Wedding bells rang from the island, after two years. I bit my lip and a tear fell down from my eyes as long as the invitation made way to my hands, those idiots has finally decided to tie the knot. Theyve been engaged for almost four years, and now they
e finally taking the next step, the two has been engaged quickly months after I left. I swiped my card to enter my unit, who would expect that its already my fourth-year in this condominium? And Ive been living independently, enjoying my freedom for years.
"Mom, did you receive an invitation to Kevins wedding? Hes finally getting married!" I made the announcement to mom, excited as if Im the one getting married.
"Kevins what? We did not receive any invitation! I can believe that boy," she was devastated to not receive an invitation and thats obvious.
"Maybe your invitation is on the way, you
e easily discouraged." I smiled, and reached out for the unopened invitation card from earlier.
Its a nicely designed brown and green combined small envelope, it shows intricate fairy-tale like curves and lines like vines, my name was written outside the letter, and inside was nothing but five words written in all capitals saying,
ORGANIZE OUR WEDDING FOR US.
Wait, what?
"Are you engaged, Addison?" I heard my Mom freaked out inside my screen.
"Of course not!" I answered, and paused.
"So whats with the ring?" she fired back. My vision lowered to the emerald greened stone on my finger, I raised my right hand to give her a better view of it.
"Oh, you mean this? Its from Kevin." I answered and smiled. After I got home from the airport, I saw my old engagement ring on my bed, with a note saying hes giving it to, it was for me and he said I should have it. I smiled, I remember how I despised this ring back then, but now Ive been keeping it on for almost two years.
"And you
e wearing that?" she looked uneasy with it.
"Of course, it was mine in the first place. I can let a beautiful ring grow old in hiding, can I?" And I felt proud that I was once engaged to him, he was my first boyfriend and ex-fiancé. He was my younger years.
"And don you think Angeline wouldn want to see you wear that?" Moms worried.
"I never thought of that, weve dealt with the past and it shouldn bother her that much, Kevins marrying her." Its entirely up to me if I keep it on or not, and Im pretty convinced that Kevin gave this to me so I can wear it, didn he?
My mom was silent, her eyes still fixed on my ring. Its uncomfortable that shes acting like that but I think Im already a grown woman to stand for my decisions. And we shouldn really take thing like this of a big deal. Its literally nothing.
"So, hows the kid? I don hear him, is he outside?" I changed topics, my moms aura exchanged instantly. She likes it that I no longer call the kid adopted.
"Hes outside with your Dad. That boy keeps us entertained the whole day." She laughed and there she starts with story-telling me of how the kid made their sixties still on for adventure.
"Did he get the presents I sent him, along with package?" he asked for new toy cars and Spiderman costumes in which I sent along with the groceries I brought to send to the Philippines.
"Absolutely, but hes been so obsessed with the puzzles too! He likes building and building blocks, and now as you see," she pointed to her background.
"The house is in a chaotic mess." She added. I laughed, Im glad those little things made the small human happy at least.
"I saw your posts in social media; hes playing with Dads phone. Didn I tell you that we should forbid him getting exposed to gadgets at such a young age? That little guys still three years old, hes not supposed to use gadgets." My forehead wrinkled, children can definitely have a better childhood without gadgets. I remember I spent my early years engaging with activities back in the time when I was still not introduced to computers.
"Your Dad lets him; they would watch nursery songs and videos together. But isn good for him though? Like most of the children nowadays would be gifted iPods for their birthdays, and their learning quick." Mom took a huge bite from her toast.
"It doesn mean that everyone else is doing it then you should do it too, hes going to learn about all the technologies when hes grown up and I won stop him from that, but I don think we should expose him now. He doesn even still know what a technology is, and if hes exposed to it very young then hell be addicted to it. We all understand children behavior. Let him play with the toys I sent him, because children should play with toys and not cellphones." And now I felt like a nosy parent, my Mom and Dad raised me like that, and I thank them for it.
"Okay-okay. Youve been sending us packages ever since but tell me exactly when are you coming home? Like Addison, we miss you. Like can you swing by for a vacation at least? Do I really have to beg just to see my own daughter?" Ive never been home ever since I was back here three years ago, my last visit was during the magazine project, and to remember it, Ive never actually visited home.
"Well it looks like you
e going to see me anytime soon," I waved the invitation card for Kevins wedding.
"They have asked me to organize their wedding." My moms face lit up.
"For long and for good?" she asked.
"For good, maybe not? But Ill stay for couple of months; you do know organizing a wedding from a scratch takes long months. But Ill see, Ill see you then." The call ended as I was receiving call from my boss.
A economy plane ticket had sent me home the next week, I was welcomed with no one in the airport as expected, Mom texted me to drop by a cake house before heading home, she even told me to not forget the words WELCOME HOME ADDISON written on the very top of the cake.
"I felt so pathetic to buy my own cake for my surprise welcome party." I took out a card to pay for the cake at the counter, and since its my cake I chose to have my favorite flavor, which changes every time depends on my mood, so I requested for all flavors in one cake. The cake house was quite impressive at that.
A typical all lights out house welcomed me as I got off from the cab, of course its not a surprise if all the lights are on. I should rehearse for an impressive surprised face for their mental health. I closed the red gate and slide all through in the house, there wasn much of changes, except that the paints are now slowly coming off, and the walls are designed with algae.
I opened the door and entered our house, the darkness filled the entire room and I am mentally preparing myself to their welcomes.
"Mom?" I called after a few minutes of waiting in the darkness of the living room.
Don they think they should surprise me now? Like right now, like most of Filipinos do?
"Come on, guys theres no need for that. Come out already." I laughed. But no one answered.
"Guys, are we going to play hide and seek in here? Just come out already and let me see you." Silence, these people is the surprise party not ready yet? Did I come in too early?
"Should I go outside and pretend to enter the house again?" Im laughing inwardly, looks like the party isn ready yet. Maybe I arrived much early than they assumed.
"Okay-okay, Ill just forget this happened. Ill pretend to enter the house again, Im leaving." I turned back and to go outside when Moms voice resonated in the dark.
"Addison, is that you?" Moms faint voice from upstairs called. Seconds later, the house flooded with blinding lights, and I saw her heading down the staircase on a night dress, she tightly squeezed her eyes like shes been sleeping.
"Mom, where is everybody?" the house looks natural in its chaotic state, building blocks and toys are everywhere.
"I heard you say you
e leaving. Why are you leaving when you can just stay here?" she hugged me, while my confused brain and eyes wandered everywhere. Wheres my surprise party?
"Is no one here?" I ran to the kitchen and saw no one; I looked back at Mom whos now looking confused.
"Are you okay? Whats happening to you?" she asked and held my hand worriedly. How am I supposed to say this? My own brain made me believe the whole time that theres a welcome party waiting for me back home, and now its all a freaking imagination?
I face palmed and took cake to the table. I was beyond surprised and embarrassed at myself; this is exactly the explanation behind the saying that YOUR BRAIN IS YOUR GREATEST ENEMY.
"Addison, did something happen with your flight? Why are you frowning like that?" Its unfair to vent out to my Mom, she doesn know anything about my wild imagination so why bother?
"I bought the cake you texted." I pushed the box of cake to her direction.
"Oh I see, well leave it here and Ill go help you bring your things upstairs." She stood up and picked up some two of my paper bags while I carry my wheels.
"Is Dad and Marcus sleeping already?" I asked mom while we were riding the stairs, Ive packed so much for this short stay, and now Im even struggling of taking my things one by one from downstairs.
"Your dad tucked Marcus to bed, that kid can never live without stories and most of all he would chose Rey over me." She pouted, now that she mentioned it I think that those two were so busy obsessing each other that they forgot to pay attention to the only woman in the house.
"They
e boys, I think thats why." I smiled. We stopped by at the door of my room. The hallways are medium lit and a bit if darkness is seen in each corners. Right, its nine in the evening and maybe most of the people are asleep and getting ready for bed right now.
A welcome home party doesn necessarily need to happen right now, Im also exhausted with the travel, so I think Id better let myself rest tonight and allow myself to get back on overthinking tomorrow.
"Ive been on such a long journey away, but now Im home." I whispered as I pushed my door open while Mom was back downstairs to pick some of my stuffs.
Someone giggled in the darkness of my room, my body hairs rose up, what the heck?
"Mom?" I called, I can seem to remember where is the light switch of my room. Im kind of scared to find it.
My Mom didn respond to my call, she is downstairs, I quickly searched for my phone in my pocket and opened my flashlight, and just then my room bloomed in a totally blinding lights and a party popper flew into the air.
"Welcome home!" Kevin and Angeline shouted, both are wrapped under the comforter of my bed. Just them and no one else, just them to make me happy.
My room was decorated the same, the dusted shelves and the neatly arranged books made me realized that Mom really took good care of my place while shes asking me to visit home.
"WELCOME home, Addison." My mom whispered in my ear as she presents me the cake I bought from earlier. I laughed feeling overwhelmed.
"You scare the goodness out of me, Angie! You do know its scary to hear someone giggling inside a dark room!" I complained while smiling.
"I couldn help it! Like when I heard the door creaking and your voice I couldn help myself but laugh." She hugged me Ang I hugged her back.
"Did you do something funny on my bed?" I glared at them one by one. They did not dare, right?
"You should change your sheets." Kevin laughed like a dog.
My mouth flew open. They did it on my bed? In what the freaking hell?!
"Angie! These two seriously don have a sense of formality!" Now I couldn look the same on my precious bed like before.
"What were you thinking? Angeline fell asleep on your bed and she drools like a fountain. If you don want to lay on her spoiled saliva then you better change your sheets." Kevin answered laughing. Hes teasing me.
"Oh, I was referring to that." I was silenced.
"Seriously?" Kevin raised an eye brow.
"Seriously, Kevin." I answered.
Mom took the cake out of the box while listening to our bickering. And the words WELCOME HOME ADDISON registered to our sight, Angeline then roared to a terminal laugh.
"This is the meanest thing Ive ever saw my entire life, Kevin!" She continued laughing. How could they messed up with my feelings like that?
"Now that I see her face, I felt sorry." Kevin shook his head, he felt sorry for me? Then why is he smiling?
"Your Dad and Marcus is asleep, you should head downstairs to have this cake." I took the cake from my Mom and the three of us went downstairs while she goes back to bed.
"About your wedding, do you have specific things to add to? Like is it going to be a church wedding, beach wedding, garden wedding, or what?" I was slow, maybe because I have a box of my cake on my hand.
"That doesn matter, but it needs to happen very soon." Kevin held out his hand to Angeline as we
e heading downstairs, while his other hand is assisting me too.
"Yeah, before my baby bump shows." Angeline added, and the cake slides down the stairs by itself.
Novel Bin 