"Anything cold will do." He said. 
                          
Nagmamadali akong lumabas sa kwarto at pumunta sa kusina. I made a pitcher of cold orange juice. Hininahon ko muna ang sarili ko bago ako bumalik sa loob. If my mother's ghost was in her room, she was probably reciting to me a verse.
                          
Walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of a sinful nature.
                          
Ano ka ba Marian? Huminahon ka, ha? Huwag kang malandi. I remember one of the articles I read online. It said there that pregnancy is the lustiest time of a woman's life. That was so not me. That was just my pregnancy hormones. I pulled myself together before going back with a pitcher of orange juice and two glasses on a tray. 
                          
Hindi pa ako nakakapasok sa kwarto ng marinig ko ang tawa niya. I went in and saw him. 
                          
He was sitting in the corner of the room, holding a pink photo album, and laughing by himself. It was mine. I knew it was mine. Pink photo albums were mine. Like me, my mother kept everything organized. She had color codes for albums. Mine were pink, hers were red and my dad's photo albums were blue.
                          
"Bakit tumatawa ka?" Tanong ko.
                          
"This photo of you..." He said in between laughter, pointing at it. Ibinaba ko ang tray sa lumang cabinet at lumapit sa kanya. Tinignan ko ang picture na sinasabi niya. It was my prom picture. I looked horrible. I had acnes on my face, heavy makeup, my hair was terrible, and so was my outfit. Puberty was not kind to me. "I didn't know you were a drag queen."
                          
"Grabe ka ha!" Binatukan ko siya. "Akala mo kung sino kang gwapo! Patingin nga ng picture mo noong teenager ka. I bet it's worse. Siguro kaya ka babaero kasi gumaganti ka sa lahat ng babaeng nagturn down sa'yo noong highschool ka!"
                          
"I was never turned down, I turn them down." He grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me down to sit next to him on the floor. "I saw some cute baby pictures of you." He flipped through the album's pages and there were alot of baby and toddler pictures of me. He asked me what I was doing in the pictures or what it was about, at nagkwento ako.
                          
"Tell me about this." He stopped in one of the photos and pointed at a picture of my dad carrying me in one arm while he and mom were holding hands. The picture was one of my favorites dahil nandoon ang papa. We didn't have a lot of picture with my dad in it.
                          
"That's my dad and my mother." Sabi ko at tinuro ko silang dalawa. "Nasa zoo kami niyan, obviously. Wala akong matandaan sa picture na yan, bata pa kasi ako."
                          
"Magkwento ka tungkol sa kanila. What were they like?"
                          
"Well, my mother, she's a loving mother. Strikta minsan at mahilig mangsermon gamit ang bible verse, alam mo ba noong bata ako hanggang sa magdalaga ako, she used to slip bible verses inside my lunch box. Para daw hindi ako makalimot. I think she was a frustrated nun." Humagikgik ako. "At ang papa naman, wala akong masyadong matandaan tungkol sa kanya. I was very little when he passed away, aksidenteng nahulog sa bangin ang sinasakyan niya habang nasa mission sila. Lumaki ako na kaming dalawa lang ni mama."
                          
"It must be hard, huh?" He asked. "I have both my mom and dad but sometimes I still wish I had a sibling."
                          
"Minsan mahirap. Syempre, naiinggit din ako sa mga kaibigan ko na buo ang pamilya at tsaka kapag nagtatalo kami ni mama, minsan hinihiling ko na sana buhay pa si papa para may natatakbuhan ako. Kaya nga sabi ko sa sarili ko noon, gusto kong magkaroon ng buong pamilya paglaki ko. Kaya siguro naghihintay ako na dumating ang lalaking para sa akin dahil doon. But he never came and I never got my complete family. Ganun pala talaga siguro, may mga bagay sa buhay mo na kahit ano'ng gusto mo, kahit ano'ng plano mo, hindi mangyayari."
                          
"That's the problem with you. You plan everything out. Not everything works out the way we plan it too so why plan, right? Life is passing us day by day. Sa ayaw at sa gusto natin, tinatangay lang tayo ng alon ng buhay. We're all just little specs of confused dust in this endless universe."
                          
"I didn't know you were a deep person." I giggled, shaking my head.
                          
"It's not deep, Marian, it's the truth."
                          
"So does that mean you don't think anything happens for a reason? You don't think there's some bigger picture or a grand plan that everything's working towards."
                          
"I don't know." He shrugged. "That's another problem with you. You want a deeper meaning to everything. Why don't you try to be shallow for a change so you won't drown? Kung may rason nga ang lahat ng nangyayari sa atin o wala, I'm just glad you happened to me."
                          
What he said made my heart flutter. It was the most beautiful thing I'd heard anyone say to me. I was glad and I thank God everyday that he happened to me too.
                          
It was already late at night. Nasa kwarto pa din si Seth at nag-aayos ng mga gamit doon. Inilipat na namin ang mga gamit na idodonate ko sa garage. It had a lot of space in there because I didn't have a car anymore. I'd kept my parents' things and our photo albums. May ilan natirang gamit pa din sa loob ng kwarto, most of them were old furnitures. Iyon na lang ang inaayos ni Seth ngayon at malapit nang magmukhang kwarto ulit iyon.
                          
He told me he could handle it by himself and that I should take a rest. He'd pause for a break once in a while, the longest breaks he had was when we had lunch and dinner, then he goes back to cleaning the cluttered room. Tumingin ako sa orasan, eleven na ng gabi. 
                          
"Seth." Lumapit ako sa kwarto at sumandal sa may pintuan. "Magpahinga ka na. Magmamadaling-araw na."
                          
Lumingon siya sa akin at pinahid ang ilang butil ng pawis sa noo niya. "It's almost done."
                          
"Konti na lang yan. Iwan mo na yan at magpahinga ka na. Uminom ka muna ng tubig." I handed to him the glass I was holding. He took it and gulped the water down.
                          
Lumabas siya ng kwarto at pagod na sumalampak sa couch. He looked really tired. Ikaw ba naman magbuhat ng mabibigat na bagay mula tanghali hanggang gabi? He hardly let me do any work and let me carry anything heavy. Nagagalit siya pag nagpupumilit ako. We'd only end up arguing.
                          
"Seth, dito ka na kaya matulog. Mukhang pagod na pagod ka na." I said. His head snapped at me. His reaction was kind of weird. Hindi ko alam kung may nasabi ba akong mali o ano? "I mean, kung gusto mo lang naman." I bit my bottom lip. Oh my god! Did I sound like I wanted to get laid? Did I sound desperate?
                          
"Yeah, sure." He answered almost immediately. "I think I'm going to take a shower. I really need one right now."
                          
Tumango ako. "Sige."
                          
He went to my room and used the shower there. Pumasok na din ako sa loob ng kwarto at humiga sa kama. I just laid there, hearing the bathroom in the shower running. Hindi ko mapigilan ang sarili ko na imagine kung ano ang itsura niya habang naliligo. Narinig kong pinatay niya na ang shower. Napabalikwas ako at tumagilid. I pretended to be asleep. Maya-maya ay narinig ko na ang pagbukas ng pinto, ang yabag ng mga paa niya. I felt him sliding inside the blanket behind me. 
                          
He scooted closer to me until I could feel his chest against my back. I was surprised at what he did next. He wrapped and arm around me and rested his hand on my stomach. I drifted to sleep with a smile on my lips.