“Daddy, kanino pong bahay ito?” tanong ni Aaron sa daddy nito na buhat-buhat ni Ezekiel. Ayca was still standing there looking like an idiot dahil di pa rin siya maka-move on na dinala na nito sa wakas ang pamilya nito dito mismo.
Bakit bahay niyo ba ito at ikaw ang mistress ng bahay na ito? Hindi no!
“It’s Lolo Elizario’s home, baby. Hindi mo na siya naabutan dahil he went to heaven just before you were born,” masaya namang pagpapaliwanag nito dito and started to walk towards her until malagpasan sila ng mag-ama.
“Hi, Danica, we didn’t know na andito ka rin pala. I heard na tinuturuan ka niya ng self-defense,” masayang bati ni Chloe sa kanya.
So alam pala nitong tinuturuan siya ng asawa nito? Sabi niya sa sarili.
Bakit sa tingin mo ba maglilihim si Ezekiel kay Chloe? Alam ng lahat ng fans ni Ezekiel na he’s a changed man! Pang-aasar naman ng isang bahagi ng isip niya.
“Oo eh, nakita kasi ni Zen…err Ezekiel pala na binabastos ako ng mga tambay sa amin so He went home with me at ipinagpaalam ako kay Mama na mag-stay dito at tuturuan daw ako ng self-defense than going back and forth dito at sa bahay namin,” mahabang paliwanag niya dito at tumungo-tungo lang ito.
“That’s good to hear. Is it okay na andito kami or nakakaabala kami sa magiging practise session niyo? And just call him whatever you want, Danica, I am fine with it.”
“Nakakaabala? Naku baka nga ako ang nakakaabala eh atsaka bahay ito ng lolo ng asawa niyo so hindi kayo abala. Mukhang nag-decide na si Zen na dalhin kayo dito eh. Siguro nakulitan na sa akin dahil lagi kong sinasabi na dapat ay andito kayong pamilya niya para di niya ako masyadong pahirapan,” natatawang sabi niya dito pero deep inside ay pinipilit niya lang maging masaya.
“Silly,” natatawa pa ito while patting her shoulder. “If you were invited by him here then hindi ka abala. We just decided to be here for a couple of days para malaman ng mga bata ang iba pang lugar na pagmamay-ari ng pamilya nila. O siya sige, at mukhang may gagawin ka dapat bago kami dumating, I’ll follow my husband na,” sabi nito and walked pass her.
She turn around and watch how the family of four were happily walking upstairs. She sighed and felt stupid. She wasn’t a bad woman to ruin that family just for her own happiness. She was never like that and she will never turn like that. Sa pag-iisip na iyon she went straight to the dinning area at nag-prepare ng makakain niya…nila pala.
“HON, are you sure it’s okay not to tell her na ikaw at ang inaakala nitong si Ezekeil ay iisa? The poor woman seems to be in love with your brother,” tanong ni Chloe sa asawa habang naglalakad sila sa kwarto kung saan sila mag-stay for 2 days.
“How did you know she’s in love with Evzen?” Nagulat na tanong ni Ezekiel sa kanya.
“Come on, hon, nakakasakit ka ng damdamin ha. You know my career and you saw me how to do my passion. I match make different people and I know that look,” medyo naasar na sabi niya dito.
“Oh! That look aba pati pala ngayong panahon na ito ang ‘that look’ na word pa rin ang sinasabi nila kapag nakikitang in love ang isang tao sa mata,” tumawa ito habang inaalala nito ang nakaraan. “You see, Ara got that look for Theo nung mga bata pa kami and El got that look for DK nung bata pa kami…uso pa pala iyon ano?”
“Hon, isa pa at magagalit na ako. Hindi naman nawawala sa uso ang pagmamahal so stop laughing.”
“Well, ano magagawa ko? I got to see my twin brother again earlier and now nalaman kong in love ang kapatid ko kay Miss Danica and Miss Danica feels the same, thanks to my matchmaker wife for that info, and now I need to pretend to be the Ezekiel that Miss Danica knew dahil kinulong nila Mom at Dad si Evzen dahil miss na miss na nila ito,” at natawa ulit it. Somehow, it looks like Ezekiel found it funny pero para sa kanya it wasn’t funny at all. She can somehow predict what will happen in the future kapag di pa sinabi ng kambal nito ang totoo sa babae.
“Hon, don’t you feel sorry for both of them?”
“Bakit ako ba ang nagsinungaling sa pagkatao niya? Not me, hon, so I wanted to say na it’s none of my business pero kapatid ko siya at hindi lang yan, kambal ko rin. I do feel sorry for both of them pero siya ang may kasalanan ng lahat ng ito.”
“Can you blame him? Lumaki siya na ikinumpara siya ng lahat sa iyo kung ikaw nga nagalit ka dahil namisunderstood ko ang lahat bago mo pa sabihing may kambal ka and told me not to compare you to him or nung may sabihin sa iyo si Danica and you got mad dahil hindi ikaw ang gumawa nung iniisip niyang ginawa mo…paano pa kaya siya na buong buhay niya ikinumpara sa iyo?”
He went silent for a moment and sighs. “So what do you want me to do?”
“I know it will sound harsh but I want to confirm something,” sabi niya and gave a smile to his husband na ngayon ay nakataas ang kanang kilay and smiles to her too. Mukhang may alam na ito kung ano ang gusto niyang i-confirm.
“Mom…Dad, you can’t just tell me to stay here and send that—,” naasar na sabi ni Evzen sa mga magulang.
“‘That’ that your talking is your twin brother, dear,” mahinahong sabi ni Estella, ang kanilang nanay, sa kanya.
“Yeah, so why did you send him away ngayong nalaman niyong nagpapanggap ako kay Danica na ako si Ezekiel and then torture her like that?”
“Torture? We did not do such thing anak. We just want to spend two days with you bago ka bumalik sa Cavite dahil ayaw mong tanggapin ang alok naming na tumira ka na dito dahil miss na miss ka na naming. Bakit naman ma-torture iyang si Danica and why were you so concerned about her kung nagsinungaling ka naman sa kanya?”
“She likes Ezekiel, mom, and that time when I met her she just thought I am Ezekiel and I didn’t bother correcting her dahil naasar ako sa…kay Ezekiel,” maikling explanation niya sa mga magulang. Ayaw pa rin niyang mag-open up dahil hindi siya komportable sa kanila. He hasn’t been with them almost his entire life and he still didn’t hear the words he wanted to hear.
“I’m curious about this very special woman of yours, Evzen, but let’s not talk about her right now, please? I want to hear what happened in your life simula nung umalis ka sa amin for almost 25 years, son,” sabi ulit ng mom niya sa kanya.
Indeed Danica’s very special to her dahil naging mas close na sila for almost a month now and it’s all thanks for him pushing the fact that she needed to learn self-defense lalo na gandang taglay ng dalaga. He then shook his head para di na muna niya maisip si Danica dahil his issues in this family needs to be fixed.
“Why are you asking now, mom? Ilang taon akong naghintay sa inyong dalawa ni Dad to come to Lolo’s house and ask me kung okay ba ako or kung buhay pa ba ako. Never ko kayong nakita at never kong narinig na nag-aalala kayo siguro dahil may kamukha rin naman ako sa bahay na ito na lumalaki sa poder niyo, right?” mapait ang pagkakasabi niya sa magulang and he did heard his mom gasped.
“Don’t use that tone on us, Evzen! Magulang mo pa rin kami!” galit na sabi ni Xyriel, his dad, sa kanya.
“Matatawag niyo bang magulang kayo when you didn’t bother getting your son back nung mga panahon na he wanted you both to just show a little love by fetching him? Alam niyo ba kung bakit ako umalis sa poder niyo in the first place or, again, both of yous didn’t bother knowing that as well?” may hinanakit pa ring turan niya sa mga magulang. His mom started to cry and his dad was fighting the urge to cry too. Bakit sila umiiyak? Dahil ba nasasaktan sila sa katotohanang ipinamumukha ko sa kanila? Then that’s good, they should at least feel sadness now ngayong narerealize nilang ang pagkakamali nila bilang magulang.
“W-we tried hard to get you from Papa, son, pero he keeps telling us na you don’t want us in your life. It hurst us so much anak na umalis ka sa piling naming dahil naging insensitive kami sa nararamdaman mo. We will be sorry for the rest of our lives and repenting it by being a good parents to Ezekiel sa mga nagawa namin sa iyo but please…please don’t tell us we didn’t do anything to get you back. Kung alam mo lang kung ilang beses kaming bumalik-balik kay Papa to get you,” umiiyak na sabi ng mama niya na ikinagulat niya. Never siyang nasabihan ng Lolo niya na dumadalaw ang mga magulang or even trying to take him back.
“S-sinungaling! Lolo won’t lie to me! Bakit kailangan niyang itago ako sa inyo kung pamilya naman tayong lahat?”
“Dad hated your Mom so much at ayaw niyang ipakasal kami sa isa’t-isa but I walked out of his family and marry your Mom. Tinalikuran ko siya for her and that is why Dad hated your mom thinking na inagaw nito ang nag-iisang anak niya. I thought everything was alright nung nagkaroon kami ng mga anak, kayo, but I should have known better dahil tatay ko siya. As soon as the opportunity came to him knocking para maramdaman naming ang sakit na mawalan ng anak by moving out, he took it. Kinupkop ka niya and even told us na huwag na kaming bumalik dahil kahit kailan di ka na babalik sa amin,” mahabang paliwanag ng Dad niya while hugging his mom who’s now sobbing hard sa dibdib ng ama. He felt weak on the knees sa lahat ng mga naririnig niya and sat down on the sofa near to him.
“S-so… you w-were getting me back, alright, pero you never even gave a gift for my birthdays kahit yun man lang,” he still didn’t want to accept the truth kahit na alam niya deep inside that his parents will never lie to him. Yan ang naalala niya nung kabataan niya, they never lie.
“We did!” alma ng mama niya and faced him. Now his young looking and beautiful mom looked like she aged a lot dahil sa pag-iyak. “We did sent you presents at akala naming ibinibigay sa iyo but as soon as we sent them back on your birthday, it was sent back to us. Kung ayaw mo pa ring maniwala, all our gifts were on your room…anak, we would never abandon you. Never,” sabi nito and walked towards him and sat next to him. Doon ay naramdaman niyang niyakap siya nito ng mahigpit and his tears suddenly fell on his cheeks. “I’m sorry for being a bad mom at ikinumpara kita sa kapatid mo when you were growing up. I thought it would be a challenge to you as the eldest one but I was wrong…Anak, patawarin mo kami ng Daddy mo,” sabi pa nito while hugging him.
“You are our flesh and blood, son, I won’t abandon you nor Ezekiel when you needed help,” sabi rin ng daddy niya who smiles at them kahit na maluha-luha na rin sa mga nangyayari. “Nung umalis ka, a part of us went missing and alam ng kapatid mo yan. We celebrate your birthday at naghahanda kami ng birthday cake for you thinking na baka bumalik ka sa amin on your special day pero hindi nangyari iyon. I’m sorry, son, sana ipinaglaban ka namin ng mas triple pa sa ginawa naming to get you back. Will you forgive us?” sabi ng Daddy niya and opened his arms. Tumayo ang mama niya and went to her husbands side and smiled at him.
Unknowingly, he stood up and slowly walked towards the arms of the man he admire kahit noon pa mang mga bata sila ni Ezekiel. He was hugged by his dad tightly at nakisali ang mommy niya. Evzen felt so relax at naramdaman niya na his finally home for good.
“Let’s go, anak. I want you to open all your presents sa kwarto mo. It might took you a while kasi punong-puno iyon because we even gave you gift for Christmas too at nung nag-graduate ka nung Highschool and College,” her mom said and dragged him towards the staircase.
“Mom…Dad…wait,” sabi niya sa dalawa and gave them a smile habang pinapahid niya ang kanyang mga luha.
“What is it anak?” takang tanong ng Daddy niya sa kanya.
“I’m sorry for misunderstanding all this years and giving you all the pain of leaving the house. I’m happy na I am still accepted here.”
“You will always be accepted here, son, this is after all your home,” sabi ng mama niya at gusto na namang umiyak pero pinigilan na nito by looking up and quickly drying the side of her eyes. “Now, le—,”
“I both love you so much, Mom…Dad, and I am finally back home.”
“Welcome back, son.”
It seems this two day will be hectic for him but he needed time to bond with his parents. Ayca...I missed you.
ITUTULOY...
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