The Choices We Make

Chapter 13

Yanna

It had been manageable as she had expected. Ate Myrna was efficient with the chores while Yanna focused on Jaydee. 

But her heart was heavy without DJ’s usual cheerful presence.

It’s only been a day since he left, and although the helper had made everything easier for her, it hadn’t been the same. Even Jaydee was feeling the absence of his father that Yanna slept in the shirt he had left so they could both smell him.

“I don’t get it,” Kyle frowned when Rhea invited him over for his opinion on what had transpired between Yanna and DJ.

“Right?” Yanna seconded, “I don’t either--”

“No, I mean, I don’t get you.” Kyle looked at her like she was some strange creature he couldn’t figure out.

Rhea snapped her fingers in the air. “That’s what I’m talking about, girl!”

“My boy, DJ, practically laid his cards and heart out but you trampled all over it.” Kyle shook his head at her in disapproval. 

“But he was giving up a stable source of income!” she pressed, stubbornly.  

“Yeah, to be with you. What’s wrong with that?” Kyle shrugged. 

“An online job doesn’t even have health insurance. What if he gets sick? What if he couldn’t pay the monthly contributions for his statutory benefits on-time?” Maybe she was in over her head with this. But DJ was an expert in these, he should know that his plans had more cons than pros.

“Are you serious? You’re worried about that more than having him with you and your son? Girl, sometimes I don’t get your logic.”

“The way I see it, my boy knows what he is risking. And you shunning him like that just invalidated his feelings, his opinion regarding your family.”

Now that Kyle put it that way, Yanna realized she must have really offended DJ with the way she reacted. 

“And girl, it’s the twenty-first century! If we can be career-women, men can be home-makers,” Rhea pointed out.

Which actually made sense. Maybe unconsciously, Yanna was thinking that men were supposed to be breadwinners, not stay at home to do chores. She had been worried that in the long run, DJ would feel insecure. 

But then again he had been so comfortable, happy even, doing Daddy duties and putting the unit in order. He found joy even in the mundane tasks of washing their clothes, cooking their meals. Yanna could actually feel how fulfilled he was whenever he’d slide next to her on the bed and he’d heave a deep, satisfied breath every time.

Yanna mentally kicked herself for overthinking and ultimately missing out these details. 

She just hoped she could still patch things up with DJ.

---

DJ

“Are you totally, absolutely sure about this?” His colleague, Marco, looked at him with pleading eyes. 

If his teammate was asking about his decision to resign, DJ just grinned at him as he packed his stuff in a box. “Never been more sure in my life.”

They just finished a week of side-by-side training so that DJ could slowly, eventually let go of the tasks. He had announced to the team that he’d refuse assisting after his last working day. So they’d better step up and learn the ropes. 

Although, what he’d do once he’s officially an ex-employee of Star Global, he still didn’t know. After the falling out with Yanna, his mind had buzzed with white noise and he operated mostly on muscle memory.

In those few moments when his brain could function, his memory flashed back to the heated conversation with Yanna.

And then he’d be plagued with guilt that indeed he might have rushed his decision. Maybe quitting the workforce entirely wasn’t feasible. Afterall his sisters were admittedly, not yet financially secure. There were still bills to pay too and the income he’d get from an online job might not be enough. 

But then again, the joy and the sense of fulfillment of just being there for his own family was incomparable to all the achievements he had as part of the labor force. Besides, he didn’t want to walk the same way his own father did.

“Kuya, what time are you going home?” Denise asked as soon as he picked up her call.

“I’m about to leave the office right now. Why?”

“It’s just...I need some help.”

His heart seized. He gave his teammates a brief goodbye and hastily headed out of the floor. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

Maybe Yanna had a point. He couldn’t leave his hometown because his sisters still needed him. 

DJ made it home in record-time of twenty minutes. It had been too long since the last time he left the office when the clock struck five thirty in the afternoon. There were more jeepneys on the road compared to the scarce vehicles in the wee hours of the night when he did overtime work.

“Den!” he called even before he opened the door to their bungalow unit, the only possession that their parents had left them. “Are you okay?”

With a rueful grin on her face, Den rose from the monobloc chair she was perched on. “Hi, Kuya.” 

He stopped in his tracks, noticing Kyle and Rhea who was also sitting with her. There was only one thought in his mind. “Are Yanna and the baby okay?”