I had a wonderful dream that night, even with the pesky, perverted omega sleeping beside me.
I dreamt that I was sleeping with my kuya again, in the small cot we used to share in our uncle's house. He woke me up with a light kiss on the forehead, and I snuggled on his chest, too comfortable to raise myself up to face the new day.
He dragged me to the bathroomto clean up then helped me with my clothes and cooked me some longsilog for breakfast with the leftover rice – but I know it was all just a dream, since Kuya kept talking in English, and the longanisa looked more like frank wurst with bacon.
I don't care.
At least he visited me in my dream. He even greeted me a happy birthday and kissed my cheek before sending me back to bed to get more sleep.
I actually begged to make him stay, but he was saying something about being late for something, somewhere or whatever.
That truly was the best dream to have on my birthday. I wanted to stay asleep longer, but I got a wake-up text from Aahmes and was surprised to see that it was already past noon!
I went to my bathroom and smelled myself.
"Mmm... I don't smell bad yet." Even my beard still looks clean, and the wonderful dream with Kuya left me feeling so full, that I decided to call a GrabMe and head straight to my Bebe Meme's house.
"Tito Eric!"
My ever lovable niece called out in greeting as soon as I pressed the doorbell.
"Ate Blessing! Kuya Nathan! Tito Eric is here!" (Tito means Uncle)
The small gate on the side of the wide driveway flung open and out came the cutest little 10 year old you could ever meet on the face of the earth!
"Bebe Meme! Hows my little angel?! Did you miss Tito? Huh? Did you miss me?!" I fussed over her as I caught her in mid jump.
"Of course, Tito! You haven't visited in so long! I missed you so much!"
"Hows about giving tito a kiss? I don't have a fuzzy beard today!"
"Mmmwah!"
Ah, this is truly heaven on earth! I'm not washing this cheek for a week!
"Tito, I almost didn't recognize you! You look so handsome without your beard. You should shave more often."
"If that's what my princess wants, then your wish is my command!" I said as I hugged her tightly.
"And if you don't step away from my daughter, I would be forced to sue you for violating RA 76101," said an irritating voice behind us.
My smile immediately turned into a frown as I turned to face the annoying face my my bastard brother-in-law leaning on the doorway.
"Louie. Still alive?"
He looked back at me with a surprised expression on his face.
Was the greeting too much?
"What are you staring at? It looks like you just saw a ghost?" I jeered at him.
"Oh, Tito Eric is here, no wonder Mercy is so noisy!" My 15 year old nephew stepped out of the house with a naughty grin on his face.
"Nat-Nat did you grow up again? I tousle his hair as he stepped closer and took my hand for a blessing2. "It's good that your school haven't called for me again."
"Uncle, it's Nathan, not Nat-Nat!" he said with a pout. "I'm no longer a baby like your Bebe Meme here!"
"`Oy, Kuya, I'm not a baby anymore!" Bebe Meme stuck out her cute little tongue at her brother. "Tito Eric is just special, so he can call me Bebe Meme for as long as he likes!"
"My Bebe Meme is very special to me, too!" I said, hugging her once more.
"Tito Eric! Come on inside we have a surprise for you!" Their sister Blessing called out to us.
At 20, she's all grown up and as lovely as my brother, though she looks more like her dad with her dark hair and rounds eyes.
All three fussed over me and pulled me inside the house where a big portrait in the middle showed my lovely Kuya on his wedding day, beside of which is a smaller portrait of their three kids.
I always stop and stare at this painting whenever I come to visit. It's an original Cerafico, and in it, Kuya Jonas looks so full of life. As if he's still greeting me with a big smile as soon as I come back home.
If only Louie wasn't painted beside him...
"Tito, hurry up!" Bebe Meme called from the dining room.
There, placed on the kitchen counter, is a 2-tier pink strawberry cake with a drawing of a very hairy man in a lab coat carrying a test tube in the middle. Sliced strawberries and other fruits filled the top, while candy flowers surrounded its base.
"Wow! Every year, my cake just keeps getting better and better!" I exclaimed, feeling mighty proud of my kids.
"Meme and I baked the cake, Tito Eric," Bless said proudly.
"And I made the figure!" Nat-Nat laughed out loud.
"No wonder I look like a rambutan3 that sprouted eyes!"
"That's right, Tito, why did you decide to shave now?" he pouted at me. "But it looks good on you! Goes to show how great our genes are!" he said, sucking up to me.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Nat-Nat, Remember what I told you. One more call from your school, and you're off to public education!"
"Tsk." He pouted and scratched his head.
I turned my attention to Louie who silently watched us from the doorway.
"And you?" I goaded him. "What's your contribution?"
He looked as if he just snapped out of a day dream. He looked away and folded his arms across his chest.
"I was the one who bought all the ingredients!" he said haughtily.
"Cheapskate!" I scoffed at him.
"We've got one more gift for you, Tito!" said Bless before her father could answer back.
Bebe Meme handed me a box which I opened with a big grin.
"Woah! A Kapitan Kalabaw commemorative mug?!" (captain carabao) I gave the three kids a bear hug.
"We saw your rant on your TweetMe account, about your assistant breaking the old mug Papa Jonas gifted you," said Bless.
"That's right, Tito, you hardly tweet at all, and your only recent post is a rant!" said Nat-Nat.
"We were lucky to find a commemorative mug in the internet!" concluded Meme.
"Thank you so much! I will treasure this forever!" I told them, teary-eyed. "It's all the fault of my new assistant!" I muttered. "He's the same culprit who keeps pestering me to shave and clean up!"
"What's wrong about being clean?" my cute Meme asked, her head tilted to one side.
"Then why don't you just fire them?" asked Nat-Nat.
"I can't. He came from the UACME branch. He's also very intelligent, and works hard as my personal minion."
"Tito, is she a girl?" my Bebe Meme asked, starry-eyed!
"No, he isn't, and how come you know stuff like that?" I asked in alarm. "He's actually an omega who's too good in his job. I can't find a reason to send him away."
"Oh, an omega?" asked the perverted Nat-Nat. "Do you have a picture, Tito?"
"Um, loko." (crazy) I socked him on the head.
"Aray!" (ouch!) he complained.
"Don't even think about it, or I'll send you straight to reform school!"
"It was just a joke, Tito Eric!" he burst out laughing.
"And speaking of..." I took out my mobile phone, "I promised to send him pictures so he can see my lovely family! Gather near and say cheez!"
My nephew and two nieces all hugged me and smiled at the camera.
"Papa! Come join us!" Bebe Meme called out to their dad.
"Don't mind me," replied the killjoy.
"No need," I butted in. "Okay, one more time! One, two, three, cheeese!"
"Tito, we really look so much alike!" said Meme as she looked at the pics. I couldn't help but beam.
"That's right, Meme, Tito Eric looks so a lot like Papa Jonas, after all," agreed her sister.
"Huh, your Papa Jonas looked so much better than Eric!" said their Dad with a snort. "Now, hurry up and eat before we miss the thanksgiving mass." He placed two large bottles of soda on the table.
"What time do we need to be there?" I asked, glancing at my wristwatch.
"Three PM."
"Why so early? You should have set it in the evening so we can go home right after the mass!"
"I wanted to attend mass first before the visit. And you know that Nathan still has summer classes tomorrow."
"This is Kuya Nathan's fault for cutting classes so often, now he needs remedial during summer vacation!" pouted Meme.
"Jealousy does not become you, Meme," Nathan taunted her.
"I guess we can't go stargazing this year," I pulled the two siblings apart.
"At least Nathan's teacher allowed him to miss a day. His education is more important, after all."
"I never thought I'd hear that from the person who kept dragging my brother to the arcade, even during school days!" I glared at him.
"And you're just pissed because I never took you along," he answered back.
"Ha! Why would I want to go there with you?! I prefer spending my time alone with Kuya Jonas, not with the stalker who keeps following him around!"
"Don't you mean, you don't liek going there since the only game you can play in the arcade is that silly donkey that wobbles in its place?" he said with an irritating grin on his ugly mug.
"That was a kiddie ride, not a game!" I snapped at him.
"I know, and wasn't that the only thing you ever ride? Then you'd go on a tantrum `coz you can't get the toy you wanted in the UFO games!" he went on laughing.
"That's because the UFO games were all rigged!" I shouted at him. "Good thing my Kuya was good enough to win me some stuff!"
"And who was it who always bought the tokens?" he looked smugly at me.
"Ha! You want me to pay you back for all the tokens you bought for us?!"
"Pa, Tito Eric, that's enough," Bless said with an awkward laugh. "Really, you're just like cats and dogs whenever we have a get-together."
"Figures, since they're both too proud," snickered Nat-Nat.
"What did you say?" Louie and I said at the same time.
"Jinx!" said Meme with her finger up in the air. "Now, both of you need to stay quiet for the next 2 hours!"
"Good, now we can eat in peace," Bless said happily as she cut the cake. "Let's take the rest to Papa Jonas."
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1Republic Act No. 7610 – Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination,
2Blessing or pagmamano – is a Spanish influenced Filipino tradition (from beso mano or kissing of hands) where a child asks for an elder's hand (mano) and touches it to their forehead to show respect and ask for a 'blessing'. The elder would then reply, 'Kaawaan ka ng Diyos' or 'God bless you'.
Others also call this 'hand kissing', but there isn't any actual kissing involved, as compared to the original European greeting.
3Rambutan – a hairy red fruit part of the lychee family (Sapindaceae)