Holding on to His Promises

Chapter 3: Left Together

"One . . . two . . . three . . . smile!" Tita Thalia said, and we did what she said. We smiled at camera that she was holding, until we heard the shot sound of it. Dylan, Kirby and I were sitting on the green grasse and Tita Thalia took few shots of us there.

We had a picnic on the side of the falls nearby. We had gone there since early morning and we decided to go home when the sky was already losing its shine.

Habang bumibiyahe kami pauwi sa mansion ni Lolo Max, tahimik lang kami nina Kirby at Dylan sa sasakyan.

Dylan and I were still not talking to each other, still ignoring each other. Dylan looked at me when he noticed that I was staring at him, pero umismid lang ako at lumihis ng tingin.

***

"Goodbye, Lolo Max!" sabay na sabi namin ni Kirby habang nakasakay na kami sa loob ng sasakyan.

Nakangiting tumango si Lolo Max sa amin at kumaway-kaway kaya kumaway din kami rito bago tuluyang sumulong ang sasakyan namin. Sa kabilang banda ay naroon si Dylan sa likuran ni Lolo Max, nakamasid lang sa pag-alis namin. He would be left there because they would celebrate their noche-buena there, while I and Kirby were finally going home to celebrate our Christmas eve with our family.

"I want to go back there again," sabi ni Kirby na sa tabi ko. I didn't talk, but deep inside, I couldn't deny that I had fun there and absolutely wanted to go back there as well.

It was already evening when we got home. I pushed the door open tiredly. A clean living room was waiting for me. I sniffed the delicious aroma filling the house, and it was from the kitchen. I was sure that Auntie Rona was cooking. As I walked heading to the kitchen area, little by little I saw Auntie's back.

"I'm back, Auntie!" I said in a very cheerful voice.

She suddenly turned around to face me. I stopped when I noticed that something changed in her appearance, especially when I lifted up my gaze on her head. She was . . . bald.

As what I expected, she just looked at me plainly. "How's your vacation," she asked me. "Didn't they treat you bad?" she added.

Her question made me reminisced how Lolo max treated me. He was nice though he was very strict.

"Dylan's grandpa was nice to me."

She just nodded her head. Muli niyang binalik ang tuon niya sa niluluto niya. Nilapag ko sa isang upuan roon ang backpack ko at umupo ako sa katabi pa nitong upuan. Pinatong ko ang kamay ko sa lamesa.

"Uhm, Auntie, bakit nagpakalbo ka?" I asked while looking at her bald head.

"Because I was having a hair fall."

I pouted my lips. She looked ugly with that haircut.

When the night came, she prepared some food on the table for our noche-buena: ham, pastas, special sandwich, and fruit salad. They looked all delicious, so I ate them all.

Auntie handed me her phone. "Your mommy," she said.

"Hello, My! Merry Christmas!" I said while chewing the ham in my mouth.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart. We'll send you our present tomorrow. I'm sure you will be happy kapag nakita mo 'yun." I stopped chewing when I heard that from her. I will be happy if you and Dad are with me tonight, I thought. "Sweetheart?" she said when I didn't react.