While I was cooking my phone rang. My brother Brixton was calling me. So I immediately answered it kahit nagluluto pa ako.
Nakita ko naman ang bunso naming lahat na si Brixton, kumaway kaway sya sa cam the place looks familiar though.
(Ate! Labas ka nang mansion!)
"Teka lang may niluluto pa yung tao Brixton!"
He ended the call. Siraulong bata!
The Kare-Kare was already done kaya pinatay ko na yung stove. I cleaned my hands using the kitchen towel before going out of the mansion.
Nagulat ako nang bumungad ang mukha nang nakababatang kapatid the moment I opened the door.
"SURPRISE ATE!" he hugged me. I'm 5'6 habang ito naman kapatid ko ay 5'9 and I feel really short kapag pinagtatabi kaming magkakapatid, imagine being treated like a kid by this giant kasi mas mataas sya sa akin.
"WOW ATE PARANG MAS TUMAAS PA AKO OR DID YOU SHRINK?!"
piningot ko sya nako tong batang toh! "sigaw ka nang sigaw Brixton eh ang lapit lapit lang natin sa isa't isa!"
"Ate naman!" natawa ako sa reaction nya. He's a really tall kid and he's still fourteen but the way he acts around us, his family. Para talaga syang toddler, he acts like a man infront of other people kung hindi lang nila alam na para syang toddler sa bahay!
"Let's go inside I'm done cooking let's eat"
"Ate! I smell kare-kare!" he dropped all his things at the living room and ran towards the kitchen.
Natawa nalang ako sa kanya so I also went to the kitchen, aba si Señorito nakaupo na sa dining habang kumukuha na nang kanin.
"Brixton did you even wash your hands?"
He smiled "yes ate!"
I sat down and got myself some food as well. This is one of the ways I relieve myself from stress cooking and eating, mabuti nalang talaga at nandito ang kapatid ko, this monster can be a handful sometimes well most of the time, but this kid removes my stress every time I'm tired from working my ass out this kid would cuddle me and shower me with kisses manang mana talaga sya kay mama.
"Brix lead the prayer" he nodded a closed his eyes
"Heavenly Father, thank you for keeping me safe while traveling, and thank you also for the safe landing... aside from that I would also like to pray for my ate I know that she's been receiving a lot of hate from "he who should not be named" well I know that you know his name Lord, and Lord I pray that you'll bless this food that we are about to partake, may it give nourishment to our bodies and I Lord bigyan mo na ako nang jowa like mama and ate. AMEN!"
I was sitting beside mt brother kaya agad ko syang binatukan "Anong jowa? Brixton Levi you're still fourteen you should be focusing on your studies, baby ka pa!"
He chuckled "Ate joke lang, alam mo namang sobrang dami nang nagkakagusto sa akin, pero I don't like them they're like the girl versions of he who should not be named"
Napakahangin talaga, pero natawa ako sa sinabi nya about the girls who likes him. Kawawa naman ang kapatid ko.
"kumain ka na nga lang Brixton"
While eating I opened my phone to check if may messages ba ang mama at papa ko about Brixton and I wasn't wrong they really had a message.
Papa:
Anak since summer naman dyan na muna si Brixton para makapag bonding naman kami nang mama nyo. Ikaw muna bahala sa kakulitan nang kapatid mo sabi nang mama mo make him eat on time alam mo naman yang kapatid mo madaling magkasakit, if he doesn't listen discipline him. Kami talaga nang mama mo nagpadala sa kapatid mo dyan, he's not just there for vacation but as your emotional support tuwang tuwa pa nga yan kasi kasama ka nya alam mo naman yang kapatid mo spoiled sa'yo wag mong pagbigyan palagi ha! Malaki ka na anak stand with what's right okay. Wag papalipas nang gutom we love you anak!
I smiled at my parent's text totoo naman talaga I spoil my baby brother too much since wala naman akong sariling pamilya, so why not spoil my baby brother! I have savings but I like to spend my extras on myself, my family, my friends, and my pamangkins. All of my older brothers aren't married, pero lahat nang barkada ko may kanya kanyang pamilya na.
"So I heard you'll be here for the rest of summer"
he nodded since he was still busy eating.
"Okay later we'll go to the vineyard later and then I'll buy you new clothes, tapos we can go around Rome and we have dinner with my friend and his daughter later"
He raised a brow at me "He?"
I rolled my eyes "Yeah"
He nodded three times and continued eating. My family does not know about those other guys that I dated in the past, they do sa iba but they don't know Chase well except for my other brothers sila kasi yung nandyan nung mga time na Chase and I stopped our thing, I honestly don't know what to call the "thing" that we had back in the day, my brothers were always there I remember Kuya Bullet bought ice cream when I knew Chase liked Lesly and Kuya Brayden bought pizza. We all ate inside my room while watching a very sad movie iyak ako ng iyak Kuya Brick braided my hair, Kuya Brayden wiped my tears, habang si Kuya Bullet naman kung nagpapakain sa akin ng ice cream. Oh how I miss those days! I was their little princess, I am still their princess naman pero syempre they're all busy with their lives now, we do have time for each other pero hindi na gaya noon we now have our own responsibilities. I continued eating as well and smiled at the sight of my younger brother. This kid can be very makulit sa aming lahat sa akin lang talaga sya at kay Kuya Bullet nagpapasermon he doesn't treat Kuya Brayden ad Brick like they're older than him he still respectful siguro din kasi they're very alike kapag pinagsama mo silang tatlo it would result into total chaos!
When we finished eating Brickston helped me clean the dining.
"Ate how are you?" tanong ni Brickston while he was drying the dishes, while I was sitting on the counter top.
"I'm fine yun nga lang I've been receiving a lot of harsh words from Martin's family but I blocked all of them on my social media accounts and I also blocked all of their numbers took me 2 days to do it grabe ang dami nila!"
Natawa naman si Brickston sa sinabi ko.
"Buti nalang at di mo sya pinakasalan he's so self-centered! He was looking at his hand mirror while crying when you ran away grabe para talaga syang bakla. I mean a guy wouldn't do that not even if he's sad kahit ako kung takbuhan ako ng bride ko I wouldn't bring a hand mirror on my wedding day and look at my face while crying because my bride ran away! I would be sad and well angry but if I were you I would run away too! Baka pag mag-asawa na kami I would see him with another guy okay nalang siguro if he cheated on me with another woman, but with a guy jeez I would stay at a cave for the rest of my life!"
He had a point though tawa ako ng tawa "Loko ka talaga!"
He chuckled and went back to washing the dishes.