The Treehouse Of Childhood

Reunion

August 23, 1943

"Oh, my goodness, Kaiji, my son. Oh, my Lord." My mom says heavily, hugging me tightly and kissing me on my forehead again and again.

I chuckled, "I missed you too, mom."

She smiled at me, "Rainer would be happy to hear this, he missed you a lot, Kaiji." It was a sincere tone. I flinched.

I smiled awkwardly, "...yeah… I missed him too."

"Did you plan this? You must know it's his wedding day, right? I sent you the invitation under his name." My uncle said that made me freeze.

He sent it? Not Rainer?

I chuckled in an awkward tone, "ehem…yeah, it's something like that."

My mom clapped her hands, "We should hurry then, the wedding's gonna start soon. Hurry up and wear this, Kaiji." My mom said and handed me a suit before pushing me inside the changing room excitedly.

I heard my grandma laugh, "It's as if you're the one who's gonna surprise them at this point, Marian."

I smiled. They're still the same as ever.

I changed my clothes and we hurried to the venue, glad we weren't late.

My chest was stuffy, heart beating fast, nervous to see him. What should I do if I see him? Should I be the one to approach? Should I talk to him? Should I-

I felt a hand hold me making me look at who it was. It was my mother smiling at me. "Relax, hijo. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

I took a deep breath and smiled back at her, "Thank you, ma. As always."

The wedding started, I saw him but he didn't see me since I was sitting in the darker part of the church. Yes, it was intentional of me to sit there.

Then, it was time. We all rose and looked back to the opening door. The bride had entered the church.

I looked at him, he was smiling brightly while looking at her approach him. His smile was genuine. He was genuinely happy.

She faces him and he slowly puts up her veil. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The father spoke and everyone cheered. "You may now kiss the bride."

He smiled as a tear fell down his cheeks before kissing her.

I smiled, and felt a tear fall down my cheeks. I was happy for them, really.

Abby threw the bouquet of flowers a little too high up the sky and…

My eyes widened when the bouquet landed in my mother's hands, who was just beside me.

My mom and my grandma laughed while cheering at each other.

I chuckled and looked back at them, only for my eyes to cross Rainer's gaze.

I gave him a small smile before quickly looking away. My heart skipped a beat.

After the wedding, we were all heading home when Rainer suddenly stopped in front of us. He was looking straight at me. "Can I talk to Kaiji, ma'am?"

My mom glanced at me. I nodded. She nodded back and her and grandma walked home first. Only me and Rainer left.

I cleared my throat, not being able to look him in the eyes.

"When did you come back?"

I flinched after not being able to hear his voice for years.

"Last week… Did my surprise go well?" I say awkwardly.

He didn't say anything so I glanced at him, my heart skipped a beat when I felt his strong hug.

"Hu… You don't know how much I've missed you, Kaiji." He said while hugging me.

I felt a thorn in my heart piercing deeper. Don't say things like this Rainer…

I snapped and patted his back before breaking the hug, "Dude, sweet words don't suit you at all!" I say and chuckle.

He sighed and chuckled too, "Dude…I know."

We both laughed together. Maybe here, we can go back to phase 1 without any of my special feelings for him.