It was my dad’s birthday yesterday. I brought Pong with me to have dinner at my parents’ house.
It was the first time my dad saw me pregnant. I have not seen him in months. I have not seen him in almost a year since I left the house. I do know that he is concerned for my well-being. Unlike my mom, he has not bugged or pissed me off during my pregnancy.
Anyway, seeing him again last night made me happy. He was in good spirits and he was obviously excited to see me. He has also made peace with himself about Pong’s presence in our lives. So he was the gracious host last night.
He was obsessing over my daughter’s possible name. I think he was excited that it would be a girl. He was even more excited at the thought that my daughter could be born on his late mother’s birthday. I missed that detail actually. Now that I think of it, Soledad (my grandmother’s name) sounds like an interesting choice.
My eldest brother called from Singapore, where he is on training with Apple and hopefully will get accepted for a full-time job there next month, to greet my dad. People were in good spirits in general. He even talked to me (we never talk) telling me to just tell my mom what I will need for the baby.
My brother’s wife is doing well in her beauty courses. She got accepted in a prestigious and high-end salon.
It dawned on me that we do have good genes in the family. Pong was surprised to see my dad’s sister. We look alike but she was thinner and taller. Gave him a glimpse of how I will look like 20 years from now.
My youngest brother is getting taller by the day. We are almost of the same height. His voice is starting to change. Thankfully, he is still the same sweet kid even if he is turning into a man everyday I see him.
I saw my younger brother as well for the first time in almost a year. I am sure among all of them, he is the one who had to adjust the most with me leaving. I knew he was happy to see me but he went upstairs at once. He couldn’t even look me in the eye last night. I knew what it meant – he had a lot to say but couldn’t tell me just yet.
Unlike last weekend when my mom was inquisitioning Pong about our status, she barely had a chance to piss me off since my dad was the one who was happily taking over hosting chores. Besides, I already debriefed Pong that we have an information lock-down policy on my family. I knew it was hard for Pong to shut up in general but he has always been good at saying a lot of things without saying anything so he had a blast last night.
My mom and dad have a trip to Cebu planned out in a few weeks. I think it is my dad’s first trip out of Luzon so he was apprehensive. I think I wil give them a list of things to do because I am sure that they will end up pissing each other off if things do not go smoothly.
Pong has always been comfortable in group settings. I am not. I grew up alone most of the time. I communicate best one on one. While Pong grew up in a big family where most of his siblings are my parents’ age. He was in his element at the dining table last night. Pong was surprised that I was quiet most of the time.
He did not even seem to be in a hurry to go home last night. He even asked me whether he can have a drink with my dad in time.
Sigh.
Maybe I am just a real first-class party pooper. I took all of yesterday’s developments with a grain of salt. I went to bed unsettled, unbelieving.
There is one explanation I am willing to latch onto though. I must have really done the right thing by moving out and being with Pong. For all the ugliness, I think what we did set off a series of events that are finally turning the tides of fortune in all of the people we love.
