HIDDEN VOWS

Chapter 51

It was a blue day for the Dekker family, made even somber by the anniversary of their departed loved ones. Today marked another celebration of the life of Jacob Miles Dekker, a man who was more than a grandfather to Miles.

But there was also one person whose commemoration Miles had missed last month so he skipped the ongoing get-together, and drove to the memorial park to pay her a visit.

It's been seven years already since she left, but the memories from that faithful autumn morning never failed to fill Miles with a pervasive sense of guilt and anger.

Deep down he knew his sister's death was inevitable but her demise no doubt hit home. And not only did it draw him away from his family, but it also changed his perspective on life as a whole.

You did what you could as a brother and you're doing your outermost best as an uncle but we can't beat ourselves up forever. We can only learn from it and channel our remorse toward helping others make the right decisions.

His late grandfather's words from years ago were brought to mind. Miles placed the bouquet of pink carnation on the cold marble stone and looked at his niece who stood beside him.

This was the first time he had visited his sister's grave with her daughter. But taking in the static pose of the little girl, he doubted if that was too soon.

Last month in particular had been challenging after the girl chanced on some of his late sister's relics which were in their grandmother's possession. More questions had been thrown but Miles left those discussions to Penelope who was in a better position to explain things to his niece.

It was tempting for them to lie to her about the real cause of her mother's death just as the Dekker family made the town folk believe, merely to save their reputation. But in order to allay the possibility of causing his niece any emotional trauma in the near future or even perpetuate the stigma of suicide, Miles and his grandmother came forth with the not so Disney version of the truth — albeit a version that was still suitable for her age.

Suffice to say, it's been days of mood swings and tantrums, but the least they could do as adults was to let the girl vent out her sadness instead of bottling everything up.

“I'm hungry...” Miles raised a brow.

This was surely her way of telling them to leave because she had already taken her breakfast.

“Why don't you lay your flower down there and then we go grab some food...” the said red rose was hesitantly placed on the stone.

“Come on...” Miles took her hand and led her away from her mother's resting place.

As they walked through the silent ones, he noticed a bronze headstone with a pair of names that caught his attention.

William and Jae Delado

“Do you know them, Uncle Miles?”

“I wish I did... give me a second.” Miles walked over to the monument.

He stood there for a second or two, lost in his own thoughts as he stared at the names before the heartfelt words tumbled out his mouth.

“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Delado. It's nice to finally meet you. I never got the privilege to meet you but your daughter speaks fondly of you two... I stopped by to say thank you... thank you so much for raising such an amazing daughter. Emery is not only a great companion but also an excellent mom to your granddaughter, and an inspiration to anyone who looks up to her. I ... I know I'm not the ideal son in law with all the pain I've cost your daughter, but I do hope I earn your forgiveness and blessings in my quest to do right by her cause I do love her with all my heart.”