Daylight (A SANDRO MARCOS FANFICTION)

SIXTY ONE

SANDRO

Louise's face was the first thing I stumbled upon when I woke up on the morning of my 29th birthday. She was smiling brightly as she looked at me. She kissed me on the lips and grinned.

"Happy birthday Sandro, asawa ni Louise Grace Marcos."

I chuckled and gave her a peck on the lips.

"It's early in the morning Louise. Bumabanat ka."

She made a face. "Lagi naman eh. Nagbago lang nung nag-asawa kasi puro ka English. Minsan hindi ko alam kung paano i-english ang mga banat ko."

I chuckled again and pulled her to lie down beside me. "What are we doing today?" I asked her. I was given a three-day birthday leave and ask Louise to do an itinerary for my birthday.

"I booked a flight going to Laoag." She told me while playing with our fingers.

"What else?" I asked.

"We'll be going straight to an orphanage as soon as we arrive."

A smile crept on my face. "Sweet."

She nodded. "Spencer and Vinny volunteered to help me. So ayun, ginamit ko na lang yung savings account na inopen natin for Iris as a budget then nag-chip in na lang kami ng gifts for them."

"What did you got them? Why did you not tell me? I could have given you something to add up in the budget too."

"Eh sa surprise nga," She spat at me then her face became serious. "Basta yun ang agenda for today. Doon tayo maglu-lunch tapos sa bahay niyo daw ang dinner. Nagpa-prepare si mama ng dinner set-up for you."

"Okay then. What about tomorrow?" I asked.

"Bahala na ang tomorrow. Ngayon ang alalahanin natin okay? Take a bath na. I cooked breakfast." She said excitedly.

"How about we take a bath together?" I asked.

She looked at me frowning then smiled. "Gege birthday mo naman eh."

My eyes widened. "Parang napilitan lang ah."

Louise just giggled and threw her nightgown on my face.

--

As usual, the kids loved Vinny. My wife and I were sitting down in one of the benches while watching Vinny and Spencer play with the kids. Spencer was the one in-charge in the games. The last game for today was group yourself.

"Spencer told me a while ago na balak daw ni Vinny mag-adopt ng bata." Louise said, giving me a bowl of pistachios.

I looked at her. "Ikaw? Do you want to? I'm okay with that."

She just smiled and shook her head. "No. Maybe help them with their education or something pero adopt, it's not what I want right now."

I kissed her knuckles. "Whenever you are ready love."

Louise leaned her head on my shoulders as we watched the kids play the game. We had lunch with the kids after the games. There were about fifty kids in the orphanage. Some were really thin and some were wearing old clothes. I heard from Vinny that he already asked some doctors to look into the kids so he would know how to help them. Spencer offered that she would use her connections to collect donate clothes for them.

"Anong po ng English ng gwapo?" A kid with a missing front tooth asked beside me. Louise looked at me across the table as if waiting for my answer.

"Handsome." I told her.

"You are handsome po." She said, giggling.

I chuckled. "And you are a pretty little girl." I said, smiling.

The girl frowned. "Ha? Ano? Ano sinabi niya?" She asked the girl beside her.

"Hindi ko alam. Hindi naman ako marunong mag English eh." The girl replied.

The little girl scratched her nose while looking at me. She looked cute.

"Ang ibig kong sabihin, maganda ka." I told her and winked.

"Oo maganda talaga ako hindi lang marunong mag-english." She replied, flipping her hair.

I laughed, shaking my head at her gesture.

"Anong pangalan mo?" I asked.

"Reika. Ikaw anong pangalan mo?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Sandro." I replied.

"Gwapo ka sana pero tanda ka na." She spat.

I saw Louise laughing across me. I made a face.

"Ilan taon ka na ba?" I asked.

She held out her small fingers and showed me a three sign. I just smiled at her and continued eating. She continued to grill me with questions such as do I have a house or what do I do for a living, do I have a kid, what is my gift for her and so on. Louise just smiled as she listened to me talk to the kid.

"I like the kid." Louise told me while we were seated by the stage.

"It was tiring to talk to her but I enjoyed her presence."

"I knew you would be a good dad Sandro." She said, smiling at me.

Spencer called me by the podium before I could say anything. Louise kissed me before I went up to give my speech. I looked at the crowd of kids, social workers and some adults that Vinny and Spencer invited in hoping that some of the kids would be adopted.

"Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. To every parent and social workers who graced us with their presence today, thank you all for coming." The audience clapped at me.

"Ano daw? Hindi ko naintindihan." Reika spoke among the crowd. Everyone laughed including me. I saw Vinny approach her and whispered something.

"Tinanong ako ng asawa ko kung anong gusto kong gawin sa aking kaarawan. Ang sabi ko naman ay hindi ko alam. Surpresahin mo na lang ako. I didn't expect this kind of surprise from her. You see, we lost our baby girl months ago and it broke us. We are coping, thanks to God and to the people around us. And seeing these kids, I have realized that although we lost our baby girl, she was fortunate enough to have a mum and a dad who cared and will continue to love her even though she is gone. These kids among the crowd have bright future ahead of them. Malay naten, isa sa kanila ay magiging Congressman ng Ilocos Norte. Some of them may be nurses or engineers in the future. To everyone here, let us all consider these kids. I am not forcing everyone here to adopt and raise these kids. I am only asking and if you are willing, do it. If you think you can't do it, then don't. There are other ways to help aside from adopting them. I myself, I am considering adopting but not for now. Pero, willing po ako na mag-commit na bibigyan ko sila ng scholarship kapag sila ay tumuntong na sa kolehiyo because I believe education is the best investment you can have. I had the privilege to study and I would be very much willing to help them get that privilege too," The audience clapped at me. I smiled. "Maraming salamat po ulit sa inyong lahat. Sana po ay may nag-iisip na po jan kung anong gusto nilang itulong kahit maliit na bagay," I looked at my wife who was proudly smiling at me. "Maraming salamat din sa aking asawa na nag-isip neto. I am proud of you and I love you."

Louise walked towards me and gave me a hug.

"Proud of you." She mumbled.

"It's all because of you Louise. Thank you."

She smiled and tiptoed to kiss me.