Chasing Chances [TSC Book 2]°KathNiel° ✓COMPLETE

Chapter Fourteen: Suspects

Ayaw kong mag-isip ng hindi maganda tungkol kay Chances pero kahit ano'ng pigil ko, sumisiksik sa utak ko ang mga sinabi ni mama. Bumabalik sa isip ko ang eksena no'ng nakaraang araw. Mama sounded so sincere. And I saw it when Chances and I lived with her years ago. She really adored her.

"Mom, how does your doll look like when you were young?" Chance asked her.

"Uhm... mom cannot remember, baby. But I'm sure it's as pretty as yours."

"Mom, can you buy me a toy robot. Dad buys me those before but I don't really like playing. But I want to play with you now."

"Yes mom. He doesn't play. He watches birds, dinasaurs and all other animals on TV. He watches aliens too. They're not real, right?" Chance, as talkative as she is, interjected. Little Zac watches geographic channel most of the time when he doesn't scan his bunch of kid's books.

"I think I used to do that before too." She sweetly told them. "You know what, let's call daddy so the four of us can play together. We can go to the amusement park."

"Really, mom? That would be cool!" Zac exclaimed.

"And then we'll get you the toys that you want."

Ang lapad ng ngiti nilang tatlo lalo na ang kay Chances. Ngunit agad din 'yong napawi nang mapatingin siya sa gawi ko. I forced a smile so she just smiled back. Pero hindi iyon ngiti na tulad ng kanina.

"Mommmmmy! You should be on the same car with me!" protesta ni Chance nang hilahin ni Zac ang mommy niya papunta sa maliit na car.
Naiiyak na si Chance kaya tumulungko si Chances paharap rito.

"Sweetheart, don't cry. Let's just have it this way, since the three of us cannot be inside one bumper car, let's just exchange partners later. How's that?" She baby-talked which somehow made our little girl understand. "Do you want daddy to be alone in a bumper car?"

Napatingin silang tatlo sa'kin. Sa apat na araw na magkasama kami, palagi nalang nag-aagawan ang mga anak ko sa atensiyon ng mommy nila. Minsan, hindi na nila ako pinapansin. Hindi naman ako nagseselos dahil masaya naman ako na panoorin silang masaya.

"I'll go with dad, mom." Zac volunteered. "I don't want daddy to be alone. And it will be girls versus boys. Make us lose mommy." Zac challenged arrogantly making Chances' eyes widen. Napailing siya matapos akong balingan. I know what she's thinking. Well, oo na. Nagmana ang anak ko sa'kin.

"Let's go dad. Let's smash their car!" Zac squealed, shifting his voice to a monster-like one but failed lamely because he sounded so cute instead.

For almost an hour that we're at the playground, it was surreal—it was as if we were the only people in the moment. The amusement park was filled with our laughter. Zac, the quiet little champ of mine, was the loudest. It was very overwhelming on my end to see that my son is acting his age. Although it's amazing to have a kid who's so mature already, as a parent, I wanted him to enjoy his childhood. Eventually, it happened.

While I am in the living room, trying to entertain myself with whatever the television has to offer, Chances is in the kids' room. Pinapatulog na niya siguro ang mga bata dahil kanina, naririnig ko ang maliliit na pagtawa ni Chance at Zac pero nakabalot na ngayon ng katahimikan ang bahay maliban sa ingay na nanggagaling sa TV. Dahil wala rin naman talaga akong napapanood ng maayos, tumayo na ako para puntahan ang aking mag-ina. My heart melted, seeing Chances' in the middle of the bed hugged by our precious gems. Her face is always like an angel but this time it looked different to me. Kahit ayaw ko, naririnig ko ang boses ni mama.

"Z-Zacc?"Utal niya. Napatayo ako ng maayos matapos marinig ang boses niya. Dahan-dahan siyang bumaba sa kama. Bago tuluyang umalis rito, kinumutan niya ang dalawa at tinitigan ng ilang saglit. "Kanina ka pa ba diyan? Inaantok ka na ba?"