Chapter Twenty-Three: The One Where It's Two Years in the Future

"How's the States? Should I be jealous yet?" I teased, my arms stretched up high into the air above my head, as I accepted Gianni's video call. I was laying down in my room, my foot propped up at the end of the bed, possible because of the several pillows I own. It was 3 am, because of the dumb time zone we had to fight just to speak with each other, and today was my day to make a sacrifice according to the schedule we made 'for fair'. Without it, we probably wouldn't talk as much as we do.

A part of me is still adjusting to him leaving the Philippines and spending time in the US, but a part of me is thankful that we communicate everyday. It's because of him that I think moving on from what I lost, (though not forgetting), has been not as bumpy of a ride, and it's always soothing to remember that soon he will be coming back. It's no wonder Mew fell in love with him. He's a different kind of supportive that you don't find in anyone.

"You should've been jealous a long time ago. I mean, it's the United States. Isn't that common sense?" He stuck out his tongue, exaggerating that what he was saying was just a joke. "No, seriously, the US is fine, but it's not the Philippines. I went there in the middle of my life and created home in it. Here doesn't have the same vibe. It's vacation material. Solely. At least for me." Yanking on the seat belt that must've been too tight to his chest and neck, it's only then I realized he was sitting in a parked car. "How about you? You're 21, legal drinking age. Should I be jealous?"

"Bish, that's an American law. I've been drinking since I was 12. Been there, done that shyet. Still do that shyet, actually, but yes, sure, you should be jealous." I flipped my hair sassily to play along with what he had created and he did laugh, but I dropped the joke when he stayed quiet a little longer than I thought he would. Even though our signal sucked and his video was extremely blurry, I knew that he called for a reason this time. Not only to catch up, but something more. To speed things along, I asked about it. "Did you call for something, Gianni? Do you have news?"

He didn't respond right away, instead first, clicking off the seat belt entirely. "I do," he began slowly, running fingers through his blond hair. "Rachel was granted phone call privileges, and she called me on Facebook Messenger through one of the worker's accounts. Actually now that I think about it, I don't know if she was allowed to or not, but that's not the point."

"Okay? Then what is?"

"I picked up, and she asked me for a favor." Gianni bit his lip, randomly deciding to pull the key out of the ignition. He was usually straight to the point, but he was attempting to avoid that by the looks of this. I remained silent, waiting on him to bring it up himself. This time, with the strategy of being mute until it made him uncomfortable. It worked. "I think she called to see how I was and stuff, originally. I'm still shocked she had the gut to do that, but she saw my background while I was out that's clearly not tropical, and I let her know I'm here in the US. She wants me to meet her child and live up to that promise she made her adoptive parents; something about immersing her in the culture and teaching her Cebuano."

I cocked my head to the side as I listened. "Are you going to meet them anytime soon? Do they know that Rachel is in prison?"

"They don't. She made me promise not to tell them, so I didn't, at least not yet, and I'm outside of their house right now, actually, Crish. Rachel passed me their contact info, I reached out, and they need a babysitter to attend a wedding out of the state. I did kind of agree to show up at noon. Rachel mentioned me to them so they trusted me way too fast. They said they'll be out for a week or so, and that they left a key on top of the light by the door. They also said she was sleeping before they left a few minutes ago." Now he was talking rapidly, especially compared to how he approached the topic a minute ago. "Do you think I should do it? I won't do it if you don't want me to. I'll just find someone else to replac-."

"Calm down Mr. Anxiety, wow." I interrupted him, because the more he talked the more frantic he got, and the more useless I considered that freak-out to be. "Why shouldn't you do it? Just because Rachel screwed up and I'll definitely hate her forever that has nothing to do with the child. The baby isn't toxic, weirdo. She's like three years old. You're doing a good deed. And, I've never seen her before so I'm kinda curious."

"Really?" He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Well, I'll have to go in then. Stay on the line." The phone camera was faced up toward the sky, that would brush past his features from an angle that no one would look good in, but that he kind of pulled off, and in the background I heard the beep of a car locking. The clatter of the key hitting the metal on top of the light as he got it down, and the sound it made when it went into the key hole, I could hear every little bit. The house was evidently quiet when he entered, which is a good sign, and all that I could hear was the door creak and him slipping off his shoes.

"You wanna see her?" He whispered, with intentions he wouldn't wake her. I nodded, scared all the way on the other side of the world to make any noise. He noticed my gesture, reversing to the back camera to put the sleeping angel into frame.

Ingrid's absolutely breathtaking. The tiny fingers, the button nose and feet I can wrap my whole hand around; every bit of her added to innocence and purity. Gianni agreed with my unspoken words. "She's beautiful. Who does she look the most like? Her mom or her dad?"

I peered in closer to my phone screen, like that would help. "Her father definitely." I decided on. I didn't know his face all that well, but from what I remember, that would be my genuine answer. Rachel's traits on her weren't the dominant ones, if that made any sense, but the traits that were seemed to be his.

She had pretty-faced parents in her blood, so it's almost a given that she'd be this gorgeous. They're just both criminals, but she'll be raised better than that, I'm sure. The mother-personality of Rachel wouldn't let her child end up in the wrong hands. It's the one good thing she has going for her.

Gianni gasped, but covered his mouth as not to disturb her. She fussed a little, yet not for long, heading back to sleep. It served as a warning to him to be even quieter. If he gets any more quiet though, I won't be able to hear anything out of him. "You're telling me that Camille would go to school five days a week to look at a man this cute for eight hours, and if she didn't she'd get detention or scolded? If I would've known that her teacher was hot, I'd become an envious wreck. I thought all her teachers were old and letting themselves go, like all my teachers were."

"Shut up. You're not like that, and you know Mew isn't shallow." I was doubled over laughing that I had to let go of my phone and leave it at my side. I muted myself for the baby's sake. It's probably for the better he couldn't see or hear me struggling to breathe, and that he could only see me after I recovered. "For real though, he might've been cute but you saw what he did to Rachel. You're looking at her, in fact. I don't have sympathy for what she did to my sister, but I have sympathy for her there. He's a terrible guy really. You're good looking and an overall kind person."

"Awh, sweet." He cooed. I could imagine him ruffling my hair if he was in front of me.

I rolled my eyes. "But annoying more than anything else."

"There it is." He held down what would've been his turn to double over laughing if he didn't have to stay nearly mute, ready for me to say what I just did. He expected it. He knows me too well by this point, that it can be scary, and when I'm comfortable I get pretty open. He's more closed than I am. I didn't think he'd be offended if I asked, but the time hasn't come up that it felt right. Would it be humane to take advantage of this moment becoming silence?

"How did you end up in the Philippines anyway?" I asked, and it was occurring to me how out of the blue it was going to sound. He was surprised, but he didn't say so, and he covered it with a smile. If he was slightly faster, I don't think I could've noticed his initial reaction. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, and I know- that you were adopted. I think that's part of the reason you agreed to do what you're doing right now, watch after her, but why did that have to happ-."

"Whose playing the Mr. Anxious role now? It's okay. You can ask. I was thinking you would sometime. Didn't think it'd be now, but that's dandy." My words from before were biting me in the butt, and he was going to make sure that he used that opportunity the very best he could. It worked well for stalling too if he meant to do that.

"I didn't know this when I was eight or whatever, but apparently I was taken by child services for receiving 'inadequate care,'" he used air quotes when he said those words, "from my parents and later my guardian, whose supposedly meant to be my older brother. My mom and dad were out driving and got into an accident where they fell into this small dip in the forest in the side of the road. When I say small, I mean that it's possible to survive falling into it.

"It didn't include any other cars, just theirs, so they did several tests on my father for mental illness that could've caused a crash for no reason. My mom was hospitalized for severe injuries and was put in a medically induced coma, and my dad they later found was suffering hallucinations and delusions from narcolepsy that everyone thought gave him violent reactions and were overreacting it to be schizophrenia. Apparently people get those mixed up. There's nothing really badly wrong with him. He's just not allowed to drive.

"In short, my mom couldn't be physically present due to hospitalization, and my dad was kept for a while to try diagnosing him for an untreated mental illness with dangerous behavior that he never had.

"My brother answered the call that gave him all this information, and agreed to be considered my guardian, and to look after me, since he was of age, but one day he up and left while I was asleep, and eventually I was taken by services, but now my mom is healthy and my dad, besides the narcolepsy is completely fine, so they want time with me. I think their reasoning deserves forgiveness. I do miss my adoptive parents though. Lots."

"You were never told about your parents condition?" He was speaking through a long story, that he was more ready to say than I was ready to listen to, so I asked the one thing I was wondering the entire time; in order to not look so shook up.

He shrugged. "I don't think so. Maybe my brother told me. Maybe the services did, but I was eight years old so I had no idea what they were talking about, or they didn't, but that's whatever now, right? It's been years."

"Well, it's good you're able to spend time with them again."

"Happy you think so. I think so too." He responded.

If we were too loud, or if we were talking for a long time already, Ingrid awoke, and he went over to check on her as if instinct. Baby talking and tickling her until she laughed, they clicked. He was so good with children that she wasn't freaked out to see who would be a stranger to her in her own house. Children might be inexperienced, but when it comes to their parents, I think they know what's going on, yet here he was with the girl placed in his lap, pointing at a screen, and whispering into her ear.

"Gwapa ka nimo, Ate Crishia." She said suddenly. Gianni sure knows how to coach a child to flatter a girl.

I awed out of how adorable she was being. "Dili parehas ka gwapa ka nimo, Inday Ingrid." I said to her, as she giggled from the sweetness of the way Gianni cherished her. I'd be fangirling if I didn't notice the sun was coming up and I've hardly slept through the night. The town has been sensitive with little things recently, with rightful reason, so I settled on complaining about the man that cradled the child in his arms instead of screaming at the top of my lungs. "Agh! Gianni! She's too cute that you'll never be coming back to me!"

"Oh Crishia, darling, I'd always come back to you."