(Sky’s POV)Elenita raised her eyebrows when I entered the kitchen, not expecting me to come since she had just brought the coffee I requested from her.“Maybe just a little sugar?” I told her, pushing the cup of coffee to her.She scoffed at me, taking the cup and tasting the coffee. “How would I know what Angela added in that coffee?” She sighed as she rose to her feet, taking another cup to prepare my coffee. “When I taught her how to make your coffee, she did the same way I did. Maybe, you’re looking for her, not the coffee, Sky.”“I’m not sure about that,” I massaged my nape, feeling tired after a week of Dad’s absence at work. I was hoping he would ask me about her and why there was no need to sign the divorce papers, but he didn’t. When I told her she ran away from me, he only guffawed as if he found humor in what I had said.“Elenita?” An adorable face of my sister peeked into the kitchen. She was already in her pajamas but seemed not ready to sleep. She walked in my direction
(Anj’s POV)This is the third time I yawn, and Dylan and Anya glance at me every time I do that. I blinked and tried to focus on what I was reading, but I couldn’t help myself from closing my eyes. I already slept early last night, yet I still feel sleepy and tired.I shook my head, but when I couldn’t force my eyelids to stay open, I rested my head, pressing my forehead on the book on the table.“Is she okay?” I heard Dylan asking Anya.“I’m not sure,” She whispered. “She’s been acting weird, and even Sister Grace is worried about her.”I groaned, raising my head to look at them. “I can hear you, you know.” I wanted to cry, not understanding what was wrong with me. Maybe my body was already asking me to rest because ever since I returned, I made myself very busy, focusing on work and my studies to forget about Sky.“Last night, we caught her memorizing the prayer book in Latin,” she clucked her tongue. “Maybe she’s possessed or something.”I sneered at her but chuckled as I remembere
(Anj’s POV)My big brain has been working busily, counting the days, checking on the possibility that my two nights of madness with Sky Mars bear fruit, and the scary part, when I returned home, there was a big chance that I did not go back in one piece, but in two.After that short talk with Ms. Livy, I had forgotten that Dylan would treat Anya and me to eating ice cream. I walked in the other direction, going to a drug store to get the one thing I never expected I would buy at my age now, and headed to the nursing home.I made sure to hide the pregnancy test kit well in my cabinet before going to Sister Grace’s office. I found her doing paper works, and when she saw me standing in the doorway, she stopped reading the documents.“Is something wrong?” She worriedly asked me, looking at me with great concern because it was still early for my shift in the nursing home. “Are you feeling okay?”I swallowed hard, and maybe my tongue included because no words came out when I opened my mouth
(Anj’s POV)Pregnant.One word. It is either a presumption based on nothing but experience, or it could be found on the fact that the pregnancy kit could provide proof.“Dear Angela, are you pregnant?” asked Sister Grace, who could hardly move from the doorway.I met her eyes and made sure I did not blink or breathe. “If I will not use my immaculate joke, then how can I be pregnant?”We all turned to Mr. Simon, who suddenly laughed, looking at us. “Why are you so surprised if Anj is pregnant? She’s young! Be shocked if Antonetta here tells everyone she’s pregnant.”I smiled but twitched my lips when Anya glared at me. “Fine,” I mouthed and raised my hands.I raised my head, looked at everyone inside the family room, and smiled. “Yes, I’m pregnant!” And then I screamed in delight, making sure I sounded happy. “Anya, you’re gonna be an aunt.”Dylan raised his eyebrows but chuckled, shaking his head at me, thinking it was one of my jokes.Anya sneered at me. “Don’t you dare scare us agai
(Anj’s POV) When I was two, Sister Grace made me go and join Anya in school because she thought an environment with children around me would be healthy for me – mentally and physically. Anya was in kindergarten, and I remembered her teacher let me stay in the play area to make myself busy with colorful blocks as they learned to count numbers and read alphabet letters. “What did you learn today?” Sister Grace asked me as she picked us up after school. She put me in a toddler carrier and held Anya’s hand as we all returned to the nursing home. Aunt Rose had to work full time after her husband died in an accident on the job site, so Sister Grace, after taking care of the residents in the nursing home, picked us up. “Counting numbers and reading alphabet letters,” Anya jumped cheerfully as she answered. Sister Grace smiled. “That’s nice. How about my little angel? What did you learn today?” “Counting numbers and reading alphabet letters,” I repeated Anya’s answer. Anya wrinkled her
(Sky’s POV)“That girl really messed up with your brain, huh?” Dad smiled as I asked Frank to stop the car on Heaven Avenue for the last time. “What if she doesn’t exist?”It had been two months, and I was like a lunatic still looking for her, yet I could not find her. What is the justification of heaven for making such a big joke? I asked for a miracle, not an ugly duckling who hid her true beauty and left a curse in my life like I could not give my whole heart to the woman I had been chasing for a long time.Lalaine and I spent a great week in the Caribbean. Still, every time I kissed her, I would remember the mysterious young woman I was with that night at the party, the angel I married, and a teenager who admitted and slammed the truth into my face that our marriage was never binding.“I can’t forgive her, Dad. No one messes with the Mighty Sky,” I gritted my teeth in anger and great pain hidden in my heart.“Angels can,” Olivia giggled as she pressed her forehead on the window. “
(Anj’s POV)Dylan pushed the door of the convenience store to treat Anya and me, and as he promised me last night, he would buy me ice cream after his crazy joke of marrying him.“I want a chocolate ice cream,” I demanded him as we crowded around the refrigerator.“You can’t have chocolate,” Anya said. “You don’t want your baby to look like a cacao,” she chuckled at her joke, but Dylan ignored her and opened the refrigerator, getting expensive ice cream.“Hey,” I protested, taking the ice cream pint from him and returning it inside. Instead, I chose the less expensive brand and gave it to him. “You have to save money,” I said, making him raise his eyebrows. “I might need to borrow money from you for baby stuff.”His lips twitched as he shook his head and turned to Anya, waiting for what she liked. “I had ice cream yesterday already, and with those calories, nuh-uh!” She took a yogurt instead and gave it to Dylan.“Make it two,” he said and waited for Anya to give him another yogurt
(Anj’s POV)Before reaching the driveway, I could see Dylan pacing and Anya laughing as if she was making fun of him.How long has it been?I cut my ties with my only two friends for almost six years, communicating secretly only with Sister Grace and Aunt Rose so they would not worry about me after Father Jesse had to go to Italy. If only Sister Grace had not gotten confined in the hospital, I would not have come back yet.When I stopped the car, Dylan and Anya dashed to the driver’s side and waited for me to go out. I glanced at my company, which had finally fallen asleep after long hours of talking, complaining, fighting, and crying. I opened the door and smiled.“Oh, my God!” Anya’s eyes widened, and she screamed excitedly as she saw me.“Anya!” I cried as we hugged each other. She was still the same Anya, only she looked mature now, bolder and sexier. She moved away and looked at me from head to toe. “Where’s my cousin? What have you done to her?” She laughed, smacking my arm lig
(Anj’s POV) Two years later… I glanced at Anya as she rubbed her baby bump. She hissed as she continued to touch her belly. “Dylan was so ecstatic about having a boy that I wanted him to carry our baby. This little one seemed to practice taekwondo inside my belly,” she complained. “I’m not sure if he’s practicing for the Olympics too early.” I chuckled, looking at my girls as they listened to Olivia playing the violin in the pavilion, and then my eyes went back to the three children playing on the sand. “Dayana!” yelled Anya at her daughter, startling me. “Good lord, don’t eat that!” “Relax, Anya. She was only smelling the shell,” I laughed. “Cloud, Rain,” I called my boys, shaking my head at my twins. They giggled and stood up, walking toward their sisters, leaving Dayana as she continued to play with sand. It has become our tradition to visit the Angela Island every year. Although this year was different without Steve, leaving us all last year just before his birthday. “I onl
(Sky’s POV)“I want to marry the Mighty Sky,” I remembered Angela saying dreamily.I looked at Frank, and as he smiled, I recalled telling him that night, ‘I’ll marry this lovely angel today.’“Are you ready?” Father Jesse asked, his eyes wandering at the small chapel I asked to build for this celebration before looking at me.I turned my gaze to him. “Yes, but Father Jesse, I have a question.” Not giving him a chance to talk, I asked him, “I came to you and asked for Angela, but you said you didn’t know her.”He chuckled softly. “You were looking for an Angela with red spots on her face, and you were describing her to me as if she was ugly. I didn’t know any ugly Angela. I only realized she was the same person you were looking for when I opened the envelope.”“My bad,” I smiled nervously, and Father Jesse patted me on my shoulder before entering the chapel.Olivia sat in front of the piano organ and began playing. The wedding organizer smiled at me, giving us the cue, and I walked on
(Anj’s POV)“Aren’t you scared of being on the plane with me?” Sky asked when his new private plane took off.I shook my head.“Then why do you have that long face?” he asked me again, pulling me to him.I placed one arm on his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt him kissing my hair. “I convinced Anya and Dylan to go with us, but I guess she was having difficulty with her pregnancy.”“Have you experienced that with the girls?” he tilted his head to see my face.I craned my neck to look at him. “In my first trimester. It was hell,” I chuckled. “I couldn’t even make my own perfume, but after that, I could study and work again.”He heaved a deep sigh. “I should have been there. You shouldn’t have carried them alone.”I raised my head and reached for his lips, kissing him. “What would you do? Get one baby and put her inside your belly?” I teased him.“I wonder if men will like that,” he laughed at me, then he pouted, looking so cute. “I’m still mad at you. Why didn’t you want
(Sky’s POV)The luminance of the glow-in-dark stickers in the bedroom still shone vividly when Angela and I collapsed on the bed, panting and catching our breath as I pulled her closer to my body. The thought of dying in the plane crash still made me shiver, and I couldn’t imagine leaving Angela alone, raising our kids, and hating me for the rest of her life for not coming back to her. I kissed her again, not wanting to stop, but I knew she wanted to know what had happened.“I hate you, Sky,” she whispered as her fingers traced my cheeks down to the hollow of my throat. Her hand slid down, stopping her palm on my heart and closing her eyes as if to make sure my heart was still beating. “What happened to you?”“Frank and I didn’t expect it to happen. I was about to enter the cockpit when Leo called and reported someone saw Leonard escaping to Macau. I didn’t need a plane to catch him, so Frank and I got out of the plane but gave my pilot and his co-pilot a go when he asked me if he c
(Anj’s POV)Don’t blink!Don’t disappear!Sky claimed my mouth before I could say his name again. If this were a dream, I would probably hurt anymore who would dare wake me up. It was an intense kiss and hungry as if there was no tomorrow.I could feel the tears rolling on my cheeks, and I cried when Sky stopped kissing me and moved slightly away from me, pressing our foreheads together. It was one long second that I thought my heart had stopped beating again.“I love you, Angela!” He whispered, his lips reaching mine and planting a quick kiss.My mouth opened, hoping to utter words, but no sound came out except my sobs. The mixed emotions stirring in my heart and mind made me dizzy, and all I wanted was to be in his arms. Slowly, I raised my hand, placing my palm on his chest, feeling his beating heart.“Say something, pumpkin,” he sounded begging, but I was more afraid to speak.If only Sky knew the news almost killed me and broke my heart. If he only knew that the days without info
(Anj’s POV)“Angela!”My hand stopped from opening the door, and I turned to the female voice I rarely hear in this place. I saw Jocelyn smiling shyly at me, and behind that curve in her lips, there was tenderness in how she looked at me.“Yes, Jocelyn?” I asked, wondering what she wanted from me.“I wondered if our granddaughters could sleep in our room tonight,” she asked.Our room? My eyebrows raised. With Olivia? With Finn? With Steve?“Steve -” She heaved a deep sigh, blushing like a teenager. “Umm… He wanted to ask if the kids could sleep with us tonight.”“Ah!” I exclaimed, opening the door and finding my children, now in their pajamas, jumping on the bed as Anya read them a book.“Mommy! Mommy!” Lyra Helene called me.“Please, girls, stop jumping. You’re making me dizzy,” I smiled softly at them, stopping at the edge of the bed.The girls stopped jumping and ran to me.“Yes, baby?” I asked, brushing their hair with my fingers, starting with Leyanne, then Selene.“Mommy, Aunt A
(Anj’s POV)The large clusters of clouds had been hiding the beautiful and perfect blue sky for two days now. As I leaned my back facing the garden, I noticed that even the flowers were gloomy about the weather, and sadness loomed in the mansion.Elenita shared with me that it has never been this busy in Mars’ residence except when Freya died. In the kitchen, as she claimed her kingdom, the maids seemed to have never stopped cooking. It was only yesterday when Jocelyn came, hysterical with the news about his son was missing and could be dead somewhere. Steve, though looking tired, remained the strong head here at home, but when he saw his ex-wife, I saw him break into tears for the first time.After seeing Steve cry, I understood what he meant when he told me not to break down because when everyone saw him and Jocelyn crying, it was like looking at the top of the tower falling to the ground. All I wanted was to sit in the corner and wept, wanting to scream for Sky.Finn and Leo have n
(Anj’s POV)“Sky is alive!”It was what I wanted my heart to believe.After Sister Grace left, Aunt Rose came, giving me her warmest hug, and for a while, she cried with me. She sniffed as she moved away from me, her palms on my face as her thumb softly touched my cheeks, wiping the tears.“Have you eaten already?” She asked, and when I shook my head, she forced a chuckle. “I’m not asking you, Angela. I’m asking that little Sky in there,” she took my hand and placed my palm on my belly. “He might be hungry and tired. Or should I say, they might be hungry?”“They?” I released a brief laugh, tears rolling again. “Aunt Rose!”She smirked. “What? You’re a Mars now. You should have known the rumors about them.”“Rumors?” My eyebrows raised at her.Aunt Rose grinned at me. “They were wealthy because someone in the family always produced double. Steve has twin brothers, and you knew he has twins, too, right?” She pursed her lips. “I guess you broke the tradition of producing only two. They s
(Anj’s POV)After giving birth to two babies, the doctor asked me to push again. I remembered glancing at my sun and bright star before nodding to her. She was expecting another girl to come out, but she said it was as if my moon goddess helped me push her brother, but despite that, he still didn’t survive, and Selene almost didn’t make it.When I heard Selene’s first cry, I sobbed, wishing Sky was here. With three babies on top of my chest, I told my children that the sky was almost complete. My heart ached for Cloud, but with three babies, I had to live and wake up. They needed me, and with the thought of me being an orphan, I swore to my children that they would not lose a mother.“Mooommmmyyyyy!” My children wailed, crying as they tried to get into the bedroom. Nina has been stopping them because she thought I needed the time alone.I blinked, and my head turned, following the cry of my girls. My lips curved a sad smile as I opened my arms to them. I saw Nina wiping her tears, ste