I woke up the next morning a bit late, so I immediately rushed to the bathroom and did my morning routine.
I pulled a cotton shorts and a baby pink lose shirt. I just left my hair down on my shoulders as I don't have time to dry it.
After checking the time from my phone, I immediately went out of my room... I mean, his room and I ran into the kitchen hoping to see Daniel drinking coffee or eating breakfast
But to my great disappointment, I didn't see him in the kitchen, instead, I found Nanay Emily making pancakes with chocolate syrup. She gave me a warm smile when she noticed me standing at the door.
"Good morning, Sophia!" She said smiling widely as she walked towards my direction.
"Good morning, Nanay Emily." I returned her smile but I can't help but ask about Daniel. "H-Have you seen Daniel? He told me last night we will talk today."
"Ohh... he already left for work."
"He left?"
My eyes widened and I didn't notice my voice rose a little that made her step backwards in shock. "What time did he leave?"
"Uhm, I think before six o'clock---"
"Six o'clock?" My voice rose again. "But usually he left for work before seven."
"Yeah, but he said he has an urgent meeting, so he has to go to the office early to get ready."
"Forgodsake, Daniel Kelley!" I gritted my teeth and tapped my forehead in frustration. "I'm sure you did it on purpose! Argh! You're such an arrogant asshole!"
I continued to babble, forgetting her presence in front of me.
"Oh! I-I'm sorry, Nanay!" I bit my lower lip, giving her an awkward smile.
"It's okay." She said taking my hands. "I missed you, Anak."
"I missed you too, Nanay Emily."
We hugged each other for a while before she gestured me to sit down and eat the breakfast that she prepared for me.
"How are you, Sophia?"
My hand stopped in mid-air when I heard her question.
"I'm fine, Nanay." I shrugged. "Why don't you eat with me?" I tried trying to change the subject.
"Oh, that's all for you. I have already eaten my breakfast earlier."
I just nodded and continued to eat the delicious pancakes while she was just watching me. And then I smiled when I remembered that I hadn't told her about what happened in the last few weeks when I wasn't here.
"I went to Seattle two weeks ago." I said putting down the mug of coffee.
"What did you do in Seattle?" She asked in confusion.
"I went to my Mom's house and talked to her."
"Ohh... what happened then, did she tell you the reason why she left you when you were young?"
I nodded and took a deep breath as smiled at her. She eagerly waited to my story and even though I was hurt and disappointed by what my Dad had done to my Mom sixteen years ago, I'm still happy to find out that I have a brother. A younger brother to love and to protect. A brother that I wished to have when I was young. And, of course, the forgiveness I finally gave to my Mom, that I should have given to her the time we met in Amador.
"I'm happy to hear that you have already forgiven your mother and that you have a baby brother."
"Yeah, thank you." I chuckled and shook my head when I suddenly remembered my brother. He's also stubborn like me. "Actually, Nanay, he doesn't want me to call him baby brother."
She also laughed and paused as she held my hands.
"I'm so glad that you're happy, Anak. I don't know exactly what you have been through, but I'm happy that you already found forgiveness for your mother."
"I missed her, Nanay. I missed her so much and I love her, that because of it, I was afraid to talk to her. I was afraid of knowing her reason, that maybe she left me because she doesn't love me anymore."
"That's not true! A mother's heart is always with her children even when she closed her eyes and even when her child couldn't remember her at all. She always wanted the last piece of pie."
"Yeah, you're right. And I realized that unconditional love can only found in your mother's arms and I was so stupid that I didn't realized that I should have searched for her."
She wiped away the tears using her hand, that I didn't know I had while talking.
"It's okay, at least you're now okay and you have already forgiven her." She paused and she smiled at me. "Forgiveness is not for the person who hurt you, but it's your gift to yourself."
"Thank you so much, Nanay Emily."
And I was about to hug her when we heard a squeal from the door.
"Aunt Belle!"
We both turned around only to find Dino running towards us.
"Dino!" We both said in unison as I immediately get on my knees and spread my arms to hug him.
"I missed you, Aunt Belle." He said kissing my cheeks.
"I missed you too, Dino." I hugged him and peppered him kisses all over his chubby face that made him giggle. "What are you doing here?"
"Wrong question!"
I furrowed my eyebrows when someone answered for him. But I got up and grinned when I saw Rian and Alex standing in the doorway.
"Rian. Alex."
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