Someday Soon, With You

Chapter 39

“We didn’t raise you so you can just get pregnant unmarried. You will not give me peace! What do you think am I supposed to say to your parents when I die? Ha?” her grandfather went on for so long. She just sat there quietly crying. Her grandma doesn’t know what to do. She’s hugging her, she’s hugging her grandpa to calm down. “Tell me again, who is the father?” her grandpa asked again. She doesn’t want to tell him. Or anyone. This is the result of her irresponsibility. She’s not dragging Nicholai down with it. Her grandpa realized that she’s not going to tell him anything. He exhaled. “Pack all the things you can get. You’re an adult now. You don’t need us anymore. That’s the reason you did this, because you knew you can now live without us” her grandpa said with finality in his tone.

Both her and her grandma looked at him. She shook her head a lot of times and cried. “Lolo” she cried. “Please, I can’t” she said sobbing.

“Take all the things you can get and whatever’s left, I will burn it” her grandpa said and went upstairs to his room.

“Lola” she cried at her grandmother.

“I will help you pack” her grandma said. “Your Lolo’s just angry now. He’ll calm down. You go to the city, and find yourself a nice apartment. I will handle your Lolo. Listen to me, apo, you have to be strong now. Leticia!” her grandma called their helper. Leticia rushed to them. “Go pack your things. Help her find an apartment in the city. You’ll stay with her” she instructed Leticia. Her grandma helped her pack things she might need. She even gave her a lot of money, to buy some clothes, maternity milk, vitamins and everything for her pregnancy. “I know you’ve been enjoying your life until now, but that stops today. This is not only you. You have to be very careful of yourself now. I will come visit you as soon as I get the chance” she nodded at her grandma while still crying. Her grandma hugged her and kissed her and assured her everything will be alright soon.

“Where were you all this time?” Lea asked her through the telephone.

“Why?” she asked.

“Well, all things happened. Captain Nicholai looked for you, but he can’t find you. He also went missing for a week, and now” Lea paused.

“Now what?” she asked.

“They’re getting married” Lea answered.

“That’s good” she said.

“It is?” Lea asked.

“Of course, they are together in the first place” if only I didn’t show up, she continued in her head. She sighed. “Do you know when’s the wedding?” she asked. Lea told her everything and not long after, she found herself standing in front of the cathedral. She looked at them, smiling. They looked happy. He looks happier. She stared at him and tears fell down her cheeks. Her baby’s father is now married to someone else. Her grandparents disowned her. It’s just them now. She turned her back and started walking away.

Dolly doesn’t know what to do. She feels like she’s being punched, hit by a bat and thrown from a high place, all at once. She cried and screamed for so long.

“Apo!” she heard her grandma talked.

“Lola” she cried. “It hurts” she said.

“You’ll get through this” her Lola said while brushing her hair.

“Where’s Lolo?” she asked.

“He’s just outside” her Lola smiled. “He bought clothes, towels and toys for the baby” she chuckled while wiping her tears. Suddenly, the door opened and her Lolo came inside with fruits and flowers.

“Lolo” she called.

He held her hand and squeezed it. “You did this, might as well get through it and you raise him yourself. We’re too old now. We can’t raise another kid again” he said.

After five hours, they met Katharos. Even after patching up her relationship with her grandparents, her Lolo stood his ground that she will live by herself now. Somehow, it doesn’t hurt as much.

“Lola, you had this made for me?” she asked as she saw the new house her Lolo and Lola had built for her and her child.

“This is not a gift for you, this is for Aro” her Lolo said. No matter how much pain she’s caused them, they still can’t stand to just leave her alone. They went inside after moving all the furniture in.

She’s sitting in the front porch when her Lola sat beside her. “He just said it, but he’s really happy” her Lola said.

“I know” she replied.

“Dolores” she heard her Lolo call from the inside. She gave Aro to her Lola and walked inside. She saw him sitting on the sofa with papers on the table. “How do you plan to raise Aro?” he asked. “You can’t go back to your old workplace, you already resigned”

“I still have my savings Lolo” she answered. He’s right, although they disowned her, they helped her all throughout her pregnancy.

“That measly amount will not last forever. You need to be ready for everything. Every child gets sick at some point. They get fever even when teething. How are you going to handle that?” he added. He sighed when she didn’t answer. “I had this built for you. There are twenty apartment units in one building. You will manage all three buildings in there by yourself.” he said and gave her a title of land with the address not so far from their house. “You have to be smart with your finances, if you ever make a mistake, you and your son will end up starving” he continued.

She can’t help her tears from falling. “If you’re going to do this much, why didn’t you just let me go back home?” she asked between her sobs.

“You’ll always be welcome there, but now’s different. We’re not going to be always around and you chose to live life the hard way. You didn’t want to get married to him” he looked at her. “That’s the reason you can’t tell us who he is. Fine. That’s your decision. But now, this is the only peace you can give me. So, when my time comes, I will not be so scared to go because I know you can take care of yourself, apo ko” he told her lovingly. (*apo means grandchild and ko means my, so saying apo ko means my grandchild)

She cried while her Lolo hugged her and rubbed her back.

She just collected the monthly payments from the apartments. The income she gets from those alone is more than enough for her and Aro. But her Lolo is right. She needs to be ready for everything. What if someday she just got hit by a car somewhere, she’ll end leaving Aro by himself. She needs to prepare everything for his schooling and emergency funds for the both of them. She smiled when she just walked by a cake shop. She went inside and bought a mango cheesecake. Aro and his friend Archi likes to eat it while drinking tea with her after nap.

“Dolores?” a voice suddenly called her from behind. She froze, she isn’t even turning around yet. “Dolores, is that you?”

She turned around. “It’s nice to see you again, Nicholai” she smiled.

“How have you been? You look different. You look classic” he told her after looking at her from head to toe.

“Do you mean old?” she asked. She’s wearing her hair in a low bun. She’s wearing emerald earrings paired with a necklace, high waist pencil cut pants and tucked in white V-neck blouse.

“Oh, no. I mean classy. I’m sorry” he said smiling a bit. He does look happy. She sighed. “You still don’t smile as much, when you talk to me” he said.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Oh, I came with my wife. She’s buying ice cream for the orphanage we’re visiting” he said with a wide smile.

“You married her after all, good for you” she commented.

“We did” he said. “We’ll be happier if we had a child of our own, but, seven years and we’re still trying” he said. She didn’t say anything. “So, how have you been? Did you get married too?” he asked her.

“I have to go. It’s nice to see you again” she said and quickly ran out the cakeshop. She still heard him call her name but she ran to her car and drove off.

She’s sitting at the kitchen for hours. Nicholai didn’t have a child to his wife. There’s no way she’s going to give him her Aro.

“Mommy, mommy” she heard him call.

“Yes, darling?” she asked.

“We want the cake now” he told her. She smiled. She took two saucer plates and bread knife. She gave them a slice each. She’s slicing for herself when she dropped the knife. Her wallet is missing. She ran to the car and look for it. It’s gone! She must have dropped it at the cake shop. Their month’s income, it’s all gone. She got off the car feeling so devastated. How stupid can she get?

“I didn’t know you can be such a klutz” Nicholai said leaning to his car smirking at her. Such a familiar look on his face.