The Glimpse of My Past

Diane’s P. O. V.

One more flash made our lips part away from each other. I didn’t want to stop kissing Liam, who became my fiancé now, but I turned around to see who was busy capturing the photos of us.

All of my friends and family members were now in the garden area. They were graciously clapping their hands and uttering their congratulations for both of us.

Uncle Greco happily waved at us, who looked like he had just arrived. He was no longer different from us and had always been a part of our family because he treated us like our own dad.

Liam amiably placed his arm on my left shoulder, and my right hand automatically snaked around his waist. Then, I saw that it was David-who kept on exploring the DSLR camera while taking non-stop photos of Liam and me.

Although it might be Karen’s camera, just like what Mom told me a while ago, it looked like it was indeed Liam’s property. Of course, they didn’t want me to know that Liam was here.

After that, Denise gave me a bouquet of beautiful red roses. Then, Liam and I made a few poses to celebrate our engagement. I even raised my left hand, emphasizing the sparkling engagement ring while leaning on Liam’s chest. David captured all of them.

Although I had always known my brother to be engaged in photography, I just didn’t want him to pursue that career. I had so many dreams for him, and that includes David becoming a successful engineer someday.

In the future, he could still explore photography as a freelance job, and I wouldn’t hinder him from doing that. He had to stay focused on academics for now.

I stopped thinking about my brother when after a few minutes, various and colorful fireworks suddenly popped up in the magnificent sky, from which we gazed intently. Usually, we used to gather and only watched from our terrace while the neighbors were busy displaying fireworks every new year.

Now, Liam had firmly planned everything with these added fireworks. Not only that, one firework had caught my attention as it splendidly reflected the words:

I love you, Diane!

Coming from a simple family, I was just an ordinary woman. That said, never did I expect that someone would do this for me… and all the other things Liam had already done for me.

If I could only see myself in front of the mirror now, I was sure that my eyes were glistening with delight. I couldn’t blame myself for feeling so exquisite and profoundly loved tonight.

The word ‘love’ on the firework was flashed in a ‘heart’ symbol. That was when I found myself being trapped in Liam’s arms once again while saying how much I loved him too.

He was now hugging me from behind while gently kissing my hair. His hug seemed like it could never be swayed, no matter what would happen. I couldn’t help myself but adjust my head and look at him with a genuine smile on my face. I savored the feeling of contentment while being imprisoned in the arms of my fiancé.

“Actually, I had this feeling that you would drag me out of your house, so I had to think of a spare proposal. I was right after all, and gladly, plan B worked! Well, I still have a plan C, and if it still doesn’t work, I will use all the letters in the alphabet to think of other proposal stunts just for you,” Liam cleverly stated.

Still feeling over the moon, I pleasingly smiled and removed his hug from me. I turned around to face him, then lightly spanked him on the chest.

“You know what, Liam? You’re too annoying!” I snapped at him before rolling my eyes. “Next time… you don’t have to surprise me, okay? I almost died out of extreme nervousness when Lorenz and I arrived here. Did you know how I perceived everything a while ago, not knowing that it was only one of your crazy antics? I even thought that Mom and my siblings had been taken down as hostages here!”

Liam wasn’t able to speak when my brother intervened. “Woah! Is that so, big sis? If I know-you just don’t want our messy living room to be the setting of big bro’s proposal, so you dragged him here.”

“You have those swollen eyes while you’re becoming a cry-baby for the first time. Hmm, just be honest to us. You just don’t want to have the proposal photos taken in our living room because of the chaotic background! Sorry, I was still able to take a few shots there while you were still blindfolded. You looked so ugly!” David laughed while mocking me.

“Hey! What are you talking about, huh? I dragged Liam here because I wanted to talk to him privately and not because of the background! And what did you say? Liam wouldn’t propose to me if I’m ugly, duh!” I smilingly disagreed with my brother’s remarks.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Of all people, I would be the first one to be grateful that somehow, my brother was slowly returning to his cheerful personality. David became lively again as he slowly mingled with people. After their J. S. Prom three months ago, he suddenly changed. He became quiet, lost in his own world, staring at nowhere, and always locked himself in his bedroom.

Controlling myself not to pry with David’s problem, I let him sort things out all by himself. I didn’t know what exactly happened on that night, but I knew for a fact that my brother was broken-hearted.

Instinctively, I could bet that the same green-eyed girl had something to do with my brother’s sudden obsession with playing musical instruments while on summer vacation. I knew it had helped him to gradually move on.

I was beyond thankful that David had finally moved on from his first love. He was beaming now, unlike the previous months. I didn’t want that to happen again because I didn’t want him to be sad.

As he continued to sulk and isolate himself in his bedroom, David never realized that he was already ignoring and living away from us. It was as if my brother had died, and we had to adjust.

He couldn’t even join us to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He was too young to be serious. For Christ’s sake, he just graduated from high school!

If I could impose him an order without even thinking about my brother’s feelings, I would have never wanted him to cross paths with that girl again-whoever she is. David didn’t deserve to be treated that way! I loved my brother so much, but she broke him into pieces, and I didn’t want that to happen ever again.

“Hey, let’s get inside so you two can finally eat. Your guests didn’t even want to eat dinner because they would just wait for the two of you, but I let them dig in earlier while you were still talking here. They even hurried to finish their dinner just to watch you… and thankfully, we all have a favorable result!” Mom happily bantered.

“As always, I would go for a promising outcome. Anyway, I would like to apologize on behalf of Diane. My fiancée would like me to die waiting here and just couldn’t respond immediately to my proposal,” Liam blurted out.

I elbowed him on his left side, and he gazed at me with his eyes full of sparks. He was strikingly hot as he opened his lips while mouthing the word, “Ouch!”

Then, he glanced at his expensive watch before talking to Mom again. “But it was already ten, Mom. I guessed, let’s just pack those foods for the whole trip? What do you think? I wanted my fiancée to have complete rest after our one-hour flight tonight. Of course, as well as you-my beautiful mother-in-law,” Liam complimented Mom respectfully.

Mom blushed. She was flattered for sure. “Oh, you know what? I really liked you to be my son-in-law, Liam! You’re always telling the truth. So, all right! You’ve decided then. I’ll just wrap you some food to dig in, guys. Wait here, I’ll be back in a while…” Mom stated before she left us.

Then, Liam motioned me to get outside the gate. But I stopped my feet from taking another step, remained in the garden area, and whispered sweet nothings to him.

Miss Shey and my other colleagues also joined us because the van that they took here was also parked outside. It looked like they even intended to park in front of our neighbor so that I wouldn’t be able to notice their surprise plan for me.

“Oh, I forgot! I want you to formally meet Honeyrah Cruz, our adept and incomparable wedding planner,” Liam introduced his cousin, Honey, whom I met earlier as Neyrah.

“I’m glad to be introduced to you for the second time around, Miss Diane. It was truly a pleasure to meet such a surprised and gorgeous bride-to-be.” She smilingly extended her right hand to me. It was quite embarrassing, but I immediately accepted it for a firm handshake.

Then, she continued. “Shey was actually teasing me a while ago. In case the whole thing would fail just because Liam called me Honey, she would immediately send me back to Italy. Well, I’m glad that everything went fine, and I would be able to enjoy my stay here in the Philippines.”

Feeling awkward, I was still guilty at my own malicious thoughts that Liam’s so-called Honey over the phone was his other woman.

Damn! How could jealousy wrap my heart? And in the first place, why did I even nurture that?

“Likewise, Honey or Neyrah. Drop the formality and just call me Diane,” I simply responded to her before I turned my attention to Liam. “By the way, Liam, my things are not ready yet-” I told him, but my mother suddenly cut me off. It looked like she was done wrapping the foods.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I have already prepared everything that you will need. Unbeknownst to my sweet daughter here, I was the first one to say ‘yes’ to Liam’s proposal to her. Well, he asked for my approval this afternoon,” Mom enthusiastically revealed.

“Wow! Really? Oh my God!” Tears welled up in my eyes before I quickly hugged her. “Thanks, Mom! Thanks for approving Liam to be your son-in-law. Thanks for allowing our relationship from the very beginning. I promise that I won’t ever leave you and my siblings, even now that I am getting married.”

My tears immediately fell until those streamed down my cheeks. I pressed my face at the crook of my mom’s neck while cuddling her tightly.

“For Christ’s sake, are you for real? You’ll be marrying Liam tomorrow, and you’re crying like this! Where is my independent daughter-the one who’s even stronger than me?” Mom teased me. As far as I could remember, I was never a cry-baby, or so I thought because I never let them see me cry like a river.

Then, Mom released me and placed both of her hands on my shoulders. She then wiped the tears from my cheeks, and her gesture was indisputably soothing me.

“Remember that I will always be here to support you even though you’re already married. I will guide you every step of the way when it comes to building your own family as a wife and a mother. That said, I want the two of you to give me lots of grandchildren to take care of, okay?” Mom requested.

What Mom said caused my cheeks to flush. I hadn’t taken the test yet to confirm, but my instinct was telling me that I could be pregnant. If that was the case, then it would be my turn to surprise Liam, and I couldn’t wait for that.