Watching Sunrises

Coming Home

A/N: Here's another chapter that should've been part of the main story but ended up just writing it months after finishing the book. Enjoy!

The following day, Loren and Pia touched down at the beach house by the Antique coast and set their bags down by the door.

Correction: their beach house by the Antique coast.

It's been two years since Loren last stepped foot inside. While someone was coming in to tend to the garden even while she was in London, it's been ages since someone stepped foot inside.

Pia's workout gear is strewn around in one corner of the living area without rhyme or reason, as it usually was. Hanging on one of the dining chairs was Loren's blue patadyong, and two pairs of slippers by the doorstep. "Grabe, ang tagal na pala nating hindi pumunta rito."

"It's been two years, Reg," Pia said, her eyes zeroed in the photo montage by the wall.

The two took their outdoor shoes off and changed into their house slippers before Pia closed the door behind them. After showering and changing into their house clothes, they retreat to their separate bedrooms.

When Loren got to her bedroom, she noticed the sheets were in disarray, and so were the pillows. "Hmm, I wonder who else would be sleeping here? Alam ko maayos ito noong huling balik namin, ah."

She then took a whiff and smelled a familiar scent she doesn't typically wear. Then she remembered that only one other person had a copy of the keys to the house. Nothing wrong with her coming into her bedroom, of course. Sana man lang inayos ung kama.

"P? Saan ka?"

"I'm here sa bedroom ko, love," Pia responded. "Why?"

"'Lika dito saglit," Loren said.

The taller woman stepped out of her bedroom and into Loren's. "What is it, Sunrise?"

"Pumunta ka ba dito sa bahay at any point noong nasa London ako?" Loren wondered.

To her surprise, Pia went on defensive mode. "Huh? Bakit? Mali ba?"

Loren chuckled. I guess I got my answer. "Medyo magulo lang kasi dito sa bedroom, so I'm trying to know baka na-akyatan na pala 'to."

"Once, kasi nag-train ako dito for Ironman."

Loren stared at her intensely, forcing Pia to say something again. "Well, more than once."

"Sigurado ka bang for training lang ba talaga 'yan?" Loren inquired. "What were you doing here all those times anyway?"

The Lady from Taguig-Pateros sighed. "Sometimes, I sleep. Most of the time, I cry myself to sleep. Other times, I get off, then cry myself to sleep."

Loren smirked the thought of at Pia thinking of her while doing some...self-love, to put it that way. "Am I that sexy in your dreams?"

Pia couldn't resist making a comeback. "Hindi, pangit mo kaya. At mas pangit ka pa sa personal."

"Bruha ka talaga kahit kailan," Loren quipped, playfully smacking Pia on her shoulder before they burst into fits of laughter.

It's been a while since they called each other those nicknames - a callback to many years ago when they were still patching things up after the RH Budget Cut Fiasco of 2016. At first, it started out as actual insults, but as their relationship improved, it quickly became their special thing.

As if on instinct, Loren placed her hand on Pia's lap and gave her knee a firm squeeze. It was just as much a way for her to make things feel even more real that it was a signal to Pia that she's right beside her.

She then took Pia's hand and lazily played with her fingers before intertwining them with hers. Of course, the first thing Pia noticed was their hand size difference. "Ano ba naman 'tong ka-holding hands ko? Kamay ng bata?"

"At 'yun pa talaga napansin mo," Loren narrowed her eyes. "Iba ka rin no, Pilar?"

Pia giggled upon seeing her face. "Perfect fit nga, eh. Ano ka ba?"

Loren immediately softened upon hearing that laugh. Bakit ka ganyan, Pilar Juliana, at bakit ganito pa rin ang tama ko sa 'yo?

"Ano, Reg, cuddle tayo?" Pia offered, stretching out her arms.

"Sige, gusto mo humiga?" Loren asked.

Pia's voice dropped to that smaller tone. "Of course."

They laid together on Loren's bed, Pia's head resting on Loren's shoulder. The taller woman clung to Loren like a tarsier and wrapped herself around Loren with no intention of letting go.

Loren then turned herself so that she's now face-to-face with Pia and gazed at her angelic face. Her thoughts flowed to a future that included waking up to this every day and sharing a home back in the city.

It's a future where she gets to capture everything Pia does and show off as the proud wife she wanted to be. One where they kiss, hold hands in plain view, and openly show all that love that's dying to come out.

If she weren't already dead set on coming home right after graduating from her MA program, she would be by now. She then uttered the name that would soon be in every legal document if this whole thing went well, just to see how well it flowed. "Lorna Regina Bautista Legarda-Cayetano"

She said it again in her thoughts, this time a bit louder. The more she said it, the more it just felt...right.

She wished she could say it out loud multiple times, just like she did when she was alone in that London flat, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself. 

Baka masira ung surprise.