Chapter 5

05: FINALLY HOME

"Whoa! There are tall buildings everywhere, Mommy! And... and there are so many cars too!"

Melody almost strained her neck, looking up at the towering buildings that we passed by in the Grab taxi. She looked truly excited to see new things.

I smiled. She had grown up surrounded by nature. She was always surrounded by the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand, so she acted this way now that we were here in the Philippines. I rarely took her out of the house before. Maybe it was because I was too busy, and I couldn't take her out.

"Aren't you feeling hot, Melody?" Manang Anding asked while holding the child.

"Ka… k-kaunti," (a little) she replied, attempting to speak in Tagalog, which made me laugh.

Ever since I told her that we were going back to the Philippines, she urged me to teach her the Tagalog language. She said she wanted to have many friends here, so she needed to learn Tagalog. I don't know where she gets these ideas, especially since she's only turning four years old.

Melody is a clever child. She's eager to learn things. She's very observant, so her curiosity is never-ending. Thankfully, Manang Anding is there to help me explain things to her.

"Where will we live, Mommy? Are we going to live with Lala?"

I glanced at Manang Anding briefly. She simply smiled at me. "No, baby. Mommy bought a new house. We're going to live in our new house. Isn't that great?"

She suddenly pouted. "But I thought we were living with Lala..." She crossed her arms over her chest. I shook my head several times. This child behaves as if she were much older.

"Lala will visit us more often, baby. Don't worry," I assured her.

"Why can't we live with her? You told me that Lala's house is huge! Why can't we live there?"

I sighed. How should I explain to her about her grandfather? That he doesn't want us here?

"M-Mommy's gallery is closer to our new house, Melody. We can't live at Lala's house because it's far from Mommy's work. Do you understand, baby?"

She continued pouting, but eventually nodded her head. "Okay, I'll tell Lala to live with us, then."

I didn't say anything more. When I talk to Melody, I always run out of things to say. I sighed and shifted my gaze to the busy road outside.

***

Once I made sure that Melody was asleep, I quickly bid farewell to Manang Anding and headed to the gallery I was currently setting up.

When I arrived at the site, I could see that it was almost finished. A smile slowly formed on my lips. This is it. After all the years of doubts and setbacks, I am finally turning my dream into reality.

The feeling of joy is overwhelming...

I stayed there for about an hour. I also bought food for the construction workers, and they smiled widely, thanking me.

As I left, I couldn't help but smile. It's different when I talk to fellow Filipinos. It feels different when I'm in the country where I grew up.

My original plan was to meet my mother after the site visit, but she suddenly called and told me that she would visit our house instead. So instead of going home, I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for the Chicken Curry I planned to cook.

I was busy searching for the ingredients when someone approached me. "Hello, ma'am!"

I stopped pushing the cart and smiled at the teenage girl who approached me. "Yes?"

"Um, sorry, but I've been looking at you for a while now. You look familiar. Um... are you Miss Symphony? The painter?" My smile widened at her words. I nodded, and she almost jumped in excitement. The enthusiasm was evident on her face. "Oh my God! I'm a fan! I always visit your I*******m. Your paintings are so beautiful!" She almost clapped her hands while speaking, which made me chuckle.

"Shh! Don’t be too loud. We might get scolded," I whispered, placing my forefinger in front of my lips. She nodded, excitement still visible in her eyes.

"Miss Symphony, can I have your autograph?"

"Sure!"

She briefly rummaged through her bag, but I was surprised when instead of taking out paper, she handed me her iPhone 12. "I don't have any paper with me. Is it fine if you sign at the back of my phone?" She smiled awkwardly. I wasn't sure if I should sign her cellphone or not. I hesitated, especially since it was white.

"Ar-Are you sure?" I asked her. Not even a second past, she nodded several times eagerly.

Despite my hesitation, I decided to sign her iPhone. After that, she requested to take a selfie with me, and I obliged. Before she left, I asked for her email address. For my first-ever fan who approached me here, I should give her a gift. I think a painting is enough.

I continued with my grocery shopping until someone caught my attention. He seemed surprised to see me, too. Seeing his face suddenly took away my breath. But as he started walking towards me, my heartbeat quickened.

"Symphony..." he uttered my name. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even open my mouth to speak. His eyes traveled down, and I noticed his furrowed forehead. "Why are your hands trembling?"

Upon hearing his words, I quickly looked at my hands. Goodness! They were indeed shaking! I quickly let go of the push cart and hid my hands behind my back. I took a deep breath before looking at him again.

"R-Red... what are you doing here?"

His brow furrowed even more. It was as if he heard something he didn't want to hear from me. Is he... still mad?

"I should be the one asking you that. What are you doing here? Does your father know you're here?" The way he asked those questions made me feel that he was worried. Or maybe not?

I avoided his gaze and swallowed. So, he knew about what happened back then? But my family didn't tell anyone about it. Ah, he's Wesley's cousin.

"I'm here for good. I'm starting my own business here," I said instead of answering his questions.

"Does Wesley know?" My gaze returned to him. Anger always stirred in my heart whenever I heard his name. Until now, I couldn't forget how he treated me before.

"No," I sternly said. "And I'm not planning to tell him. Besides, he doesn't have to know that I'm here."

His serious eyes remained fixed on me. "But what about your child?"

I was suddenly caught off guard. Then I remembered what my mother told me when I was still in New Zealand.

"It feels like there's an empty space in me that can't be filled with anything else aside from knowing my father. Are you going to let your child feel that too?"

I closed my eyes tightly. Not now... I'm not ready for my child to meet her father. I don't want her to know how cruel he is.

"I... I had a miscarriage. I-I don't have a child, Red," I tried to meet his gaze, but I failed. I tried to steady myself. "It's... nice to meet you again. But I have to go now. I still have to meet Mama." I didn't wait for him to respond and left.

Until I arrived home, our conversation with Red never left my mind. I tried to brush off that thought and focused on our meal. There were four of us at the table—Mama, Melody, myself, and Manang Anding. Like usual, Melody was talking non-stop, almost ignoring her food. Mama, on the other hand, was delighted as she listened to her grandchild. It was a beautiful sight. Seeing them together was a perfect scenery to me.

"Why are you alone, Lala? Where is Lolo? Why didn't he come here? Is he busy?"

Because of Melody's consecutive questions, both Mama and I were taken aback. She slowly turned her gaze towards me, seemingly struggling to come up with an answer. I nodded at her, then cleared my throat. "Lolo's out of town, Melody. He's a very busy man. He always travels to different places. You know about his work, right?" I lied.

Melody shifted her gaze and stared at me for almost a minute. It was as if she was trying to catch my lies. I pinched her nose to divert her attention. She scrunched her nose before looking back at her Lala. I breathed a sigh of relief because of that.

I sighed again as I thought about how many lies I had told my daughter. Though they were white lies, my conscience still bothering me.

We flew back here without Papa knowing. Maybe he was just too busy that he lost track of me. He's now serving his second term as a Congressman, so it's no doubt that he has a lot on his plate.

I felt a sense of sadness as I watched Melody. My daughter is too precious. She's adorable and bubbly. It's sad that her own grandfather doesn't like her. Papa never showed up for my daughter even once. He couldn't even bring himself to talk to her on the phone. Perhaps his anger towards me is so immense that even Melody gets affected.

Poor Melody... I wish that one day she'll have a happy family free from complications.

***

The day of my gallery's opening has finally arrived. I woke up early due to the overwhelming excitement I was feeling. I couldn't even sleep properly last night because of thoughts about what will happen at the art exhibition later.

My paintings from New Zealand arrived yesterday, so I was busy arranging them in the gallery. I also invited some young and underrated painters in our city to display their artworks. It's just something I wanted to do to help them get recognized by people. I want them to feel the support for their passion. I don't want them to experience what I went through.

Initially, I didn't plan to bring Melody with me, but she suddenly threw a tantrum. She always says that she's tired of staying at home all the time. I didn't have anything else to do but to give in to her wishes. I also brought Manang Anding with us to keep an eye on her.

"You stay close to Nana Anding, Melody. There will be a lot of people here, so you should stick with her. Do you understand?" She pouted, looking annoyed.

"You already told me that many, many times, Mommy! Melody understands!" she complained, with her nose still wrinkled.

I leaned down slightly and wiped her sweat. "I'm sorry, okay? Mommy's just worried."

I was about to say something else to Melody when one of the organizers called for me. "Miss Symphony, the event will start in five minutes," she said, so I nodded.

"Okay, just a second," I replied and looked at Melody again. "Remember what Mommy said, okay? Be a good girl for Nana." I stood up properly and left.

The event started with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. After that, the exhibition began. Many renowned painters attended and congratulated me. I couldn't even catch a break from entertaining them. Many people also wanted to take pictures with me. It felt like I was a celebrity.

"Miss Symphony!" One of the famous painters in the region called out and made his way to me. I gave him a smile. He was one of my idols back when I was in college. I used to attend his exhibitions regularly. I even bought one of his paintings before.

"Mr. Nicolas! Thank you for attending my event." I offered a handshake, which he willingly took.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Del Martin. Congratulations on this successful event." He smiled. "I wonder how proud your father is of you. Is this the reason why you disappeared for a few years?"

In an instant, my lips formed into a thin line, but I immediately plastered a smile. "Well, I hope he is. He's been very busy serving our province."

"He's so lucky to have such a successful daughter like you, Miss Symphony. It must feel great to have a child who knows how to stand on their own feet." He chuckled softly while shaking his head.

I was about to speak again when Manang Anding approached, looking pale. My forehead furrowed. I excused myself from Mr. Nicolas before turning to her.

"Manang, are you okay? Why are you pale... where's Melody?" My heart started pounding fast. Why wasn't Melody with her?

"Symp, M-Melody... she's missing..." My breath hitched. It felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on me upon hearing that. I immediately looked around, tears starting to well up in my eyes. Goodness! There are so many people here. Where do I start looking for her?

"Manang, where did she go missing? Why did she go missing? Didn't I tell you not to let her out of your sight?" I started feeling anxious.

"She suddenly ran off when I went to get her water bottle. She just ran off, and I couldn't find her," she explained, her eyes also starting to well up with tears.

I ran my hand over my face. Where do I look for her now? "Didn't she say where she was going? Maybe she went to the restroom? Or... or maybe she's with Mama? Maybe she saw her?"

"She didn't say anything. She just suddenly ran off."

"In which direction did she run?" I asked frustratedly.

"There." She pointed in the direction where my paintings were on display. I immediately headed in that direction, ignoring the people calling out to me. I didn't care if they thought I was being rude. All I cared about right now was finding my daughter.

I was on the verge of tears as I scanned the area, but I stopped moving when I heard Melody's voice.

"My mommy made that one! And that's me when I was still a baby. Mommy loves to draw. How about you, mister?"

I followed her voice until I halted in front of the painting I made when Melody’s just months old. I was about to call out to her, but I froze in my position when I recognized the man she was talking to.

"I'm not really into paintings, but I'd love to meet your mommy. She's a great painter. By the way, I'm Wesley. How about you?"