Chapter 1:

The little girl ran freely and happily across the white sand near the shore. Her loud, joyful laughter filled the air as she clearly enjoyed every moment of her play. After a while, she seemed to grow tired of simply running around and decided to chase the gentle waves as they rolled onto the shore.

“Patrisha Mae! Please be careful!” an elderly woman called out loudly to the little girl. She stood a short distance away, watching over her granddaughter as she played. Beside her was another woman who stayed close to her and held an umbrella over her. Two men were also nearby, keeping watch over the little girl as she happily played by the shore.

“Don’t worry, Lola! I can handle myself here!” the little girl called back to her grandmother.

“Darling, why do you keep letting our granddaughter play over there? If Pablo and Sharon find out about this, I’m sure they’ll worry. They’ll say again that we’re being careless with their daughter,” an elderly man said as he approached his wife.

“Let’s just not tell them. Besides, our granddaughter rarely gets to play like this because they always keep her cooped up in their house in the city,” the elderly woman replied.

“You know they’re only being careful because Patrisha is their only daughter.”

“I’ve already told them they should have another child so Patrisha would have someone to grow up and play with. They’re too busy with the company, and they’re starting to run out of time for their own daughter.”

The elderly man put an arm around the elderly woman and leaned closer to whisper into her ear.

“If only we had had more children back then, we’d have plenty of grandchildren by now.”

“Well, you never helped me take care of the children back then.”

“That’s all right. Maybe we can still catch up now.”

“You really are something, Carlo! We’re already old, and those are still the things you think about,” the elderly woman replied, her face turning red as she scolded her husband, Don Carlo.

Patrisha paused in the middle of her play and looked at her grandparents as they happily teased and showed affection toward each other. A wide smile spread across her lips. She loved seeing the two of them happy and affectionate with each other. They were always like this whenever she came to the province to spend her vacation.

“Why are you looking at them?”

Patrisha quickly turned around. She saw a young boy standing behind her and talking to her.

“Why? Is it bad for me to look at my grandparents?” she asked the boy irritably.

“They’re your grandparents?”

Patrisha quickly nodded.

“You’re lucky. You still have grandparents.”

“What about you? You don’t have any?”

“No.”

“That’s sad.”

“Can they be my grandparents too?” the boy asked after a moment.

“No.”

“You’re so selfish.”

Patrisha’s gaze fell on the toy the boy was holding. Her eyes immediately lit up when she saw it. He was holding a beautiful doll.

“That’s so pretty. Let me borrow it.”

“No,” the boy refused.

“You can have my grandparents as your grandparents too if you let me borrow that.”

“No. You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because it isn’t mine.”

“Then whose is it?”

“My friend’s.”

“Then why are you the one holding it?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?” the boy snapped irritably.

Patrisha pouted.

“Maybe you’re gay, huh?”

“I’m not gay!”

“Yes, you are.”

“I said I’m not gay!” The boy’s face showed how annoyed he was by her teasing.

“Then why do you have a toy like that?”

“I already told you. It belongs to my friend.”

“You just don’t want to let me borrow it because you’re gay!” she continued teasing the boy.

“Call me that one more time, and I’m going to do something,” he warned her.

“Gay. Gay. Gay—”

Patrisha suddenly stopped teasing him when the boy quickly kissed her on the cheek.

“Why did you kiss me?” she asked angrily.

“Because you wouldn’t stop. You kept calling me gay. I’m not gay. I’m a boy.”

Patrisha’s vision immediately blurred as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Then take responsibility for me. Marry me!”

“I don’t want to!” the little boy quickly replied.

“Why don’t you want to?!”

“Because I don’t have a crush on you,” the boy teased before walking away from her.

Patrisha woke from a deep sleep when the loud ringing of her alarm clock, sitting on her bedside table, jolted her awake. Still half-asleep, she reached for it and lazily turned it off. She was reluctant to get out of bed, but whether she liked it or not, she knew she had to get up this early so they wouldn’t miss their flight.

Only a few seconds had passed when she heard several knocks on her bedroom door.

“Trisha? Trisha, wake up! I’ve already prepared breakfast. Come on,” Nanay Lucy called out, trying to wake her.

“Coming,” she replied lazily before slowly getting out of bed. She opened her eyes while still yawning. Then she suddenly remembered her dream.

She let out a small laugh.

They were returning to the Philippines today, after all, and she was still upset about her parents’ decision to make her live permanently in the province with her child. Perhaps that was why she had dreamed about that little memory from the place.

There was nothing she could do but follow her parents’ wishes, even though it was against her own.

She missed her friends and her old life.

She didn’t regret the life she had now because she was happy with her child. Still, she wanted to live in the city and start a small business of her own there.

But she couldn’t.

It seemed that, all her life, she had been programmed to simply follow whatever her parents told her to do. No matter what she wanted, she had always been expected to obey their decisions and do exactly as they said.

“Good morning, Mommy!” her son greeted her cheerfully as she stepped out of her bedroom. He was sitting at the dining table beside Nanay Lucy.

“Good morning, Baby!” she greeted him back before pulling him into a tight hug. She then took the seat across from him. “Thank you for preparing breakfast, Nanay Lucy,” she said to the older woman who had been with her for years.

She had grown up with Nanay Lucy. Ever since she was old enough to remember, the older woman had always been by her side, looking after her. She had worked for their family for many years, and when her parents sent her abroad, they had asked Nanay Lucy to go with her.

“It’s nothing. Come on, let’s eat before we end up being late for our flight,” Nanay Lucy said.

“You really seem excited to go back home.”

“Of course I am. Why? Aren’t you?”

Patrisha didn’t know how to answer.

Well, she was happy too because there was still something special about being in your own country. She just didn’t know what kind of life awaited her and her child in the province they were returning to.

It had been a long time since she had last been there. The last time had been when her grandmother, Prima, passed away. She had been very young back then, and after her grandmother’s death, she had never returned to that place.

The place she had once considered something close to paradise.

So what could she really expect now?

Several years had passed, and she was certain that many things had changed. Just like her. She was no longer the little girl who used to find happiness in everything.

She had experienced so many different things over the years, and all of them had changed her in ways she could never have imagined.

They were returning to the Philippines three days earlier than her parents had expected. Patrisha had planned to visit her friends in Manila first, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Besides, Ethan also wanted to spend some time with their child. So, for the next three days, Eros would stay with Ethan while Patrisha stayed with her friend.

As for Nanay Lucy, she would go home to her own family first and would join Patrisha and Eros in the province eight days later.