Jeff earlier wrote about Nicholas’ response (sleeping a lot!) to the weeklong twin separation that transpired in early February.
Nicholas is the sweetest little boy in the world, a huge Mama’s boy and a rampaging hippo with an insatiable appetite for food. His chubby cheeks are as red as the nectarines that his Dad loves so much.
Antoinette and I had to leave ahead of Jeff and Nicholas because I had to take care of some documents that I will need to obtain prior to our couple trip around Southeast Asia. Jeff can’t leave Guangzhou because he still had tasks to accomplish for work so we decided to “split” the twins.
Antoinette and I left Guangzhou for Manila on a cool Monday evening. Nicholas and Jeff sent us off. Nicholas was holding my right hand as we walked towards the departure area. When I told him I had to let go and took Antoinette from his Daddy, the little boy cried and screamed “Mama, mama!”
Antoinette, our cool girl whom I think is more mature than her age, merely looked at her twin brother and waved her Dad goodbye.
Everything started well in the Guangzhou-Manila part of the trip.But after take off, Antoinette became fidgety and restless. She wanted to play with the flight attendants. But while she endeared them with her beautiful eyes and captivating smile, they simply can’t play with her because…the entire plane was in utter chaos.
I kid you not when I say that it felt like half of the entire Chinese population was in that plane. These passengers barely speak English. None of the flight crew speaks Chinese. There was obviously a language barrier. And the flight attendants were moving from one row to the other trying to help one Chinese passenger after another in translating what was written on the departure card.
Antoinette seemed annoyed by the noise as well and started crying. Oh great!
Then she asked me: “Nana, Kooola?” That means: “Nanay, where is Nicholas?”
I told her Nicholas is with Daddy and that they will see each other again soon. The girl cried some more as she screamed: “No! No!”
Was I stressed out?
Don’t even ask.
Take note that by that time we already knew that I was pregnant again. We calculated that I was about eight weeks in the family way (which was confirmed three days after when I went to a clinic in Cebu, Philippines).
Sleep deprived and hungry, I told the Chinese passenger in the other row that I will gladly translate what was on the departure card if she can please get my backpack which was on the overhead bin. I needed some ointment from my bag to cure my headache.
She obliged. Thank you very much.
The entire trip was spent translating for the passengers and the flight crew. Antoinette was awake the entire time. Plane landed after two hours and 45 minutes and the moment the big bird landed, Antoinette was out.
I was placed on a wheelchair since I personally requested to be “wheeled” because I was afraid about my condition while carrying a heavy 19-month-old with bags in tow.
I asked the kind man to please bring me to the departure area of NAIA Terminal 3 so I can go up to the fourth floor and have my fill of Jollibee, which I haven’t tasted for about five months.
Antoinette woke up around this time. Screaming. Crying. Looking for “Koooooolaaaaah!”
I could have endured the eardrum-busting sound that my daughter produced if only Jollibee was open. At 2:00 a.m., the store was closed. I had to park myself and Antoinette in some kiosk just infront of Jollibee and ordered chicken-pork adobo, which, by the looks of it, had seen better days.
Antoinette kept on crying. She was stomping her foot screaming “Kooolah!” When I try to speak, she screams. There was nothing I can do. I took her in my arms while she was still kicking and screaming. She eventually stopped but was still crying really hard.
And then… a special child approached our table. She placed her forehead on Antoinette’s forehead. She touched her face, smiled at her, and gave her Kaka (Antoinette’s toy monkey) which was lying on the table.
Magic happened.
Antoinette stopped crying.
I said thank you to the little girl, who’s my angel that very early morning.
After the angel left, Antoinette looked at me and asked again: “Nana, Koolah?”
I replied in Cebuano: “Nicholas and Daddy will be with us soon. Daddy just needs to work because we need to buy you more bananas, your favorite. We can’t bring Nicholas with us because baby is in Nanay’s belly. I cannot carry three babies at the same time.”
She looked away and then rested her head on my shoulder and slept.
At about 6:00 a.m., our flight from Manila to Cebu took off and I was in my beloved hometown after an hour. Antoinette immediately hugged her Lala (Grandmother) the moment she saw her and kissed her Uncle Kevin.
Antoinette didn’t cry when every time she asked me about Nicholas in the days that followed our arrival in Cebu. But when I talk about Pooh and start reading books with her, she would always turn to her side and ask for “Koolah”.
While Nicholas (as Jeff said) was sleeping a lot during the separation, Antoinette remained as the blabbermouth of a girl. She had a lot of things to say. She answered questions. She spoke more Cebuano words. She asked for banana and told her new Ate (the lovely lady who agreed to be her Nanny for a month) that they have to go out of the house to walk around the subdivision.
The twins met again after a week.
It was chaos the moment they stepped in the house. My four-year-old nephew Timothy was also there when the twins were reunited so the entire household was a circus with three children running, laughing and playing at the same time.
My Mom was so happy.
Jeff and I left for Singapore two days later. We always do an annual honeymoon and for this year, we decided to go around Southeast Asia on a cruise ship. We left the twins under the care of my Mom and we hired two ladies to keep an eye on them.
Yesterday, the twins attended a birthday party of one of the kids in the neighborhood. I “talked” to them over Skype and they were ecstatic showing off their balloons. Mom reported that they have been biting each other and Nicholas has been “drowning” Antoinette with blankets and pillows.
Nothing unusual about that.
They’re twins; they’re built-in playmates.
I don’t know if they will become the best of friends but I am more than sure that Antoinette will not be the same if Nicholas is not beside her.
Nicholas can have his much-needed rest once in a while but I think, if he can talk clearly, I am likewise sure that he’d say that he wouldn’t trade the evening ritual of hearing his sister blabber the ABC or lines from “Where the Wild Things Are” as if she was singing the song or telling the story.
