Every Moment with You

CHAPTER 21

"I've met Aly during my second year in College. She was like me. She's very shy and she rarely talked to people," pagsisimula ni Eniel ng kwento tungkol sa ina ng anak nito. Nakaupo ako katabi niya sa couch sa opisina ni papa. Si papa ay nakaupo sa swivel chair nito katabi ang mama ko. Ang mga magulang ni Eniel ay nakaupo sa upuan sa harapan ng desk ng papa ko.

"She had a hard time connecting with the other students, but I must say that she's one of the smartest people in our class. She and I excelled in almost all our subjects, which was probably the reason why we gravitated towards each other. We became friends in the middle of the school year. Then on our spring break, something terrible happened to her," Eniel paused and I noticed that he's facial expression changed to something that reflects of anger and sadness. May munting kurot na sumundot sa dibdib ko. Marahil nga ay mahal niya talaga si Alyssa.

"She went home to her parents house. She met with her high school friends. One night when they went out, they met a few men on the bar. Aly got really drunk that night and got raped by two of those men that she met that night." Sabay-sabay kaming napasinghap sa huling tinuran ni Eniel.

"She was never the same after that. She became more distant and she didn't talk to anyone, even me," nakita ko na may mga luhang namumuo sa mga mata ni Eniel. "It was a very difficult year for us. Aly came from a well-off family. Her father was a well-known lawyer and her mother was a businesswoman."

"Was?" Banaad sa mukha ko ang pagtataka.

"Her parents died three years ago, car accident," sagot nito sa tanong ko.

"What happened next?" Tanong ko sa asawa ko para udyokan itong ituloy ang kwento nito.

"She got pregnant after she was raped. One day I came to her dorm room to find her unconscious. She tried to poison herself. I was just lucky I came when I did, I was able to bring her to the hospital. That's when I knew everything. She told me she didn't know what else to do or how she'd tell her parents about her situation. I decided to help her. I pretended to be the father of the child she's carrying. Her parents accepted me and they also agreed to our decision to not get married yet, until we graduate."

"But you know you can't marry her right? You are betrothed to Ana," singit naman ng mama ni Eniel.

"I know, and I told her about it. She understood. Our plan was for her to finish her studies, and on the right time, she will tell the truth to her parents. When she gave birth, we found out that the baby had leukemia. It was probably the effect of the poison she drank, who knows. But Liam, our baby boy, was very weak. He had to go through a lot of tests and medications all throughout his earlier years. I have grown to love that precious little boy so it was very difficult to tell him that he's not really my son. I've also developed some sort of affection toward Aly, so I couldn't just tell the world that everything was just a big charade to try and con her parents. And to make matters worse, Liam had green eyes like mine. So everyone assumed that the baby was indeed mine."

Hindi ako makapagsalita sa mga rebelasyon ni Eniel. Lalo akong nanliliit dahil sa pagiging immature ko ng bigla ko siyang tinakbuhan noong isang linggo. Ang buong akala ko ay niloloko ako ng lalaki, subalit ang buong katotohanan ay napakabuting lalaki pala talaga ng asawa. Handa itong magsakripisyo para sa kapakanan ng isang kaibigan.

"We lived in the same apartment in New York. I was there while Liam was growing up and I treated him as my own. In his eyes, I was his father. I loved him," at bigla itong tumigil dahil tuluyan na itong naiyak. Humigpit ang kapit ko sa braso ng asawa ko. Ramdam ko na mahal nga nito ang bata.

"He celebrated his tenth birthday last Wednesday," pagpapatuloy nito. "His last birthday," halos pabulong na sabi ni Eniel. 

"What happened?" Naiiyak na rin ako habang nakikita kong nasasaktan ang asawa ko.