All Chapters of nong una Lulong ang asawa ko sa bisyo at barkada: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The next morning after Alana's first steps, I woke up early. My heart was still happy from last night. I keep remembering how Sebastian cried when Alana walked.But today is more special. Tomorrow is Alana Sofia's first birthday.I was planning a simple celebration. Just spaghetti, a small cake, and the three of us. Because we are still saving money. I told Sebastian we should not spend too much.But this past week, Sebastian has been acting strange. He comes home late, but he is not drunk. He smiles a lot. He whispers on his phone. When I ask him where he goes, he says, "It's a secret, Mama."I started to worry. My old fear came back. Is he back to his barkada? Is he drinking again?"Sebastian, where do you go every night? Are you with your barkada again?" I asked him last night, with tears.He held my face and kissed my forehead. "No, Alina. I swear I am not drinking. Trust me. Tomorrow you will understand everything. Just trust your husband this time."So I trusted him.This mornin

One year and eight months.That is how old Alana Sofia is now. She is no longer the small baby who could only cry and sleep. Now she is running. She is talking. She is saying "Mama" and "Papa" clearly, and every time she says it, my heart melts."Sebastian! Look! She is climbing again!" I shouted from the kitchen.Our small living room became her playground. And Sebastian, my husband, was no longer the man who ran away to his barkada. Now he is the man who runs to catch his daughter before she falls."I got you, princess! Papa is here!" He picked her up and tossed her gently in the air. Alana Sofia laughed so loud. That laugh is our favorite music in this house.I watched them while stirring our sinigang. Our ulam is simple. Our house is simple. But our house is loud now. Loud with love. Before, our house was quiet and cold. I was alone, crying, waiting for a husband who was always with his friends, with his beer, with his vices. Now, I tell them to lower their voice because the neigh

The first day of our store ended with 30 pesos sales. 30 pesos only. Some people might laugh. But for me and Sebastian, it was like we won the lottery.That night, after Alana Sofia slept, Sebastian took the notebook again."Alina, let's write today's sales," he said.He wrote:*Day 1 - Nov 2*Sales: 30 pesosProfit: 6 pesosMoney left in bottle: 950 + 30 = 980 pesos"Only 6 pesos profit?" I asked, a little sad.Sebastian held my hand. "Alina, 6 pesos profit is not small. Before, I spent 200 pesos in one night drinking with barkada and I had nothing the next day. Now, we have 6 pesos and we still have our goods. Tomorrow we will have more."He was right. I smiled.Day 2 came. It rained hard. In our barangay, when it rains, no one goes out. I was worried."No customers today because of rain," I told Sebastian while looking at our small table outside. The plastic cover was leaking.Sebastian did not answer. He stood up, took an umbrella, and went outside. He moved our small table closer

After one month, we had 2,270 pesos cash in the plastic bottle and 800 pesos goods. Total 3,070 pesos.Every night, Sebastian talked about the refrigerator."Alina, I saw the second-hand refrigerator again in the market. It is still there. 2,500 pesos. It is small, but it works. The owner said it is cold. We can buy it next week if we save more."I nodded, but I was also worried. 2,500 pesos is almost all our cash. If we buy it, we will have only 570 pesos left for goods. What if no one buys cold drinks?But Sebastian believed. "We need to take risk, Alina. Before, I took risk drinking and losing money. Now we take risk for business and growing money. Different risk."Second month started. We worked harder. We opened at 5 AM and closed at 10 PM now. We added more goods - small bread, instant noodles, and more load.Alana Sofia also helped. She learned to say "Thank you, come again!" to customers. Customers loved her. They bought more because of her smile.Day 32: 220 pesos salesDay 3

One year.One year since we started with 1,850 pesos in a plastic bottle.Today is our one year anniversary of Alana Sofia Sari-Sari Store.I woke up at 4 AM today, same as every day for one year. Sebastian was already awake, arranging goods in our store. Alana Sofia, now 4 years old, was still sleeping, hugging her own plastic bottle piggy bank which now has 350 pesos inside. She saved it herself from coins we gave her.I looked at our store. It is not small anymore.One year ago, we had a table. Now we have a real store made of concrete floor, wood walls, and yero roof. Sebastian built the concrete floor last month using our savings. He learned from YouTube how to mix cement. It is not perfect, but it is concrete, not mud when it rains.One year ago, we had goods worth 900 pesos. Now we have goods worth 15,000 pesos. We have everything - rice, sugar, coffee, soy sauce, noodles, canned goods, bread, eggs, diapers, shampoo, soap, load, ice candy, ice cream, softdrinks, and even school