WINTER:
One month later…The house looked empty when Calcifer was no longer with me in the house. No matter where I looked, I was always reminded of him and the things he did for me. Of the way he took care of me. Of pampering me.It had been a month since I last saw my ex-husband. Daddy still did not know what happened to my marriage, but I knew it sooner or later he would find out about this. And he would explode in anger. As much as I hated my ex-husband, I did not want Dad and him to fight because of me. I don’t know if I was able to face him. Or not. It was scary to know the things Dad might be capable of doing against Calcifer and his company. “Miss Winter? Are you okay?” Ynes, my maid asked. She was a forty-year-old woman who had been with us for quite some time now. And sometimes, her children would come over to the house and help her clean it which I welcomed. After my ex-husband left, the house seemed sad. “Maybe it’s best if you just sit, Miss Winter.” She came to my side when the world suddenly spun. I was standing on my porch and looked at the sunrise, the usual things I did every morning. “Your Dad will kill me if he found out you’re feeling sick.”“He won’t. I assure you.”She dragged a chair and put it in front of me.I have been feeling nauseous these past few days and have not been in a hospital to see my doctor. Maybe it had something to do with my pregnancy. I was the only one who knew about it. Not Dad or even Ynes had an idea I was carrying a child.I did not know why I was scared of telling them. Maybe I did not want to hear their judgments. Or Dad’s scolding and anger?“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me,” I assured her.“No, Miss Winter. It looked like you were not okay. You look pale. Are you feeling sick?”Smiling, I shook my head. “Don’t worry about me, Ynes. Everything is fine.”Ynes temporarily left my side and grabbed a glass of water and when she was back on my side, pushed the water in my front.Without wasting any more time, I emptied the contents and put the glass down.“Thank you.”“You want me to massage you?”“No. I am fine. I just need to catch myself.”Panic flashed in her eyes before she tampered it down. “Please tell me if you’re feeling sick, Miss Winter. Your Dad entrusted me to you. I’ve been calling Sir Calcifer, but he won’t answer my call.”I bit my lower lips as it quivered.Ynes did not know Calcifer won’t be coming here. “Don’t…don’t disturb him.”“Is he on a business trip, Miss Winter? This is the longest time he has been away.”I closed my eyes as emotions washed over me. “C-Can we stop talking about him?”Ynes stared at me for a moment, before she sighed. “Did you two fight? Miss Winter. Sometimes, in order to fix an argument, one of you must lower her pride.”“You think it was my fault?” I snapped. “Don’t you ever mention his name again? Calcifer won’t be coming back. He and I already got divorced.”Ynes’s eyes widened. “D-divorced?”“Yes. Don’t tell Dad about this. He will only get mad at him. I don’t want to add more problems.”“I’m so sorry, Miss Winter. I did not know. I thought he was only on a business trip. Please pardon me for not knowing.”“It’s fine.”The sun's rays were already showing and spreading across the beautiful land. How beautiful…If I could not have a husband who would be looking after me at sunrise and sunset, then, sooner I would have my child who would be with me through thick and thin. Someone who won’t be leaving me. “Miss Winter. Isn’t it time to visit your doctor? You look pale and vomit every morning as if you’re…” she trailed off and stared at my tummy. I shook my head. It still scares me to visit the hospital. “Like I am what?” I asked, closing my eyes for a moment.“Like you’re pregnant?” she finished. “A-Are you pregnant, Miss Winter?” she mumbled. My heart thumped wildly against my ribcage. I laughed. “W-Why would you think I am pregnant?”“I saw all the signs. You have a morning sickness. You don’t like to smell garlic. You like eating sour apples. Those are the signs that someone is pregnant.” She kneeled at me, her eyes still on my stomach. “Are you having a child?”Tell her.It was better to tell her so that you would have some emotional support.Slowly, I nodded at her. “I am.”Her eyes widened and sat on the floor.“Does your Dad know?”I shook my head.“He did not. Not even my ex-husband.”“Oh, my goodness. Do you have plans on telling them?”“Dad, yes. But my ex-husband, you have to promise me that you won’t be telling him, Ynes.”“But why? He has the right, Miss Winter. He is the father.”Ynes had a loving and supportive husband, so she would not know the feeling. “My ex-husband did not deserve to know,” I stated.WINTER: Three Years Later…“Come here, Liam,” I ordered to my three-year-old son. We were done taking our breakfast and were now strolling through the children’s park in the neighborhood. His attention was caught when a bird landed on the floor, staring down at him. “You’re not going to catch him, alright? The bird is only looking at the children.”“Why does the bird have small eyes, Mommy?” he asked, his brows forming a straight line. “Why do his eyes don’t look like mine?”I chuckled while looking for some answers in my mind. I really did not know why.“Ahm…God designed him that way. Come on, now.”At three years old, Liam can talk now and can form sentences. He was chatty like her father and the resemblance between them was uncanny. Seeing him was like seeing my ex-husband. Calcifer and I had never met again and I believed that was for the best. I did not want him to approach me because the reason was our child. I sighed as I watched him continue staring at the bird, his curios
WINTER:My mouth fell open as I continued staring at my husband. Calcifer. He was as handsome as ever. The curls in his hair reminded me of the waves on the ocean rushing towards the shore. Just like my pretty Liam. My heart clenched as the memories of our marriage rushed through my mind. And our last meeting. The signing of the divorce papers. Was he happy now? Maybe because there was no longer the woman who was giving him a hard time.Did he still remember how he hurt me? Did he still remember how he was cruel by giving up on me? If I did not stop Dad, Calcifer would be dead by now. Out of his anger, he nearly ordered someone to kill Calcifer. It was evil, of course, but I could not blame Dad.Despite what had happened to our marriage, I did not want anything to happen to him. I wanted to focus on the things when we were still happy and how good he was to me. I was brought out of my shock and rushed to my crying son.The man. No. Calcifer was stunned for a moment realizing it w
WINTER:My heart thumped wildly against my ribcage. I should not be listening to my ex-husband now and turned my back. He was already part of my past and that I was no longer to return to it. But what was this little part of me that wanted to listen to him?Am I that foolish that I was seriously considering listening to him?“Pumpkin…” He grabbed my hand and as if burned at the touch, I slapped it away. Calcifer looked at me with pain in his eyes. You're not going to fall for those crocodile tears, Winter. Don't you ever dare try!I pulled myself together and laughed at him. “Are you getting poor?”His forehead knotted. “Poor? No, pumpkin—”“Liar!” I spat while my knuckles turned white. “You're only saying this because you're losing your money. You want me back? Really? How come you never looked for me or attempted to look for me during those three years?”He heaved a sigh. “I did. But you were nowhere to be found. You went abroad.”Well, that was true. I did and gave birth there
WINTER:I was glad I never fell on my ex-husband’s scheme. He wanted me back and Liam even after he had a child on his own? What a tough face. Had he no shame? What about Carmela?What if it was not his child? What if he was only babysitting that child?Say for example if that was the case. But then, he could hire someone to do it for him. As much as I knew, his company had prospered a lot and all businessmen were always after him.I mentally shook my head.Why would I let him confuse me again? Calcifer had already done great damage in my life and ruining it again for the second time was already foolishness.We had long gone to the children’s park, but my mind was left to Calcifer. Hawk was eyeing me every once and again, wanting to ask something, which he contemplated if he would pursue or not. He never knew anything of my past except Ynes. Sometimes, the two would talk and I had a feeling that Ynes had already given him snippets of my past. Ynes could blurt out some things which h
WINTER: I played with my hands on my lap. “M-Miss Winter, we never talked about that.” Hawk’s face went red. He was not used to this kind of thing. “I’m only your bodyguard. Not your pretend fiancé.” “I’m so sorry, Hawk. But please bear with me. Until my ex-husband stopped pestering me.” He shook his head. “He will never stop, Miss Winter. He still wants you.” “Why would he do that when he already has a child?” “I don’t know. But I cannot promise anything to you, Miss Winter. Pretending to be your fiancé might be a little difficult, but if it’s what you want, I will try.” “Thank you,” I said. A couple of minutes passed and Hawk finally pulled over in Dad’s mansion. He hurried outside and opened the door beside me and opened it. “I’ll carry Liam for you.” I nodded, stepped out of the car, and waited for Hawk. In a matter of seconds, he was already carrying my son, and together we entered the mansion. Daddy was already waiting for the three of us. Given his old age, he was s
WINTER:Why are all of my loved ones either going to die or dead? It made me think that I did not deserve to be loved. That sooner or later, they will be taken away from me. Am I that bad?Dad's expression froze seeing the tears that were trying to come out in my eyes.“Winter…I should have kept silent about this. Taking care of Liam is already hard enough. I don't want to be a burden to you.”“A burden? Stop that! You will never be a burden to me.”Why did it have to be Dad? He was the best Dad. He had given me all the love that he could give and protected me from everything. “I will take care of you like how I take care of Liam.”My heart continued to bleed like crazy, stood and closed the distance between us and engulfed him with a hug. Now that I realized it, Dad was already losing a lot of weight. I was so focused on Liam that I never realized he was also in pain too. That he was suffering from cancer. Guilt washed over me and felt like I was the worst daughter. “I don't expe
WINTER:The first thing that entered my mind when Dad asked me to give my ex-husband a chance was a blatant refusal in my head. I meant why would he do that? He knew firsthand how I suffered. I did not understand at first why he would ask such things when he knew for a fact that my ex-husband had hurt me.You did not listen to what he said? He wanted you to have someone when he died. But before I could blurt them out loud, I saw how he was expecting this.It was a dying man's old wish, my mind softly said. Can you say no to your Dad's wish?“What if I don't want him to give me a chance?” I asked quietly. Can I be civil with my ex-husband and not kill him in my mind? Seeing him always reminded me of his betrayal. And there was his daughter. The child had nothing to do with the sin…but still, I could not help but feel the pain mixed with anguish. How could Calcifer betray me like this?Hawk was about to say something but stopped himself. What could it be? Dad's face fell. “If that'
WINTER:My heart bled hearing my son beg for me. I did not like hearing any of it. It was painful on my part since I was not looking for someone's love. “Liam…that's not love. When you live with someone, you don't beg them to stay in your life. you set them free,” I explain. Just like what I did to your dad, I wanted to say but stopped myself otherwise.“I don't understand, Mommy.”I smiled at him and ruffled his hair. It was better that he could not yet understand right now. If he did, he would ask me a lot of questions about his real Dad and why we got separated, and many more. It was not the right time to tell him what happened. Calcifer might have left me, but I did not want Liam to hate his Dad. So you're the only one who is allowed to hate your ex-husband? the other part of my mind asked. “You might not understand for now, but you will someday. “How come Uncle Hawk doesn't love you? I love you, Mommy. Aunt Ynes loves you. Papi loves you and Uncle Hawk did not? He is bad.”Le