Chapter 3

“Mommy, what happened to your face?” 

Nakauwi na sila but Chico was still repeating his question. She already said she bumped ito something. 

“Baby, It was mommy’s fault. I was not looking.” Inayos ni Gabby sa day bed si Mango, Chico’s twin sister. She placed a pillow by her side so she won’t roll and fall. 

She went to the kitchen to prepare their dinner at nakasunod pa rin ang anak na lalaki. 

“Did someone hurt you, Mommy?” diretsang tanong nito. 

Napangiti naman siya.   Chico loves acting tough kasi hindi na raw ito baby, something he always reminded her lately. Gabby turned once she reached the center island, she pulled a chair for Chico at binuhat ang anak to put him up on the chair. She held on to him tightly at biglang pinugpog ito ng halik. 

“Mommy!” Chico complained. “I am not a baby boy anymore.” 

 Gabby kissed him at kiniliti ito until he laughed and pushed her hand away bagoniya tinigilan. 

“You will always be my baby.” sagot naman ni Gabby sa anak at pinidot pa ang dulo ng matangos nitong ilong. Hinawiniya ang buhok nito na dumikit sa pawis nito sa noo. She took a towel and dabbed at his sweat. 

“I’ll make you a sandwich first. Dinner will still be ready in an hour.” paliwanag niya sa anak. 

She moved and made three ham and cheese sandwiches. She also prepared freshly squeezed orange juice na hinaluan niya rin ng carrot juice. 

“Cheating,” Chico called out. 

She smiled at dinilaan ang anak. Chico does not complain about the vegetables but Mango do. Gabby divided the juice equally in three glasses bago inutusan ang anak na gisingin ang kapatid. 

Pupungas-pungas pa na lumapit ang anak na babae habang nakasunod si Chico. She both lifted them and made them sit on the chairs fronting the center island. 

“Sorry I was late earlier, Baby,” Gabby looked Mango in the eye, tulad nang nakasanayanniya pagkinakausap ang mga anak. The same gray eyes. Her features just a feminine version ng kakambal nito. The only thing she got from her was her curly brown hair and her freckles. 

Mango smiled. “It’s okay, Mommy.”

“Sorry too that we have to wake you up. Hindi ka makakatulog mamaya if you nap longer, okay.” She kissed her baby girl on top of her head. “Mmmm. Asim.” Bironiya dito but Mango just laughed. 

She served them the sandwiches and the juice and watched them take a bite before she started to eat her share. 

“What do you want for dinner?” tanongniya sa mga anak. 

“Meatballs!” sabay na sagot ng dalawa. 

“Again?” natatawa nyang balik sa mga ito. 

Sabay naman na tumango ang mga ito habang nginunguya ang sandwiches nila. 

She quickly finished her sandwich and moved on to preparing rice. Then she pulled out what she needed for the meatballs and the tomato sauce. 

“Mommy, don’t sneak veggies please,” Mango said while eyeing her closely. 

“Vegetables are good for you, baby.”

“I’ll just take the vitamins. Please.” ungot naman ng anak nyang babae. She even put down her sandwich and put her hands together in a prayer gesture.

Gabby looked at her daughter making the cutest facial expression to her. 

“Can I put this?” Gabby raised her hand with a stalk of celery that she pulled from below the counter that she planned to process with the meat.

Mango scrunched her nose. 

It was Gabby’s turn para magpacute sa anak. 

“Mango, Celery is a good source of Vitamins and Minerals, it tastes good in meatballs.” paliwanag naman ni Chico. 

Gabby gave a thumbs up sa anak na lalaki. “Sige na, baby.” balingniya naman sa isa. 

“Okay.” tugon nito na parang napipilitan pa. 

Gabby circled the counter again. She kissed Mango and gave a wink to Chico. She was given a big smile by her little boy. She helped both down after they finished their juice and sandwiches. She watched them run back to the living room. Chico turned the TV on to Cartoon network. 

Nilibot niya rin ang mata sa paligid. They lived in a 3-bedroom condo in one of the luxury condominiums in Makati. She used one of the rooms as her office as she mostly worked at home, another bedroom as a playroom for the kids and they all slept in the Master’s Bedroom ng mga anak niya. But they were getting older and they will need their own rooms. 

Gabby bit her lower lip as she watched them. She shook her head as the face of that man haunted her again. 

She went back to preparing the meatballs. She looked at the kids first. As if Chico felt her gaze, he looked back at her. She put a finger to her lips before she dropped a carrot in the food processor too. 

Just as she suspected, masiglang-masigla pa si Mango after dinner because of her nap. 

She turned on the water to fill their jacuzzi tub sa master’s en-suite bathroom at pinalitan ang suot ng anak na babae into a swimsuit. Inabot naman ni Gabby ang swimming trunks to Chico at ayaw na nitong binibihisan nya. 

Her little boy even went out of the walk-in closet para magbihis. 

Gabby also quickly changed into a one-piece swimsuit at nauna na sila sa tub ni Mango. She helped Chico in when he got back. This was their nightly family bonding. This is where she taught her kids how to float and swim kahit maliit lang ang tub for swimming. They were now confident swimmers when she get to bring them to the pools. 

“Mommy, we are going to get the princess dress tomorrow, right?” tanong ni Mango. 

“Not yet, Baby. We will just try it on first.” 

“But - But we are still going right?” tanong pa nito ulit. 

“We still need seven sleeps before the party, Mango.” 

“Yes, that’s right. Mommy will pick it up on Wednesday. Party is still on Friday night.” 

Nakita naman ni Gabby na nalungkot ang anak. “If it comes sooner than seven sleeps, we won’t finish your crown. You still want your crown, right?” 

Tumango naman ang anak and forgot about her disappointment. 

She got tickets to the Kid’s Halloween Party hosted for the 3rd year now of Grand Hotel. The theme changed each year and the ticket prices were always sold out. It was a great event for kids to experience dressing up. The theme was Disney for that year. And she heard that Disney characters will be at the party to entertain the kids. 

The kids moved on to tell her about their day. Nag-uunahan pa ang mga ito sa pagbibidahan. 

They stayed in the warm water for 30 minutes before she brought her kids out. She just put on a robe first at inunang tuyuin si Mango. Chico just asked for a towel and dried himself at nagmamadaling lumabas ng banyo. 

“Chico, your clothes are on top of the dresser,”pahabolniya sa anak. 

“Yes, mom.” 

Narinigniya naman na sagot nito. She sighed inwardly. Soon, their nightly bath will stop too. Lumalaki na nga ang mga anak nya. They are growing so fast na gusto nyang pahintuin muna ang panahon. 

She saw Chico return na nakabihis na ito into the pajama set that she prepared. He started to arrange the step stools in front of the lavatory. One each for para sa kambal and he started to reach for their toothbrushes and squeezed toothpaste on all of their brushes.  

“Thank you,” she rubbed his head when she got near.

She watched her kids brush their teeth in the mirror as she brushed as well. Hindiniya maiwasang kabahan. Her treasures.

---

MALALIM NA ANG GABI pero hindi pa rin makatulog si Gabby. She looked at her kids beside her. Mango always slept beside her at si Chico naman beside Mango. She kissed Mango first bago bumangon and moved to Chico’s side. Chico always put her sister first at hindi ito nagrereklamo. Tinabihanniya ito and pulled her little boy to her side. Agad naman itong umikot and hugged her. 

She gently stroked his face and was kept reminded of that man from earlier again. She sighed at inabot ang cellphone. 

The probability is very slim but she still sent several emails. She also sent a follow up with the broker para madaliin ang paglipat nila ng bahay. 

She also went through her emails and messages and she found one from Kathy. It was an apology and a request for a meeting. Napabuntung-hininga siya  ulit. She cannot afford to throw her weight kahit pa pwede nyang gawin at the moment. She can choose to play prima donna too at makipagtaasan ng ihi sa mga artista but she did not have enough time. She wants to be done with the contract with the production studio already. 

But she wanted so much to ask Kathy kung sino ang lalaki kanina but she did not want to open up a can of worms. 

---

HALOS ISANG LINGGO RING NASA BYAHE SI MATT. He just landed and was on his way home.

“Nico,” Bati ni Matt as he received Nico’s call. 

“Your girl is quite easy to find.” Pauna ni Nico. “I’ve sent you some files.” 

“If it was easy then why did you make me wait for almost a week?” 

Tanging tawa lang ni Nico ang narinig ni Matt sa kabilang linya. 

“Because it got interesting,” anito. 

Matt took his tablet at nagbukas ng email from Nico. 

“Why don’t you give me a summary?” untag ni Matt. 

“Okay,” Nico said eagerly. 

Napailing naman si Matt. He felt that Nico just wanted to be the one to tell her kaya pa ito tumawag. 

“Name is Gabrielle Gabriel. First name is female spelling for Gabriel. Goes with Gabby. Most in the industry call her Miss G.” 

Matt did not interrupt Nico as he has the file open already. 

“She’s 30 years old.” 

Four years gap. Matt’s mind was instantly comparing himself to Gabby right away.

“As you already know she is the author G. Gabriel but..” 

Matt sighed nang binitin pa ni Nico ang sasabihin.

“She is also Chloe Theodore.” 

“What??” Matt was familiar with Chloe Theodore. She is the famous albeit faceless writer of the book series The Tribe, a book turned into a blockbuster franchise produced by Warners Bros. 

Matt immediately scanned the files from Nico. 

“It’s not in the file Nico.” 

Tumawa ulit si Nico. “I’m about to send it.” 

“You are such an asshxle,” Matt retorted.

“I don’t know though why she has two pen names. Chloe Theodore is American and G. Gabriel is well-- Filipino.” 

Tumango naman si Matt even though alam nitong hindi siya  nakikita ni Nico. “What else?” 

“She doesn’t have any social media accounts. Social media accounts are all maintained by her PR company. And one more thing or let’s say two?” 

Matt did not answer but just waited.

“She is a mother to twins - a boy and a girl. Just turned five. The boy is Theo, she calls him Chico. And the girl is Chloe, she calls her Mango.” 

Matt was immediately deflated. “She’s married?” 

“No,” Mabilis naman na sagot ni Nico. 

Matt grinned. “Boyfriend? Divorced? Separated?” 

“Nope. Nothing on the file. She's single and looks like -- unattached.”

Mas lalong lumapad ang ngiti ni Matt. He swiped his finger for the next page and landed on a picture of Gabby.

“I don’t think she’s someone for just a tumble in bed, Matt.” seryoso namang sabi ni Nico sa kabilang linya.

Matt looked at a picture of Gabby on the screen. “No. She isn’t for just a tumble in bed.” Matt agreed. He can feel an excitement in his heart and an uncomfortable tightness in his crotch.