if he could wear it. I said yes, end of the story.

Hindi ko akalain na babalik ulit ako sa lugar na ito. Memories of us here is still vivid in my mind, parang kahapon lang.

But things now are different.

Tinignan ko ang anak ko na masayang nag-lalaro sa buhangin, I took my phone out and took a picture of him, lot's of pictures of him.

I picked the best shots and posted it on my Instagram.

@Chef_LAGarcia

When the stars collided, it formed a beautiful thing called Galaxy. Until today, I never knew how beautiful a Galaxy is with the star called sun behind it🌌✨

@megumogu so handsome baby boy! miss you both @Chef_LAGarcia

She's out of town dahil sa honeymoon nila ng kaniyang asawa, feeling the chills of Baguio.

@bella_Lopez Sanji misses his bff too! So handsome @Chef_LAGarcia

My heart felt warm because of it.

"Galaxy, let's take a picture"

Dali-dali naman siyang tumakbo sakin at yumakap.

"I'll hold it for us po mama. I know how to take a selfie na po"

I chuckled because of his naughtiness.
"Okay, sure go ahead"

The rays of sunset reflects our face, so ang kinalabasan ng pictures namin, sun-kissed, ika nga nila.

"Mama, post it on Instagram po. I want the world to know how beautiful my mama is!"

A pigment of a long gone memory suddenly came to me.

"Babe, let's take a picture. Then I'll upload it para malaman ng mundo kung gaano ako ka-suwerte sa girlfriend ko"

"Okay, okay, I'll post it. Kundi lang kita love diyan e"

Humagikhik lang siya at saka ako niyakap.

"I love you mama" I kissed his head and whispered my I love you too.

Unti-unti na rin lumulubog ang araw, at papadilim na pero wala pa akong balak umuwi. I wanted to stay here for a bit longer.

After awhile, naisipan namin kumain ng paborito naming Shawarma.

Maybe it's time to ask him.

"Hey Gal, mama has a question"

"What is it po mama?"

"I was thinking, why aren't you asking me about your father?"

"I don't want to mama"

Nagulat ako sa sagot niya. Hindi siya nag-tatanong dahil ayaw niya?

"I mean, minsan po I want to ask about him, because pag nakikita ko po classmate ko sa culinary school, they're always bragging their daddy. But whenever I tried asking you po, series of you crying in the night po made me don't want to ask about him.  So I'll just wait for him to come and look for me, and then I will ask him po why he's not here with us"

Nawalan ako ng salita na sasabihin. All along he knew or have been hearing those cries of mine in the middle of the night?

"Mama I'm happy because you're my mama. You give me clothes and let me study, and showered me love po. But I also wanted you to be happy din po mama"

I tried to hide my tears because I felt relieve. Sobrang bigat ng dinadala ng dibdib ko ay biglang nag-laho.

Maybe I was too selfish because I'm just thinking about my own pain. It's not Galaxy who is not yet ready to meet his father, it was me. It was me who don't want to let him enter in our life.

"D-Do you want to meet him? Y-Your papa?"

His face lit up.

"I will mama?"

Mas lalo pang sumakit ang puso sa kaalamang sabik siyang makilala ang kaniyang ama.

"You will, and he knows about you. He wants to meet you, that's why I'm asking you"

Ang kaninang malaking ngiti ay biglang nag-laho.

"But is it okay with you mama?"

Sandaling namayani ang katahimikan, tanging tunog ng mabining alon ang maririnig habang unti-unting kinakain ng dilim ang liwanag.

"Mama will try to be okay. I promise you, Gal. It may not be a conventional family that I've wished for you, but I promise you, we will be happy"

I will be okay.