The Second Time Around

“Xandro, please don’t do this to us. Don’t leave us, please. We need you,” Maricris was begging to her husband.

Her eyes were already blurry, and she felt like her heart was going to explode because of everything that suddenly happened.

But instead of listening to her, Xandro pulled out her hand that was wrapped around his waist.

“Oh, please stop this. You can take care of them. You should know that I love someone else,” Xandro mumbled after he removed her hands from his waist and without turning his back, he went outside of the house.

He left her alone with her children.

The twins were quietly sleeping in their crib without knowing what was happening around them.

They were so young and innocent.

She followed with her eyes her husband who was coming out of their house.

She couldn’t imagine that their marriage would turn out like this.

Last year, she was impregnated by Xandro after a one-night stand.

She hated that night. It was the night that she wished had never happened in her life. She was invited by her best friend to go to a birthday party.

It was supposedly a fun night but turned out to be her greatest nightmare.

Xandro had been her crush since they were in grade seven. He was the son of their barangay chairman.

He was quite popular in their place because of being handsome on top of being the son of their barangay leader.

When they reached Grade nine, she was the happiest when Xandro courted her. Since she liked him, he became her boyfriend and when they reached grade twelve, that night at the party, Xandro forced her to make love to her.

Though she got pregnant because of that, she did her best to finish high school. Since they were still young, they didn’t get married as they were still underage.

But she was looking forward to the day that she would be married to the man. It would be her greatest dream. To be called his wife and him to be her husband.

Xandro was just a year old from her. She was seventeen while Xandro was eighteen that time.

After a year and their children were three months old, Xandro finally left them because he had a new girlfriend.

She saw her mother get inside at the door where Xandro came out.

“What happened? Why are you crying?” Her mother asked with curiosity in her face.

She could see the worry in her face while her eyebrows were drawn together because of

She was sobbing and she felt like it was so hard for her to speak up. She felt like she had lost all the strength that she had.

Her knees were softened like jelly.

“Mom, Xandro already left. He left me and my children,” she said between her sobs. Her mother pulled her into her embrace. “What will happen to me and my children?” She added.

Maricris broke down on her mother’s shoulders.

She only had love but why did it come with so much pain? She only followed her heart. And Xandro told her that he loved her too. So, what happened?

Why did the man walk out of her life? Why did he shut her out of his life including their children?

Did it mean that what they shared was just meaningless for him? And she and their children didn’t mean anything to him?

She felt like her heart was stabbed by a sharp knife.

She couldn’t believe that her story with Xandro would end like this.

“Shh… Don’t think so much. I am here for you. Just be strong for the sake of your children. You know that I am against this relationship because you are young, and you are still studying. Temptation is always there. But what else can I do? If I disown you that wouldn’t change a thing,” she said while she was rubbing her back. “I am already seeing this happen because you and Xandro are still young. You are just being carried away by your emotions. On top of that, sweetie, there’s nothing we can do about it because you are not married to him,” her mother added.

Maricris knew that everything that her mother said was right. She never failed to tell her that she was so young to be in a relationship, but she insisted. Because she felt like her love for Xandro was so strong and she couldn’t stop herself from falling in love with him every day.

And that night came, she got pregnant. She was still grateful though she had committed this mistake, her mother didn’t send her out of their house.

Instead, her mother made her feel love despite what she had done. It was true that a mother’s love was unconditional because of what she had seen from her mother.

She had accepted her without any questions even if she could see the hurt in her eyes when she learned that she got pregnant despite her reminders to her.