Jonas joined in the conversation. He stood right next to me and held my waist."Thank you, tito, for allowing me to marry your daughter. I won't promise anything but I will do my best for Uno and for Etincelle," he said politely."No problem, son. Just do what makes my girl happy.""I will, tito.""Call him Dad. He's your future father-in-law," I teased and turned to my Das. "Right, Dad?""Of course. When will be the wedding?""No exact date, tito. Etincelle will decide.""Me?" I overreacted, shocked. "But why me?""Because I want you to be ready to commit once you will say your vow,"My heart skipped a beat. I suddenly felt nervous. I'd been attending weddings of my friends but I had no idea what it felt like. They were just crying tears of joy. I don't exactly know how it feels."Where is Uno, b

They bought liempo and lechon manok. We gathered around the table. Jonas and I sat next to each other. At my right was was Tessa. Next to her was her mother and the old woman."You just came home at the perfect date, dong. My birthday is tomorrow," the old woman stated in her own dialect which was the bisaya."I made sure we can attend your birthday, Ma," Jonas replied, who spoke also using his dialect."Awe. That's thoughtful of you. So, you will be staying here?""Yes, Ma. My wife and I will occupy my room. So as Uno."Jonas was calling his grandma "Mama". I wondered why.Uno reached for my plate, which created a noise of my untensils. Good thing Jonas was too quick to hold Uno's hand. He helped me to glide the plate away from me so Uno cannot reach it anymore."Arang himusa nija uy!" The old woman blurted out. "Earlier he was playing cars. He h

It was past one in the afternoon when Uno fell asleep. I lied next to him while scrolling up on my socmed account."It's not yet too late to try. You're still learning. Don't feel bad about your mistakes and shortcomings."My chest hurt. I wanted to blame myself for being like this. They were right when they said I needed to learn the household chores. I wouldn't deny that. Yet, it hurt me.I sniffed and wiped my tears away. There were things that my emotion couldn't handle. I grew up spoon-fed by my parents. I didn't have to work hard because I always got what I wanted. I was sheltered. I was loved perfectly.But this kind of set up made me realize that things were different already. And I needed to adjust and adapt. I can't do it immediately but at least I was putting efforts on it."Love?" Jonas called out upon opening and closing the door.I switched

The following morning, I woke up early. When I went down the stairs, I saw Tessa busy with her stuff. She was holding a sako bag, the one that Manang usually used when going to the market."Where are you heading to?" I asked her."I'm going to the market, ate. You wanna go with me?""Uhm," I was having a doubt. I wasn't used to going places like public market. I didn't like dirty places."You're probably not used to that kind of place," she said and continued what she was doing."I'm going with you," I declared.She looked at me strangely. "Okay." She shrugged.I went back to the room to check Uno. He was sleeping peacefully. I texted Jonas I was going to the market with Tessa. He hadn't replied yet so I decided to go down the stairs."Let's go?" I said to her."Sure."So, we went to the market. I was watc

Later that afternoon, Jonas and I went out to buy some snacks. We left Uno to Tessa and Lola Helena for the mean time. Jonas wanted me to explore Sogod so he brought me with him."I can't believe tha mall and the market are just in one place," I said while rooming my eyes around."When I was a kid, I used to spend my time here," he said. He reached for my hand and intertwined it with his. "Whenever I am hungry in the afternoon, this is where I usually go—here in Manang Rosa's place. She had a cafeteria before. Me and my friends loved to eat there.""Is Honey your childhood bestfriend?"He peered at my side and nodded. "We met here.""What made you like her?""She's so simple, smart and fun. She's kind too and hardworking.""Ah," I nodded and looked around again. "I wonder if you two didn't break up, you think you guys have built your own family now?"