After all is said and done .....

Driiiiin. Driiiiin. Driiiiin.

Do Yun instructed and she made sure they did not see each other until the day of the orientation. Waiting for the trip bound to Daanbantayan in the North Terminal 3rd of January 2023 Tuesday 5:11 am, there were fewer passengers today than the usual because of the holiday. It has been 2 months ago since her vacation and she is anxious since she will be going back to the city the day after tomorrow with Henry to attend the orientation. Seated at the 7th column 7th row on the right side of the driver she took the window seat. Clink clink clink. The bus inspector hits the bar handle of the door that signals the bus is now departing. Amor is wide awake for the whole trip and took notice of where they at during the travel. With a speed of 50-60kph, Amor did not even budge as the bus traveled down the cemented sometimes rugged zigzag road. Amor thought of surprising her children thus she didn't tell them that she's coming including her parents.

For what seemed like an eternity, she finally arrived and can see her house from the highway. "I'm finally home," she thought. "Henry, Olivia, Jacob!!!!!" she called all of them out one by one. "Ma, you're home!" Henry greeted her first and hugged her tightly. "Yes, my child, and I'll never leave you again," said teary-eyed Amor. When she entered the house Evelyn just came out from their room, "Uhm....., I..... I wasn't expecting that you'll be here at this time," said Amor with a confused look.

"Ah..... Amor you..... you should've told me that you're coming home so that we can make preparations for you," said Evelyn with a guilty tone in her voice.

"Aunt Evelyn has been sleeping here for a week already, ma," said Olivia as a matter of factly.

"Oh..... did your father leave?" but before any of her children can answer Theo came out of the room shirtless.

"Uhm..... Amor, you're home, are you taking Henry with you now?" calmly asked Theo.

"Ah..... wait," Amor is unsure if she's having a headache because of the travel or because of what she has just witnessed in her own home.

"Oh..... I'll get going now, Amor....."

"Uhm..... Evelyn, I don't have much time I think we'd better make things clear of what's going on here."

"Ma, Papa said aunt Evelyn can be our mama since you're not here," innocently answered Olivia.

"Ah..... Henry can you bring your siblings back inside the room I'll just talk to your papa and aunt Evelyn for a while," and Henry obediently followed his mother.

"Oh..... I don't think there's a need for us to talk, you've been sending money to Evelyn she manages the budget and has taken the role of taking care of your children so might as well give her the responsibility of a wife also."

"Ah..... hold on Theo..... I'm your wife, we're married and my children are living with you, how can you say there's no need for us to talk?" It always feels like the biggest betrayal for her to be lied to in general by Theo, but when sex and love are mixed in, then that's when things get a lot less rational for her.

"Oh..... I..... I think you should talk about this between yourselves first....."

"Uhm..... Evelyn I..... of all people ..... I trusted you," she managed to blurt out with a lump in her throat.

"Was I not a good enough wife and mother, Theo? Was I not a good friend to you Evelyn?? Yes, I did insist on giving Evelyn an allowance since she will be taking care of the children most of the time without your knowledge because I fear that you will be harassing her in asking for money. If I wasn't good enough why didn't you give me a chance to become better??? What happened to 'make' both of you cheat on me????" she looked back at exact moments and wondered how she didn't know.

"Ah..... I'm..... I'm really sorry Amor..... I"

"If I decide to stay with you but leave again to work for days, weeks even months, this now has the power to hurt me knowing that you've cheated on me."

"Oh..... there's nothing I can do about that, I can't go anywhere so it's either you come home regularly or I'll have to look for someone to warm my cold lonely nights."

"Uhm..... I don't think my trust will ever come back. I'm not the most confident person naturally, but I never expected to be so affected by this. What if you got her pregnant? Our children and my family will have to be told what happened eventually, and I'll feel like a fool." "Maybe everyone cheats," she told herself. Many of the feelings she has right now centered around herself and personal blame. "Should I stay with the person who cheated on me?" she thought.

"Ah..... why is this such a big deal for you? As you've said you'll have to leave for work so why not do your job and support your children and we'll look after them??"

"Oh..... I'm overwhelmed with all these I can't think clearly, I'll bring the children back to my parents, and until then don't ever expect that I'll be sending you money even a single peso Theo. Henry, Olivia, Jacob!!!!!" she called all of them out one by one.

Her parent's house is only 1 kilometer away from theirs' but Amor feels she has been traveling for hours.

"Amor you're here, come in," greeted her father.

"I just arrived and will not be staying for long so I might as well pay you a visit with the kids."

"Come with me, your mother is preparing afternoon snacks for Emma and Michael."

"How have you been, pa?" worriedly ask Amor.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"Amor, Henry, Olivia, Jacob!!!!!" greeted her mother. "You can stay in the kitchen while I take out the afternoon snacks."

Looking at her parents peacefully living together, she does not want to disturb them but she also doesn't know what to do in this situation.

"Ma, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Huh? Yes," Elizabeth's startled reply.

They left the children in the kitchen with Daniel so that the 2 of them can talk in the living room.

"Before I left the city I've made a decision not to continue with the scholarship."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because of Theo ....."

"Because of Theo and Evelyn?"

"You knew about it?"

"We live in a small town and gossips makes our town smaller, but you've not asked me about it so I thought they were just rumors but whatever decision you make you know we'll always support you."

"If I decide to continue with the scholarship then I would need to bring Henry with me the day after tomorrow but I don't want my children to stay with Theo anymore."

"Don't worry about your children Olivia is old enough to take care of Jacob so she can already help us around," assured Elizabeth.

"I don't know how the children will take this especially Henry," long-withheld tears have now been freely released and are dancing on her cheeks.

"I'm really sorry Amor if we cannot be of much help but still don't hesitate to ask and we'll sort things out together, okay?"

"Thank you ma I guess I need to tell the kids now so that we can all be ready when the time comes," before Elizabeth can respond Amor stood up because her words have now turned into cries.

Going back to the kitchen brought her to reality again, not knowing where to draw her strength from she still managed to walk toward her children.

"Uhm..... after our dinner we'll have a family meeting okay?"

"What are we going to talk about, ma?" asked Emma.

"For now I can't tell you yet, it's better if we have our dinner first, okay?"

Knowing how close her children are to their father, Amor doesn't know whether to worry about how they will accept her decision or how they will fit in with her parents' house.

She can only hide inside herself and cry.