“Mommy, let’s play and go out please?” My daughter pouted and looked at me using her puppy eyes. I quickly looked away because I know that looking into those eyes is a trap. Gosh, this kid knows how to use her cuteness against me! I mean who could have resisted that cutie little patootie?“Flannel, your mom has a lot of things to do for work. She cannot play with you,” Maia tried to explain to her. When I gazed at her, she immediately crossed her arms while looking down. Her lips were pouted even more. I shook my head and just gave out a smile. I then reached for her arms and pulled her closer to me. It was already eight in the morning and we just had our breakfast, but we were still in the dining area. Maia was cleaning the dishes and I was having my coffee and Flannel was supposed to be drinking her milk. “Come here,” I said and carried her. I let her sit on my lap. “I’m sorry that I cannot come with you today, baby. I really need to finish everything that I need to so that we ca
“Can we just block him here, Atty?” Stressed already, I asked Atty. Lockheart. We just got rid of Gregory and hell, it was so annoying. The guards were already restraining him, yet he was still so stubborn about it. It was frustrating. I thought all my hair will fall out earlier. He was so persistent!"Are you sure about that? Why is he bothering you anyway?" I was stunned by his question.I immediately looked away. I don't what's the extent of his knowledge about our family issue but one thing is for sure, and that's I don't want to reopen that bullshit again. I'm so done with it. Flannel's fine with me anyway. That shouldn't be a big deal. "Uhh I don't know his deal, Attorney. Believe me, I am just as confused as you." I shrugged just to sound casual and all. I swallowed hard and got the water on our table. I drank it continuously as if my throat was just some desert in Africa in need of freaking water. I was panting when I placed back the glasa on the table. I felt Atty Lockhea
“I’m so excited, Mommy!” Flannel beamed at me the next morning. Maia and I were cooking breakfast while she was sitting on the highchair of the island counter. I just gave her a smile. “Promise you’ll behave there, okay?” Maia said to her. “Yes, I will!” she said and smiled cutely. I laughed a bit and shook my head at her. She’s really like a ball of sunshine today. Ever since I told her yesterday that we will be visiting her grandfather and grandmother today, she just couldn’t help her excitement anymore. I looked at Maia, too and she just smiled at me, too. I sighed and turned off the stove already. I got the bacon and the hotdogs on the table. Flannel was just looking at the both of us, waiting for the food to be prepared. “Mommy, is grandpa okay already?” she even asked. “Hmm. He’s not yet that okay, baby, but he’ll be better.” “What about grandma, Mommy?” “What do you mean?” I creased my forehead and looked at her. She pressed her lips together before pouting. “Is she
My heart was overwhelmed all the way to our mansion. I didn’t know if I should thank the horrible traffic in Manila that we were delayed. It’s just that I felt like my heart would jump out of my chest already. My mom was bombarding me with missed calls and text messages already, but I wasn’t replying to any of them. I felt Maia’s stares at me. She wasn’t saying anything but I knew that her stares were meant to ask me if I was okay. She just couldn’t say it because Flannel is in between us and my daughter would probably ask why I was like that. Fear was covering my whole body as we go down the familiar road to our house. Flannel was murmuring some things but I just couldn’t focus anymore. It’s not only Mommy’s presence that I’m scared of. It’s also the threat of that text message earlier. Fuck. I cannot believe this. I couldn’t be calm until I know what he was up to! What the hell?! I don’t want any surprises anymore, please!“Felice, Felice.” I went back to my senses when I felt an
I don’t know for how long I was staying there in that position. I just didn’t want to come out because I don’t want my daughter to see that I was crying. It was just all the emotions from five years ago came back to me and seeing how my mom was smiling at my daughter despite seeing her for the first time feels just so light. I couldn’t even explain it. I sniffed carefully as I looked at my father who was still sleeping. I almost jumped on my seat when I heard someone knock. I heaved a sigh and eventually went to the door. I was greeted by a guy in a white uniform. “Good morning, Ma’am, I am Gerald, your dad’s personal nurse. The hospital assigned me here.” My mouth formed an o as I nodded at him. “Oh, uhhh, you need to check dad already?”“Uhh., no, Ma’am, I was just gonna get this inside.” He had some medical bags with him. “Ohh, sure, sure, come.” I gave him a smile and let him in. I sighed again, deciding on whether I should go to my mother and daughter already. In the end, I
I was stunned in my seat. I immediately looked at Mommy and she was looking at me with wide eyes, too. I was so nervous already. Fuck. I looked at my daughter who was still eating. Shit. What am I gonna do?! My hands were trembling already. I didn’t know what to do and I was about to panic when I heard my mom clear her throat. I could hear our gate opening already. Damn, they’re inside!“Flannel, hija,” she called my daughter. “Yes, granny?” my daughter asked sweetly. Mommy then smiled at her. “Uhh, can you and Maia go upstairs first? They will just take your food with you. Mommy and I have unexpected visitors. Can you do that?” She was still smiling as she said those. My daughter then looked at me so I needed to force a smile at her. She looked confused, but in the end, she still nodded and stood anyway. Maia went to her and they immediately went upstairs. I couldn’t stop myself from looking at the main door, too. I was feeling nervous and anxious already. Fuck. “Quit being obvi
I was watching them as they got out of the house. I bit my lip and took a deep breath. Fuck. I slumped my back on the back of the chair. My mom gasp. “Oh gosh. This is so stressful, Felice!” she said. When I looked at her, she was already massaging her hair. I shook my head, too. I bit my lip and pressed my lips together. I was just staring at my mom who looked so stressed already. I sighed. “Thank you, Mom.” She looked like she was just stunned by what I said. I saw her blinking multiple times before giving me a small smile, too. I bit my lip. Slowly, I stood and went up to her and hugged her. I heard her let out a sigh before she got my hand and even kissed the back of my hand. I felt my eyes stinging already. I don’t know why but I felt my heart warming because of that. For five years, I have never felt this way towards my mother. I have always hated her and because of what they did to me, I grew farther from her. I hated how she was making decisions for me and I hated how she
Five years. Five years of agony and anger. I didn’t even imagine that I would still be able to be happy with my parents. I was ready to cut them off from my life because I was so hurt. I didn’t think that I could still have my parents back after what they did to me. But destiny has its own plan, huh. Five years later, here I am with my daughter and my parents. “And then I always eat ice cream there, grandma! As in hmm every after school! And I have a lot of friends!” my daughter talked her heart out to my mom. “Wow! Really? That’s very nice, Flannel! Maybe you can introduce me to your friends next time, huh,” Mommy answered. Flannel nodded excitedly. Mom laughed again and gave her a pinch on the cheek. I shook my head and just got another magazine to read. We were already in the living room and they were playing again. Maia wasn’t here, she got Flannel some clothes from the condo. Supposed to be, we will be going back to my unit now, but then, Flannel begged me to let her stay here
All my life, I have been trained to be the best. I was trained to always follow the norm, the standard. I was little miss perfect. They turned me into one, and I had no choice but to be one. I didn’t have much freedom growing up because there were a lot of expectations from me. They were all watching me. I couldn’t move freely because every move that In make, they will always have a say about it. When college and Gregory came, that’s when I first got a taste of my freedom. It was forbidden, but every time we go out on our own, I just felt so free. I felt like I was spreading my wings and flying to wherever I want to go. I was out of the limelight. No one was giving a fuck about what I do and no one was judging me from head to toe. But then that freedom with Gregory has its perils. I was so much ready to fight for him, but it turned out that he was not worth to fight for. Greg is my first love and my first heartbreak. What he did to me and to my family was just so much that I couldn’t
“They will announce you already as the new CEO, hija, at the gala.” My mother said while we were in the living room. It has been days since that meeting with the family and currently, we are preparing for our departure two days from now. I just gave her a smile. “I know, Mom,” I answered before looking back at my laptop where I am reconnecting with my former boss and Flannel’s requirements for school next academic year. “Alright, you should bring Flannel to our designer, then. We need to look gorgeous in the gala, hija,” she said while smiling from ear to ear. I just rolled my eyes and nodded at her. I went back to making my Flannel’s requirements again. She didn’t bother me anyway. She just stood and went to my dad’s office. I shrugged and continued what I was doing. I want to finish everything before our flight to the US, so all I would think about once we get there will be just the house where my parents will be staying and how I will get back to work again. I was lucky enough b
I honestly don’t know if it is the right time to do this meeting with the family because of what is happening in the family, but then we have no choice as we were running out of time already. We need to do this now since we also need to go back to the US already. I don’t know but, I just felt like I needed to get away from this all ready for me to start over again. “Are you ready?” Mommy asked again when we were getting out of the car in front of the building. I looked around the lobby and saw that there were a lot of employees eyeing us. Mommy was walking with her head up. I was beside her and we were walking side by side as we went to the elevator. A lot of guards were with us. I didn’t even know why Mommy brought these guards with us. I mean, it's not as if we are going to war here, you know. Tsk. I shook my head and just walked with her though. When we reached the office, Atty. Lockheart was already there, waiting for us. Mom went immediately to our lawyer."How's your paper?"
Everything was chaotic. We were the talk of the business world for I think weeks. Yes, the issue was that long. Aside from the chaos outside, we also had inside fights of course, but then unlike before, Mommy and I didn't make Flannel available to any of our relatives. They can lash at us all they want but they are not touching my daughter.I've heard the worst things from them. They had their presscon and we just stayed silent because we didn't want this to grow like wildfire. May they want to? But then I won't give them their satisfaction. The important thing is that my daughter knows my truth and I have already explained to her what happened and why this is happening. It took me a lot of courage, but I was just so blessed that she was able to understand and that she didn't make it hard for me to explain. She understands why I needed to do it for her and she also understands why she cannot see her father yet. It's been four weeks and during those times, I did nothing but make sure
"Let's go, Felice!' I wasn't able to say anything and I just let my mother dragged me out of that cafe already. I was still so stunned because of what happened. My mom was ranting while we were on the way to the car. My daughter was asking me questions but I couldn't answer them because I was still so preoccupied with what happened. All the things that my mother was saying in the car were like air that passed by me. I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying and I felt like I was floating and everything around was just background noise. All the way to our house, I was just staring at outside blankly. I couldn’t believe what just happened earlier. Everything was chaotic when we got home! I was so shocked to see a lot of reporters outside our village and even outside our house. Shit. What the hell is happening?! “Get Flannel inside now! Secure everything inside and outside the village, am I clear?” I slumped my back on the couch. I saw Maia getting Flannel out of the living room, w
“Shall we talk about our setup, then?” I asked Greg as I watched him looking at Flannel who was enjoying her ice cream. He has been silent for the last few minutes that we were here. I sighed again and just looked at him. I saw him gulp and then he cleared his throat. "Uhh, yeah…" he said and looked away. I raised a brow on him. I don't know why he couldn't look at me, to be honest. I just didn't dwell on it and started talking. "We will be going back to the States," I started. That's when I got his attention. His eyes widened and looked at me confusingly. "What?" he asked unbelievably. I sighed. "You know that Flannel's school is in there and my decision in managing the company remotely is final, so we will really need to go home, Gregory. Plus, my parents are going with us, too."I saw how his lips parted when I said that. He gasped hard. "But what about me, Felice? How can I be with my daughter?"I let out a sigh again. "That is why we need to talk about it. We can have an a
“Are you ready?” Maia asked my daughter as she was getting her ready for later. “Yes, I am! I am!” she said excitedly. I quickly avoided her gaze. We were on the couch in the living room and I was watching her as she was getting dressed by Maia. She was wearing a pink dress and cute white doll shoes. She looked like a princess twirling around. I was staring at my daughter who was all smiles already. I couldn’t look at her. My heart felt like it was about to go out of my chest already. I don’t know what to feel. My body was trembling already and I could feel the cold embracing my whole body. I took a deep breath again, trying to calm myself. I closed my eyes for a bit. “Felice,” I froze on my feet when I heard my mom calling me. I let out a sigh before slowly turning to her. “Mom,” I called. She gave me a different kind of look. I couldn’t tell what she was trying to tell me. I find it hard to read her face at that moment. In the end, she gave me a small smile. She then went ne
Ever since the incident five years ago, I have always taught myself to be very careful of the decisions that I will be making in the future. Being careful means choosing whom to be with. When I gave birth to Flannel, I vowed to myself that I will never be near my relatives again and I will never introduce her to Greg. But really, life is just so unpredictable, huh. I mean, just when I didn't want to come back to the Philippines when my father got sick leaving me with no choice but to come back anyway. Then, I was able to fix my family which I thought to be so impossible already. Now, I am just not sure if I am willing to let destiny decide whether I should let Flannel meet her father. I don't know. I am just so confused right now. "Felice…" Maia called. I closed my eyes and covered my face with both my arms. I bit my lip and looked down. I was on my bed in an indian-sitting position. My head was aching and my mind was haywire. I couldn't think straight, honestly. Flannel was with
After that exhausting meeting and commotion, I went home to our mansion already. We were supposed to have a meeting in the afternoon, but after all the drama, I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed to rest already and I needed to relax first. I needed to see my daughter. She's the only one that could calm me now, to be honest. I sighed and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath before going out of the car. I held onto my shoulder bag and went inside our house. It was already 3 in the afternoon and the living room was so quiet. It made me wonder then if Flannel is taking a nap or something. All I saw were our helpers. They were doing their chores. I sighed and decided to go up already. I went to my room but it was empty. I was about to go to Flannel's room. When I bumped into Mommy on the way there. I immediately arched my brow on her. "Mom, is Flannel sleeping?" I asked but instead of answering she hurriedly went to me and held both of my shoulders. "Oh god, what happened?! Are y