For Real and For Ever

Chapter 10

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Barcode's POV

"Come," I said to Ken. "Let's go home."

"How's your mom doing?" Ken asked as I led him to the bus stop at the corner of the block,

"She's back at home now," I replied. "She's resting in bed because she's feeling a bit drowsy from the strong pain medication that was given to her at the hospital."

Then I remembered something.

"Let's first stop by a restaurant to buy some food for dinner." I said. "Mom is unable to cook anything at this time. What kind of food are you in the mood for?"

"I'm not a picky eater," Ken replied. "Any kind of food is fine with me."

"You might be missing Filipino food," I said to Ken. "Why don't we stop by that Filipino food booth at the mall."

"Sure!" Ken said, his face lighting up.

We took the bus that passed by the mall and took the escalator to the third floor where the food court was.

At the Philippine booth, I told Ken to choose any dish he wanted from the menu.

He chose the noodle dish called panset which had crunchy chicken strips and assorted vegetables mostly carrot bits and strips of cabbage.

I decided to have the famous chicken and pork adobo which had a sweet and salty taste.

For drinks we both chose chilled mango juice.

Ken and I had a long chat over dinner. We did not realize how long we had been chatting until i noticed that it was getting dark.

We made a ran for the bus stop. We were just in time for the bus that would take us to the corner of the block that led to my house.

Ken took out his duplicate key to our gate to unlock the gate for both of us because my hands were full. I had bought some Philippine pastries to take home for if I got hungry in the middle of the night.

As soon as we got inside the house I set down the bags of pastries on the dining table and went to my mom's room to check how my mom was doing.

I stopped in shock outside her door.

Mom was sitting up in bed and Jeff was standing beside her, feeding her some soup from a bowl.

Ken who was walking behind me almost bumped into my back because I had suddenly stopped in my tracks.

"Oh, you're finally home," Mom said.

Jeff looked at me, not failing to notice Ken standing behind me.

"I thought about bringing over some egg and seaweed soup to help your mom recover faster," he said, his face expressionless.

"Thank you so much," I said.

For no reason at all, I felt my cheeks getting warm and I hated myself for it. There was nothing for me to feel guilty about treating Ken to dinner.

"Why don't you come inside and give your mom a kiss," Jeff said.

"I'll do more than that," I said, finally galvanized into action. "I'll take over her feeding."

"You really don't have to," my mom protested. "I can feed myself. I have been telling Jeff that but he has insisted on feeding me."

"I just wanted to make up for your son's negligence," Jeff said with a glint in his eyes.

"That's not fair!" I protested. "I had to go and get some dinner for myself and Ken. Ken is our guest, don't forget."

"Sure," Jeff said and scooped some soup into the soup spoon and brought it close to my mom's lips.

"Good evening, ma'am," Ken who had been silent all this time finally spoke up. "I hope you get well soon."

"Thank you, Ken," my mom said. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to attend to your needs for a few days but I trust that Barcode will make sure that you're okay."

"I'm sure he will," Jeff echoed my mom's words.

For some reason, I felt my cheeks getting warm again.

Dammit, there was nothing for me to feel guilty about.