To Where You are

Chapter 6

The next day when she woke up she was still alone in the room. Where did Ethan sleep? she immediately asked herself to make sure the man did not spend the night there.

When she came down, she found her parents and sister Alma in the dining room. She still hadn't seen Ethan. She wanted to ask where is Ethan but she restrained herself from doing so.

Smiling Bela approached her mother and took the child from her. She kissed it happily. When they were in America the child was hardly separated from her. Only last night she slept without it.

She was tired and confused because of the unexpected visitor upon their arrival, so she let her parents sleep with Arabella. The baby feeds in the bottle.

"Mom, isn't Arabella messed up?" she asked her mother as she sat down in front of the table while the child was still up.

"Oh, no. When you peeked into the room last night, She was still asleep until this morning."

"Thank God because she didn't wake you up!"

"Oh, your child is a good girl."

Alma stood up and helped her arrange the child's meal.

"Your husband left early with your siblings to go to the farm," said her father before sipping coffee.

Bela looked at her father.

"Your husband woke up early so he probably thought of going to the farm," the old man added.

She would have asked where the man slept but she managed to control herself.  She must not. Those in front of her would be surprised to find out that he did not sleep in her room.

But where did Ethan sleep?

Bela just nodded and continued feeding the child.

"Oh, I guess Ethan isn't used to the farm?" said alma laughing. "He might slip."

"It is also good for him to learn provincial life. You will not be in America forever," said her father who got up and left them in the dining room.

After she fed Arabella, Alma took it from her to take it out and let it warm under the sunshine for a while. She and Her mother were left in the dining room.

"Bela, I just want to ask you something," said her mother as they ate breakfast, "I woke up early earlier, maybe around three o'clock. I passed by the terrace. I thought was who was there and sitting. I am surprised. I saw your husband there and he was sleeping soundly, "her mother said.

She was stunned.

That stupid man slept on the terrace, she thought.

"Are you still fighting?" her mother asked curiously.

"Why did you let him sleep there, there are mosquito outlets on the terrace."

"It's not like- maybe he woke up earlier and thought of leaving the room. Then he fell asleep there," she lied to her mother.

Her mother stared at her. It seems that she is looking for honesty in what she said. Bela thinks she does not believe what she said about Ethan.

"That man is pitiful!"

She wanted to laugh at what she found out. She was sure that the man had really been bitten by a mosquito.

"Geez, you young generations. When your father and I were together until now I could not sleep when I found out that he was not by my side," her mother said with a smile. Already consumed the only coffee from the cup she was holding.

"I will leave you here. I will just go to my granddaughter and send Alma here to wash the dishes," her mother said before leaving her in the dining room. Her mother was very fond of her granddaughter.

Bela just followed her mother's gaze as it came out. She also breathed a sigh of relief that no one knew that Ethan did not sleep in their room.

However, the problem is not yet over. She knew that. Because what about the next few nights? Will the man always sleep on the terrace?

She has shaken again.

It was the afternoon when she and Ethan met. They were outside the house with Arabella and her mother when he arrived with her father and two brothers.

He dresses like her siblings. Shirt and pants are worn to the knee. If you look it looks really, peasant but a handsome peasant. Although it is very simple, its charm floats and it is undeniable that it has foreign blood like its daughter Arabella.

He approached her mother and waved before kissing Arabella on the forehead and when he got close to her side he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Bela was unable to protest especially in front of her family.

She was still a little taken aback when she inhaled the smell. Even from the farm and definitely sweating it still smells great. The scent when she inhaled turned his image around her imagination.

"How's your day, Honey?" Ethan asked her.

She looked at it with a forced smile. "Fine but you're full of mud, honey," she said to him removing his hand that was holding her.

"Oh, sorry," he said slightly get away from her. "I'll just take a bath," he smiled and said goodbye to them.

Bela just stared at his back. Her mother and siblings smiled at them. It seems she feels embarrassed so she just looks at the child.

"That husband of yours is very kind, Bela" her mother commented. "He doesn't seem to look rich. And he doesn't seem to come from a modern country. He's very respectful."

"That's what I like about him, mom," she said. She could not contradict it.

"Then we all immediately felt comfortable here. Maybe if he were different, we might have a hard time living with him."

Bela just nodded so that the conversation would not escalate.

But on the one hand, she wonders at the man. Why is it that he treats her parents and siblings like that when he is so angry with her?

Is Ethan planning something he doesn't know?

At night, she thought Ethan would not enter her room. She was even surprised when she found it in the room after taking a shower.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she approached the dresser and took the comb.

"Sleep," was its short reply.

"Why here?" she asked wanting to ask why not just on the terrace again.

"Because I have no plans to sleep on the terrace and feast on by mosquitoes," he said shaking the pillow before it seemed like no one was lying down.

Bela did not move immediately. She stared at Ethan for a long time before approaching the bed. She slowly moves her way on the bed, she even put a pillow between them, and like last night she lay sideways, turned her back on the man, and covered herself with a blanket.

 Drowsiness did not visit her immediately. She felt when the man was asleep, after that she turns off the light on the side of their bed. He has no movement.

Why is it that her mother wants Arabella to sleep with them, then she is here alone, and worst of all she is still next to Ethan.

She did not know what time she fell asleep but she was sure it was dawn. She could not be bothered with the knowledge that Ethan was just next to her.

*********

Bela was happy to see her mother's mini-grocery in the market. It is full of meat and many people shop at the store. Her sister Alma was the one who takes charge of the grocery store when her mother is at home or maybe Mark when he is not in the office.

They were at the grocery store all day, her mother was the one taking care of Arabella. Ethan, on the other hand, was with her father on the farm.

She had a lot of fun. This is new to her, working on grocery shopping and becoming a saleslady. She happily welcomes shoppers. The happy smile never left her lips.

Bela knew that such a display was necessary for consumers to enjoy it. Her sister Alma is also blissful so she is sure that there will be many who will really enjoy buying at their grocery.

When they arrived at the house, they caught up with her father and Ethan on the terrace along with her two other siblings and some of his father's friends who were drinking.

"You look even better abroad, Bela," Mr. Felimon, their neighbor, praised her.

Bela just smiled at the old man.

" Your daughter is your good luck, friend Ben," said Mr. Delfin, whose children are Japayuki. " She had the good fortune in America."

"Mr. Delfin, your daughter Marie is also very lucky. She got married to a Japanese man," Mr. Felimon laughed.

"Oh, will I come to Japan? If I were to be asked, I would prefer my children to marry a Filipino. Like this, Bela got married a Filipino" said Mr. Delfin.

"Not really. I also have a foreign race," Ethan said with a smile.

"At least. Being a Filipino is still in your blood. You are fluent in Tagalog," her father said.

"That's why," he said to his friends, "I am glad that my eldest daughter is married to a Filipino," he said. He even put his arms on Ethan's shoulder.

Ethan just smiled and then drink the wine in the glass he was holding.

"So I'm proud of my daughter, my grandchild, and my son-in-law," her father still whispered as he raised the bottle of beer he was holding.

Bela is shaken, she leaves the terrace and left them still drinking. She felt a sting in her conscience. What would her father say if he found out that Ethan was not her real husband but his American father and she like Mr. Delfin's daughter also used her mind in marriage?