Before and After You

Chapter 9: The Wizard of Oz

Two little people peep their head across the door jamb in curiosity . Neither of them was told that daddy is going somewhere so colour them both surprised to see him and mommy packing his clothes into one big luggage.

“Ate, whewe is daddy going?” Charles asks his older sister, head already wondering if he’s getting another Lego minifigure from whichever country their dad is going to. Eric makes it a point to bring both kids trinkets from his trips. Recently, it’s been mini figures

But Clara shakes her head. “I don’t know,” she whispers. She hasn’t been made aware of any trip and she’s usually first [second to be honest because Sam is always first] to know and first to secure promises of a pasalubong. But today she’s just as kept in the dark as her little brother is.

She watches their parents intently to see whether they are arguing or something but none of that. Instead, they are talking softly to each other and exchanging smiles too. Clara cannot hear their conversation but clearly, their mommy is helping their daddy for his clothes. What is happening?!

When she sees mommy stand up and daddy follows suite, she pulls Charles by the hand and makes a dash to her room where they both hide unless they want to be caught spying. And if they’re caught, that would prove that neither of them are really good spies. That would do no good for two little persons who had just finished watching Spy Kids and has since decided becoming the world’s youngest spies is the best thing in the world and they’d train for that by practicing spying on adults aka their parents.

“Ate ate.” Charles pulls on her arm, wanting to know what’s happenin. Clara lifts a finger to her lips and shushes him.

“What?” She whispers.

“Whewe is daddy going?” Charles asks again but Clara has no answer.

Sighing, she leads her little brother to the foot of her bed where they both sit down on the carpet. “I don’t know but we have to find out,” she tells him as she pulls out a sheet of paper and a pink glittery pen from her backpack. She begins to draw stick figures that could only be their parents. “This is what we have to do…”

And so goes two little persons hatching a plan to find out what exactly is going on that has their dad packing his clothes into a luggage bigger than Charles himself.

…

“I think that’s all,” Eric declares as he places the last shirt into the luggage neatly folded by Sam.

“All packed and ready to go then,” Sam declares and grins at him. He does the same and crawls on top of the bed to get near her. “Did you see Clara and Charlie peeking kanina?” She whispers as he draws near.

He nods while pulling her legs from under her and placing her feet on top of his lap. Satisfied to have her legs practically tangled with his, he says, “they’re probably spying on us. You know how much they love that spy movie for kids.”

She hums in agreement. He begins to massage the soles of her foot and she leans against the headboard, quite content to share a moment of peace before the disarray that is to come today. It’s a little early for the kids to demand either parent’s attention so while there is that, they’re taking the chance to spend it with each other.

How she missed these quiet times she used to spend with him a lot before. She missed out on them but she convinces herself that she’s not going to miss out on some more, not when he’s coming home with them.

It’s scary how they’ve gone from talking only when absolutely necessary to having patched things up in a span of two weeks. Two years of agony resolved by a moment of vulnerability. There must be some irony in that but neither Eric nor Sam is willing to contest the turn of events, happy enough to be in each other’s company again.