Zach filed a week"s leave to spend more days with his family.Once the admission test started, the training will follow immediately for the new recruits. And he had to stay at the dormitory inside the military school to monitor everything while he was not in the field.
He wouldn"t get a chance to be with his family by then.
He smiled as he recalled how his mother cried hard during the ceremony when he received the Medal of Valor. He was delighted to see how his family were so proud of him.
He drove to their family home located in the province. It was a three storey house with seven rooms in a small villa, a simple villa if you compare it with the extravagant ones near their area but it was big enough for them.
He also had a bachelor"s pad in the city where he slept if he needed to work and be focused on something important and confidential. But being in their province, he felt more at home.
He smiled with contentment when he was almost near their gate. It took years to finish their villa. Little by little, and just recently, this year it was fully completed.
"Big Brother, you"re here…" Rizie ran towards him and hugged him.
"Wow presents, give me that. I"ll take care of it." Rizie said as she excitedly pulled the paper bags from her brother.
Zach laughed and pinched the cheeks of their youngest. She"s eighteen years old now and the sweetest of all. Whenever she sees him she always hugs him.
During the ceremony, most of the soldiers thought that she was his girlfriend since Rizie hugged him tightly after the ceremony and kissed his cheek.
"Mom is in the kitchen with grandma preparing dinner. You must be tired after a long drive but eat dinner with us first." Rizie said before she turned around and peeked what was inside the paper bags.
She knew that her big brother always brought presents for them whenever he arrived at the villa, so she wanted to see them before Josh so that she could choose first.
Josh was her twin brother, they are fraternal twins and they often bantered over a lot of things.
Zach saw his mom and grandma, he greeted and kissed them on their cheeks.
"Oh my handsome grandchild is here…" Grandma Terri said and hugged him.
"Ma, let Zach change first… Go now son, I will have Ning call you once dinner is ready." His mother said smiling.
Zach nodded and walked towards his room that was located at the third floor. He occupied the s.p.a.ce on the third floor so as to have access to where his room, gym, library and private room were located.
He removed his clothes and had a quick shower. He would always feel the scars on his body, souvenirs from both gunshot and stab wounds during battle.
There"s no more pain, all that"s left are scars. How he hoped that the same applied to his heart.
He let out a bitter laugh… It"s been three years already. G.o.d d.a.m.n three years, but he still felt the pain in his heart because of her… The woman he loved and longed for wholly.
Then he sneered as the drops of water from the shower continuously flowed on his body.
This happened often, him, recalling memories all of a sudden and it was frustrating as h.e.l.l…
He was still trapped and couldn"t move on…
"f.u.c.k," he murmured. He never usually cursed but whenever he was reminded of her, he couldn"t help but curse.
At the dining table, everyone was present except for his sister.
Zach was the bread winner in the family and Lyra was helping him somehow, though he refused because he wanted her to focus more on her career. But Lyra was stubborn and she also did part time jobs while she was studying law.
And now that she graduated. She was focussed on pa.s.sing the Bar Exam. She was staying in the city to attend a review program before the exam.
"How"s school?" Zach asked as he looked at the twins.
Rizie smiled at him sweetly and replied, "Big Bro, I"m studying well unlike Josh who often plays around with girls."
"Stop that, Big Bro will believe you… I"m not playing around! They are the ones who are chasing me!" Josh hissed as he looked to his sister.
"You two… Stop and don"t quarrel while dining." Their grandpa Shen scolded and the twins quickly zipped their mouths.
"Don"t worry Zach, I will monitor the twins… Why don"t you focus on yourself this time? I mean you"re old enough. I think it"s about time you gotinto a relations.h.i.+p. Your grandma Terri and I are getting old. We would like to see grandchildren roaming around our house soon." Grandpa Shen said smiling.
They knew Zach"s past and about the woman he had loved. He hated, to see his grandchild stuck up long because of her…
Zach deserves someone better and he believed that one will soon come if only his grandson would open his heart once more.
Zach did not respond and the whole family exchanged meaningful gazes with each other.
Rizie couldn"t control herself because of the sudden awkward silence and so she said, "Gosh, Grandpa… Josh for sure will give you those grandchildren in no time, trust me. You may not know, but next week someone will knock on our door and she will say she"s pregnant with Josh" baby…"
Then she followed it with loud laughter when she saw Josh"s face reddening in embarra.s.sment. Even his ears turned red. She liked to tease her twin brother so much and the latter was used to it.
Their mother laughed too and said, "Well Josh is a man so it"s okay. He can still continue studying and graduate. Unlike you Rizie, no boyfriend until you graduate. Look at your big sister Lyra as an example."
Rizie pouted her lips and started to eat her food instead. She could see Josh"s triumphant face enjoying her predicament so she made a face at him.
Zach smiled happily… This was the best feeling… Being with the people he loved and treasured the most… his family…