Rhythm (23 page)

“Happy birthday, my sweetheart. You
happy?”

She nods.

“I love you, baby Belle. I hope you get to
meet your Mama, but Mommy’s doing a great job, isn’t she?”

At the word ‘mommy’, she instinctively finds
Rhy. When she doesn’t see her right away, she cries.

“Oh no, baby girl. Mommy’s with Will and
Alexa. We’ll go find them, okay?”

She nods but doesn’t stop.

I must go find Rhy or Belle will have her
worst tantrum, which she always has when Rhy’s not with her.

“There they are, honey. See them?” I check if
she’s able to see Rhy. Well, I don’t have to because when she does,
she lets me put her down and run to her mommy.

“Mommy!”

Rhy carries Will who’s now asleep, while
Alexa’s about to follow Will.

She gets this worried look because Belle is
on her way, and she will not be able to carry her. That will
definitely upset the birthday girl.

She spots me and sees that I’m laughing. She
mouths, “Help,” but I don’t move. I want to see what she’s going to
do.

Belle arrives to her destination and tries
with all her might to get past the sleeping Will.

“Baby, Will’s asleep. I’ll just carry him to
the room. Okay?” Rhy tries to reason out with Belle.

Belle doesn’t budge. That’s a bad sign.

“Grant? Please?” she begs.

I imitate Belle. I don’t budge.

“Fine, have it your way. Just . . .
please?”

“What’s that? I don’t hear you. Say it
again,” I tease.

Belle is about to start her tantrum.

You have no time, Rip. Just say it.

“Have. It. Your. Way. Grant. Tyler.
Peterson,” she says in exasperation.

“That’s more I like it.” I grin and run to
get Will from her. I also carry Alexa who’s having her own version
of tantrum by not talking.

The moment I get Will, Rhy quickly carries
Belle and hugs her tight.

“Shh . . . Mommy’s here, baby.”

Rhy kisses her until Belle redeems
herself.

“Later, babe.” I wink at her.

“You play so unfair.”

“I don’t.”

“Yeah, right.”

I chuckle. “Come on, babe. We rarely go on a
date.”

“How about Belle? She’ll go hulk if she knows
I’m off her radar.”

“I’ve fixed that, don’t worry. Besides,
everyone’s staying over here tonight.”

Her brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

“I might have reserved a hotel room for
us.”

“What? Are you insane?”

I laugh. She’s not comfortable leaving the
kids for a few minutes, much more if it is an overnight. “No. The
hotel’s a few blocks. You need not worry.”

“A few blocks? There’s a hotel few
block
s
from here?”

I nod. She’s cute.

She chews her lips as she thinks. “Okay, but
only for this night, Grant. I don’t want you to think I don’t like
this. I do, but I’m worried about them, especially Belle.”

“I understand, Rhy, but I want to spend some
alone time with my wife. I kind of miss her, you know?”

She smirks. “I know.”

“So that’s a go?”

She nods.

“Thank you, Rip.”

Rhythm

It’s almost two in the morning and we’re
still awake here in our hotel room. We laugh, make love, tease,
tell stories . . . we do almost everything that we haven’t done for
quite some time.

“Do you miss her?” I ask.

“Who?”

“Lola.”

He’s caught off guard.

“It’s okay, Grant. I want us to be honest
with each other. You can tell me anything.”

He shrugs. “Yeah.”

“Me, too.”

“Rhy?”

“Yeah?”

“The day Lola gave birth to Belle, I . . .
kissed her.”

I keep my cool.
He’s just being
honest
, I tell myself.

“Well, technically, she kissed me first, but
I didn’t retreat. And I feel a jerk that time that I felt I needed
to show more support than I’m giving her, so after she said she
loves me—yes, she said it and I said it back—I kissed her. I said I
love her, but I know in my heart that it’s only a love for a
friend.” He gauges my reaction. “Rip, say something.”

“Continue,” I say.

“That’s it. I’ve been wanting to tell you
that, but I haven’t had the opportunity.”

“It’s okay, Grant,” I pause. “What you did,
it’s okay. Maybe if you tell me at that moment, it’s not. But I’ll
give that as a gift for L, so it’s okay.”

I breathe in. And out.

“Anything you want to add?”

He shakes his head. “You?”

“I’m being honest, so far.” I sneer.

“You teasing me now, huh?” He threatens me to
start a tickle battle.

But then I remember Belle.

“What did you do to Belle to make this
possible?”

He shrugs.

“Tell me, Grant.”

“Well, I didn’t do anything to her. I just
asked someone to babysit her.”

“Both sides of our family are all there. Who
else would you ask?”

“Cale.”

“Oh.”

Belle is very fond of Cale that when she’s
with him, she tends to forget about everything. Including me.

“You’re such a genius, love.”

“Thank you very much. Now if you’ll excuse
me, I’m on some mission now.”

He goes serious like he’s on a real
mission.

But I know what he’s up to. Tickle
battle.

---

“It’s Gratitude Game time,” I announce after
our dinner.

Gratitude Game is a ritual we’ve been doing
every after dinner since Grant and I got back together. We want to
end our day being grateful, rather than dwell on stressful
things.

“Me first,” Will says.

“Okay, honey. You can start anytime,” I tell
him.

“I am grateful for Triceratops because he
makes me happy,” he says, proud with the one he’s grateful
about.

Who’s Triceratops, you ask. He’s Will’s
newest puppy. I know. I know. I’ve been telling him the same
thing—that Triceratops is kind of an awkward name for a puppy, but
he’s insistent because he loves dinosaurs so much. Well, I think I
should be grateful that dinosaurs are already extinct. If not, Will
might want to adopt one.

“Me second,” Alexa declares. “I am grateful
for my crayons because it brings color to my life.” She beams.

Alexa’s the artistic one in the family. Even
at the young age of five, she’s been showing an exemplary talent in
drawing.

“Okay, your turn, Belle,” Grant says. “Belle
is grateful for . . .”

Belle smiles widely and says without a beat,
“Mommy!”

We all laugh because that’s her answer in
every Gratitude Game we play.

“Wow, that’s new, baby,” I kiss her on her
cheeks. “I’m next,” I say. “I am grateful that I get to spend my
time with you Belle, Will, Alexa, and Grant because there’s no more
that I could ever ask than to be with all of you.”

“You’re like Belle, you always have the same
line,” Grant jokes.

“I’m not done yet. I have two things for
tonight.”

“Oh, really?” He challenges me.

I nod. “Another thing I am grateful for is
that in less than a year, we’ll be six in the family.”

Grant lifts an eyebrow, baffled.

“Six, Mommy?” Will asks then performs a head
count.

“Plus one?” Alexa confirms.

I nod.

Grant tilts his head, looking ridiculous
because his mouth is hanging wide.

“Seriously?” he finally speaks, redeeming his
bearings.

“Positively,” I validate.

After a while of absorbing the news, he
stands up and crosses the short distance between us. He kisses me
hard. “You should’ve taken the last spot. That would’ve been a
great wrap up in our game.”

I grin. “Your turn.” I remind him.

“I am grateful to be the father of all your
kids and to be your husband, Rhy, because anyone will agree that
I’m one heck of a lucky—blessed—guy. Right, kids?”

“Right, Daddy,” they all say in
agreement.

Grant

Rhy have decided that she will be a full-time
wife and mom now that we have three kids plus one on the way.

“Grant! Let’s go,” Rhy shouts not in panic
but because of annoyance. I’m taking my sweet time getting her
things.

The plus one I’m talking about? He’s on his
way now.

“Yeah, will be there.”

My mom will look after Alexa, Will and Belle
while Rhy and I are at the hospital. No point in bringing all of
them because we know that in no time, we’ll be home.

“Ready?” I ask her.

She rolls her eyes.

---

Just as I predicted, we’re home in no time.
Brian, now the youngest among the Petersons, is home with us. We
named him after Lola’s first name—Briane.

“Baby!” Belle squeals as she sees Brian.

“Yes, that’s right, Belle. He’s your baby
brother,” Rhy introduces the latest addition in our family. She
gives me Brian because Belle is squirming to get Rhy’s attention
and signals for Rhy to carry her.

“Up!” Belle says.

“Come here, sweetie. You miss Mommy?”

Belle showers Rhy with kisses in response.
It’s apparent that her love language is physical touch. It is not
enough for her to greet us with a kiss and a hug. She wants lots of
kisses and the tightest of hugs.

Will and Alexa also squeal when they see
Brian. They play with his little hand that Rhy develops a qualm
about letting me hold Brian.

“Will, Alexa, come give Mommy a hug,” she
diverts their attention.

They run to Rhy and squeeze Belle in the
process. They all hug and kiss Rhy, a clear picture that she’s the
best mom in the entire universe.

“What are you staring at? Aren’t you going to
join them?” she teases.

I laugh.
Of course, I will.

I bring Brian in her arms and get Belle from
her. Belle reaches out for her mommy, stretching and wiggling her
little arms and legs, while I kiss Rhy on the lips. Will hugs me
from my back and Alexa’s sitting beside Rhy, playing with
Brian.

And that’s what Cale captures in his
camera—our very first family picture with Brian.

---

There’s a cold feeling that causes me to wake
up. Instinctively, I reach for Rhy to hug her, but she’s not in
bed. I find her and see that she is in Belle’s room.

“Hey, babe. Can’t sleep?” I close the
distance between us and hug her tight. “Hmm . . . I’ve missed
you.”

She chuckles, as she feels ticklish by my
lips on her nape. “I miss L.”

Honestly, I know. I always find her in
Belle’s company when she misses Lola, and that’s often.

“She left quite a souvenir for you, huh?
Though at first I thought that Belle would cause you more pain, but
seeing how much you love her, I can say that Belle’s been used by
God to heal you.”

“She’s such an adorable kid for me not to
feel this much love for her. She makes everything easy for me. The
past, the pain, the wounds . . . She’s such a blessing to me.”

“Yeah, she’s adorable when you are
around.”

She raises one of her eyebrows. “She’s
adorable with or without me, Grant.”

“Oh, yeah?” I challenge her. “The second
you’re out of her line of sight, she’ll have her tantrums. Give her
a toy, and she’ll throw it.”

“Maybe she knows who her real parent is, and
it’s not you.” She glares at me.

“I’m kidding, Rip.” I laugh. “Spare me with
your death stare.”

“You deserve it.”

“Seriously, though. Thank you for loving
Belle as your own—sometimes more than your own. I don’t expect you
to, but I’m not going to complain, Rip. You make living a messed-up
life easy. You make things simple.”

“God is at work in my life, Grant. Believe
me, I myself can’t grasp how I can give so much love to Belle, but
that’s not me. I’m just an instrument whom He used to show the
world what a true unconditional love really means. I’m not taking
any credit for how I survived the greatest obstacle course I’ve
encountered. It’s all Him.” She lets out a deep breath. “And Grant?
I’m sorry for all the things that I unconsciously did to make you
feel abandoned. What you did overshadowed what I did, but that’s
not fair. We’re a team, and we both have a part in what happens in
our relationship. I know now how I’ve been clouded before that I
put my career before my family, but I will never let any title or
money or fame to cost me this much again. By God’s grace, I will
put you, my family, on top of everything but of course, after Him.
And if ever I lose track, help me get back, will you?”

“Of course, I will. We’re in this
together.”

She kisses me and gives me the tightest hug.
“Together.”

Belle

Every time Mommy and Daddy tell us their love
story, I am beyond amazed. I can’t—for the love of whole
mankind—grasp how is it possible. I’m sure no one can comprehend
how in the heck Mommy was able to forgive Daddy, and why in the
heck she forgave him. What he did was way too wicked for my liking,
for anyone’s liking.

If I’m in Mommy’s position, I do not know how
to look at me, hold me, care for me, and worst, love me. If I’m
her, I will not feed me and just leave me starving to death. Then
when Daddy notices I’m dying and asks what’s happening, I will
simply tell him, “I don’t know,” and make the most cliché move of
all—I’ll shrug. Thank goodness I’m not her.

On a more serious note, I am grateful to be
aware with some of these truths, which my parents are always
telling us.

God may have given us freewill, but it’s not
a ticket for us to blame Him whenever bad things happen to us. Yes,
He may have given us the freedom to choose and decide, but as a
result, we suffer the consequences of our bad decisions and reap
the benefits of the good ones.

God will use our past hurts or mistakes for
His glory. So you see, you will not understand why your husband
cheated. You will not understand why your child died. You will not
understand why you have a stage-four lung cancer. You will not
understand—yet. But everything has its purpose that will be
revealed in His perfect time, not yours. When you learn that your
close friend is on the verge of having a divorce because of a
cheating husband, or your cousin’s child has died, or your sister
is diagnosed with a stage-four lung cancer, then and only then you
will understand. You will have this ‘aha’ moment that truly,
everything happens for a reason. God will use your past hurts and
mistakes as an instrument so that others may believe that there is
still hope, that they may have faith.