LATER THAT EVENING, Don Alejandro said that we would be having an important visitor at home. That explained why everyone was so busy. I was unwittingly thrown into the frenzy when Doña Soledad asked me to cook Caldereta a la Montecarlos.
I didn’t know what to do. I had never tried cooking the family’s legacy recipe. “Carmelita, light up the furnace. Where’s the clay pot?” Doña Soledad hurriedly said. She asked the servants to bring her the cookware needed for the dish.
I froze in front of the furnace made of stone. The one which needed charcoal and wood. Had there been a microwave oven, I would have heated up lasagna for them.
I looked at Doña Soledad. I was still not used to calling her “Mother”, but I had to, “Mother, I’m not feeling well. I don’t think I can cook tonight,” I said. Not only did I not know how to cook, but I also didn’t know how to fire up that furnace in the first place.
“But, hija, I’ve already taught you and your sisters this special dish before. Aside from that, you really have to cook the dish this time,” she responded. I swallowed hard.
I was about to complain when a servant called on Doña Soledad. "Doña Soledad, we haven’t finished fixing the living room yet. The governess suddenly fainted,” the news caught Doña Soledad by surprise. They rushed to the living room to bring the governess to the hospital.
I wanted to pretend to faint again but someone had the same idea first.
“Still not feeling well, Carmelita?” I heard Josefina ask beside me, “Can you still cook?” I nodded. I still couldn’t forget how she embarrassed me in front of Juanito and Doña Juanita
“If I will be the one to cook tonight, will you already forgive me for what I did earlier?” she asked me with that smile I would always use when trying to fool my sisters.
“I wanted to ask for your forgiveness for what happened earlier. I forgot that there’s something between you and Juanito,” she added. I wanted to correct what she said about me and Juanito having something going on but we had to move fast while Doña Soledad was not yet around.
“Let’s leave all those behind and cook,” I smiled at her. Finally, I was able to slither my way out of this situation. I was impressed by how fast and gracefully Josefina moved into the kitchen. She was like a contestant on MasterChef.
It didn’t take long for Doña Soledad to return. She smiled when she saw that we were done cooking … erm … Josefina was done cooking. Doña Soledad tasted the caldereta, “Ah it tastes delicious! Our guests we’ll surely be happy when they taste this,” Doña Soledad beamed.
Josefina and I stole each other a glance and laughed furtively. I suddenly missed Jenny and Emily; we fight like cats and dogs, but every time we got ourselves in trouble, we would always cover up for one another so that Daddy wouldn’t find out.
“Who are Father’s special guests?” Josefina asked Doña Soledad. She smiled and looked at me, “You will know in a bit.” Josefina looked at me and shrugged.
"Doña Soledad, Señoritas, our guests have arrived," announced a helper. I was surprised when Doña Soledad held both my shoulders and turned me around to face her. She fixed my hair and dusted off my clothes. Weird.
"Carmelita, daughter dearest, no matter what happens, smile, okay?" she reminded me. She held my hand and we left the kitchen together. I looked back at Josefina who seemed as clueless as I was at why Doña Soledad was acting that way.
“Good evening, Don Mariano and Doña Juanita Alfonso, and also to you Señor Sergio, Señora Sonya, Señorito Angelito and Señor Juanito Alfonso. Welcome to our home,” Doña Soledad welcomed them warmly. What the heck? What was the entire Alfonso family doing here?!
They were the honored guests? What the hell!
"A pleasant evening, too, Doña Soledad, Señorita Josefina and ... Señorita Carmelita," Don Mariano greeted back. There was something in the way he said ‘Carmelita’ that creeped me out. It was as if something bad was going to happen. They proceeded to the dining hall where each took a seat.
Don Mariano and Don Alejandro were seated at both ends of the table and started chatting and laughing. When we entered the room all eyes were fixed on us.
“You may take your seat now, so we can already start talking about the impending wedding which would seal the eternal bond of our families,” Don Mariano said. Wait— Who was getting married here?
I was startled when Don Alejandro stood up and started walking toward me. He placed an arm over my shoulder and said, “Perhaps you still haven’t met my youngest daughter Carmelita because she prefers staying at home. She’s not used to mingling with people,” he continued. All eyes were upon us. Was he saying that I was a loner?
“So please allow me to introduce her to everyone. I am entrusting the hand of my youngest daughter, my dear Carmelita Montecarlos to the second son of La Familia Alfonso. Juanito, hijo, please take good care of my daughter," he said while locking eyes with Juanito.
I gaped in shock. Damn it!
"AMIGO, I suggest the end of February for the wedding,” Don Mariano said. Almost everyone in the hall nodded in approval.
Seated to my left was Mother and to my right was Maria. And as luck would have it, Juanito was seated across from me.
I reduced my eyes to slits while looking at Juanito. Why didn’t he even oppose this wedding? Did he really like me?
“On the 29th of February? That’s also Carmelita’s birthday,” Don Alejandro said with a smile. I realized that we were in a leap year. I remembered Lola Carmina’s story, that Juanito died on the day of his wedding with Carmelita. And after a week, Carmelita took her own life.
“We would like the wedding to be held at the San Alfonso Church. We’ll take care of all the expenses,” Doña Juanita said with a smile.
I looked at Juanito. He was quietly eating. Wouldn’t he oppose this wedding? Or was he expecting something in return, just like what I had seen in teleseryes and movies? Maybe Juanito had set a condition for him to finally be convinced to agree to this.
Maybe he forced his parents to leave him with an enormous fortune.
“What can you say about this, Carmelita?” asked Doña Juanita. This made me wonder because everyone turned to look at me. What was going on?
Mother inched closer to me and whispered, "Anak, Doña Juanita is asking you a question." I straightened myself up. I had to remind myself that I was Carmelita in this period.
“Wh-wh-what were you saying, Doña Juanita?" I stammered, my voice and hands shaking. Was this how it felt like in the Q&A portion of the Miss Universe pageant? I glanced at Doña Juanita who was still smiling at me. It was so embarrassing. It was only earlier today when she heard that I had to go poop.
“I wanted to know how many children would you like to bear,” asked Doña Juanita, causing me to lose my grip on my utensils, sending them crashing to my plate.
I scanned the entire room and looked at everyone’s reactions. They all looked earnest. It looked like they were not pulling a trick on me. Were they serious? Did they really want to know how many kids I would like to bear?!
“Maybe Carmelita hasn’t decided yet because she’s still young,” I heard Don Alejandro say. I wanted to say that was why we shouldn’t be getting married yet in the first place!
“I’m merely suggesting that it would be better if you would have a large brood, am I right, Juanito?” Doña Juanita added as she looked at Juanito. I almost choked at their choice of topic. Why were they talking about this?
Juanito was also surprised at his mother’s words. I saw him almost choke so he quickly drank some water and wiped his mouth dry. He stifled a cough before he responded, “Yes, Mother. I … uhm … I agree. He gave me a look. I wanted to belch at what I was hearing. This was so awkward. Why was this even everyone’s business?
“I think twelve is a good idea,” suggested General Sergio, the eldest of the Alfonso siblings. He was still in his military uniform. He looked like a seasoned officer, used to wars and conflicts. He resembles Juanito a bit, but he looks more mature and seems like he’s always ready to fight.
“Twelve is too many. Ten would be enough,” Don Mariano said. I blinked twice in disbelief—twelve versus ten? What was the difference? Both were still too many. I was starting to feel like a sow pig.
“I suggest just eight,” Don Alejandro joined in. Why did it seem like an auction? Why were they bidding?
“What do you think, Juanito and Carmelita?" Doña Juanita looked at Juanito and me. She noticed that Juanito and I had remained quiet all throughout, that it was only them doing all the planning.
"None," I answered.
"Seven," Juanito butted in.
I massaged my nape. I could feel my blood pressure rising. I glared at Juanito but he avoided my gaze.
"None? What do you mean, my child? You don’t like to have children? Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" exclaimed Doña Soledad. I looked at all of them, every single one of them. They all looked like they just finished watching a horror movie. They were all shocked at what I said … everyone, except Juanito. What seemed to be the problem? So what if I didn’t want to have kids? My sexy body will only be ruined.
“Take back what you said, Carmelita. A woman with no children is considered cursed,” Maria whispered to me. I inhaled deeply. In today’s generation, this would have been a non-issue.
I forced a smile and pretended that I was just joking, “What I meant was none … nothing is happier than having a husband like Juanito and being blessed with seven children.” I was seriously creeped out. What I just said was so corny and cheesy!
Everybody breathed a sigh of relief and resumed chatting and laughing. I looked at Juanito who was now also smiling. He should have been equally freaked out by what I said.
"WHAT?! What do you mean by ‘the singers won’t be able to make it’?" shouted Don Alejandro at Theresita, his voice booming. The singers won’t be able to come because their leader was about to give birth. Speaking of “giving birth”, they all agreed that, yes, seven would be the best number of children for me and Juanito.
We were now in the living room waiting for the singers which Don Alejandro had been incessantly bragging about, "Love, your heart," Doña Soledad reminded her husband while assisting him back to his seat.
“No worries, amigo, no harm done,” Don Mariano assured his friend. Doña Juanita and her children nodded in approval—except Juanito. He was leaning on a wall beside a window looking pensively outside. He seemed lost in his thoughts. Was he going to jump outside the window?
“By the way, I heard that Carmelita is good at playing the piano, right Sonya?” said Don Mariano with a smile. Sonya smiled in response. I remembered that Sonya and Carmelita were best friends. She knew of Carmelita’s passions and hobbies.
“We’ve always been proud of Carmelita’s skill in the music arts,” Maria added before giving me a warm smile. Almost all of them were now smiling at me.
"Bueno, could you play us a song, Carmelita?" Don Mariano asked. Sonya gave me an encouraging nod and a smile.
I spaced out. What should I do? I didn’t know how to play the piano!
“Don’t be shy, child. Show them your talent in playing the piano,” Doña Soledad smiled at me. Did I look like I was shy? Wasn’t it because I really didn’t know how to play the piano?
I was supposed to blurt out an excuse but Sonya pulled me to the piano. "Carmelita, play the song that you always play for me and Helena,” she smiled. She looked genuinely excited. Was she Carmelita’s manager or what?
I could only bring my hand to my forehead in utter disbelief—how the hell would I know what Carmelita loved playing for them?!
I saw that Juanito was now looking at me. Maybe his curiosity was piqued by the supposed talent of Carmelita when it came to playing the piano. Sonya touched my shoulders and gently coaxed me toward the piano seat. She winked at me and hurriedly went back to her seat. I was left all alone in the middle of the room with all eyes on me.
I would prefer the floor opening wide open and swallowing me alive and whole than playing the darned piano. Most certainly, the reputation of the real Carmelita would be ruined as soon as my fingers hit the piano keys. Sorry, Carmelita, but I needed to do this.
I took a deep breath and started playing Do-Re-Mi.
I played that repeatedly. Just Do-Re-Mi. I could feel beads of sweat rolling down my cheeks. I was so nervous. Good thing I remember one nursery rhyme that I kept on playing for Emily using that piano tiles app on our tablet.
Doe, a deer a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long long way to run
Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow So
Tea, a drink with jam and bread
That will lead us back to Do
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, ... So, Do.
It was to my great surprise when everyone erupted in a resounding applause. Well, except for Sonya who looked confused while clapping her hands. Maybe she was expecting that I would be playing a piece by Beethoven or Mozart. She must be puzzled why the famous piano virtuoso Carmelita was playing Do-Re-Mi to a sizable audience.
A few moments later, the Alfonsos started bidding us goodbye. We escorted them to the front door, “Our gratitude to you, Don Alejandro and Doña Soledad, for welcoming us to your home tonight. Good night señoritas, especially to you Binibining Carmelita. The caldereta you prepared for us was sensational,” Juanito respectfully bade us his farewell as he removed his sombrero and brought it to his chest.
“You take care of yourselves, hijo,” said Don Alejandro. Juanito began walking to their kalesa that had been waiting for them outside the mansion. His family had gone ahead of him and were already inside the coach.
“It seems like you’ve captured Juanito’s heart because of your caldereta. From now on, I’m sure he will always be craving that,” Maria teased me. I glanced at Josefina and we both stifled a laugh. Should Juanito come to know that I couldn’t cook to save my life, he might shrink to skin and bones because of starvation.
“Let’s now go to bed, shall we,” Doña Soledad said while looking at me. "Looks like a young lady will have the sweetest of dreams tonight," teased Don Alejandro. Seemed like teasing me was making them very happy. Fine. I didn’t know that shippers already existed in this age.