Chapter 3 Put me to bed

The holiday was spent in the Yamamoto house. Mostly, Sachie and Ivy would go out in daytime to do shopping, while Hiro was still going to his office. As a private company, the holiday starts in the 28th of December until the 2nd day of January. In the evening, they would either dine out somewhere or just at home. Sachie and Ivy became closer than before, as Sachie became more fluent in English. At the same time, Ivy could already converse in Japanese at an intermediate level.

On the 29th, it was her time to go back to her country. Hiro accompanied her as they flew back home. Andrea welcomed them both, her mother was civil to Hiro. Again, Andy was so mesmerized by how Hiro carried himself so elegantly.

During dinnertime, only the four of them were present because Andy chose to spend the holiday with his friends who just live a couple of houses away from them. Andrea and Ivy cooked their food together, while Hiro was patiently talking with the grandmother, who has a hearing problem.

"How is it?" Ivy asked excitedly to Hiro, as he tasted the food.

Hiro chew on the food silently. It was a meat dish with lots of soup that tastes sour due to tamarind. In Ivy's mother tongue, they call it 'sinigang'. He actually liked it.

"It's delicious, " he said, sipping on the bowl of soup that Ivy had given him.

"Really?" she arched her eyebrow, for she knows that most Japanese would be so polite to say the otherwise. They would always say that the food was delicious so as not to embarrass the person who cooked. "You're not just being polite, are you?"

Hiro smiled at her, "Ivy, it is delicious. Really." He found it amusing that she was really asking for his honest opinion, like wanting to impress him. Although for him, she does not need to impress her with her cooking ability anymore. The pleasures she gave him is more than enough, but of course he cannot tell it to her now, especially that her mother and grandmother are listening.

She felt happy and smiled like a child to him. It is indeed one of the dishes that she always cooks, and she takes pride in it.

"Ok then, come on and eat this too, " she put on another dish on his plate. "You don't have an allergy on seafood, right?" she was asking him, but she does not look like somebody who was waiting for his answer, as she already put a lot of shrimps on his plate.

This time it is a seafood dish that almost have the same ingredients with the first meat dish. As Hiro tasted it, it was exactly the same taste with the meat, minus the meaty taste.

"What is this called?" he asked, although he already had a guess.

"It's the same dish, just a different main ingredient."

As he expected, 'can't she cook something that is not sour?' he thought to himself.

"So?" she asked, waiting anxiously for his verdict.

"It is also delicious."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Ivy smiled sweetly, and began to ate her food as well.

Andrea suppressed herself from laughing in the child-like manner of her daughter. She has never seen Ivy this keen for compliments before.

"Anyway Ivy, I asked Andy to clean his room for Hiro, will that be ok?" Andrea asked.

They only have four rooms in the house, occupied by each one of them. They don't have a guest room as their house is just a normal one for an average income-earner. Her mother is a high-school teacher, although she has promoted as a principal for more than a decade, but they never live in luxury. But at least, they don't live in debts, either. Her mother does not want to borrow money from anybody, even to her relatives. Since she was young, her mom always told her to make her ends meet. She was taught from a young age that if she has 1 peso, she should only spend 0.80 cent and save the remaining for emergency purposes.

"Actually, it is better--" Hiro was about to say that it is better if they stay together but he felt a light kick on his foot. As he looked sharply at Ivy, who smiled innocently at him, he thought that he would make her pay later on. Nobody has ever kicked him before, even under the table, except this girl. He would have to make her understand later who is the boss. "that way, Auntie. Thank you."

"I see, don't worry. Everything was newly washed." Andrea said, for she knows how much Japanese people values hygiene. She made sure that the room was thoroughly cleaned, scrubbed on all corners and sprayed with room deodorizer earlier. She still remembered that Yukio always sneeze when the room was dusty.

"Thank you for the consideration, Auntie." Hiro replied. He does not want to be a bother, but he was really thankful for that.

"Anyway, mom, will you be staying here on the 2nd? Do you anywhere you wish to visit?" Ivy asked, praying that her mother will say no.

"Nothing in particular, " Andrea replied, "Maybe we will have some visitors from my colleagues, but I don't have a plan to go somewhere, why did you ask?"

Ivy cleared her throat, and she looked at Hiro for support. He, in turn, tried to bully her by avoiding her eyes and drinking his coffee. She pursed her lips.

"Will it be alright if, you know, Hiro's family will visit us on the 2nd?" she tried to rephrase the question that she wanted to ask. She was about to say 'father', referring to Yukio, but thought against it.

The room was silent. All the while, the grandmother was just patiently and slowly chewing on her food with what little teeth remaining on her mouth. Andrea drank her coffee too, and cast a glance at Hiro, who met her gaze steadily.

"Are they coming over about the two of you?"

"Yes mom, " Ivy said at the same time that Hiro answered "Yes, Auntie."

Andrea was silent for a few moments, and continued drinking her coffee.

"In that case, we will welcome them, then."

Ivy and Hiro felt relieved upon hearing Andrea's response. That evening, Hiro was not able to really fall asleep. His room is just next to Ivy's, so he kept on thinking about her. On the other hand, Ivy was not in her room. She was in Andrea's room, as her mother asked her to talk with her earlier when they were washing the plates together.

Andrea was sitting on her bed, while Ivy was lying on her back with her head on her mother's lap.

"Ivy, are you sure you would want to marry him?" she asked her daughter.

"Yes mom, " Ivy answered seriously, for she could not think about marriage anymore if not with Hiro. "I love him mom."

Andrea sighed, her mind was telling her that no matter what she says, Ivy's mind is already dead set on marrying Hiro. It is not like she is against him, even after she knew that his mother and grandfather tricked Yukio for marriage, it is not Hiro's fault. She knows it. But still, she could not help herself from blaming what happened. If not for that, she would have been Yukio's wife, and Ivy would not have had a hard time growing up being bullied by other children for not having a father. For so many years, she tried to live by accepting what happened to her, trying not to blame anyone, trying to move on. But ever since she learned about Yukio being tricked, she could not help thinking about the what ifs. Although she knows too well that lost time would not return, she once again found herself wishing for it.

"Mom, " Ivy looked at her mother's eyes, "have you forgiven.. them?"

Still, ivy could not bring herself to call Yukio 'father' in front of Andrea.

"Of course, Ivy, " Andrea smiled, "Hatred is not good, you know. You should never harbor hate towards anybody, otherwise you cannot move on." Has she really move don, after all those years?

As Ivy was supposed to ask her another question, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She sat down and looked at the message. It was from Hiro!

She shielded the phone from her mother's eyes, not knowing if Hiro would send something too private.

'I cannot sleep, I need you to put me to bed.'

Her cheeks burned as she read the message. How can he be so bold? She immediately closed the screen, and out the phone back in her pocket.

"Mom, I will go back to my room, " she said, and gave her a peck on her cheek, "Goodnight."

Andrea nodded her head, thinking that Hiro might have asked her to come to his room. She is aware that her daughter is a modern woman, and she trust that she knows what she is doing.

"Goodnight Ivy, relax because you are tired from travel."

Ivy did not fail to catch the meaning behind her mother's words, and she tried to hide the embarrassment in her face as she hurriedly went out of her mother's room. She went inside her room first. She looked at her appearance in the mirror and smelled herself. Although she has just finished a body shower before she went to Andrea's room, she feels conscious whenever she is with Hiro.

As she stood in front of his room to knock, the door suddenly opens and she was pulled into his strong arms. She found herself staring right through a pair of dark brown eyes, as his lips lowered to her.