Picking Up A Burden – #4

By Remedios Dorio

 

ACCORDING to her parents, it was an accident. The baby of Lorna died. Lorna could not accept it. She would not believe that her baby, her link to Mario was no more. There’s no solid connection with Mario anymore. What leftover were just sweet-bitter memories.

 

A nervous breakdown, depression, Lorna’s lust of life disappeared. She did not finish her study, became apathetic and just always stared blank wherever she looked. Her parents did their best to help her. Love and understanding were just what she needed.

 

Five years long, the agony of Luis and Antonia about the situation of Lorna, suddenly was over. Mario was back and straightly gone to see Lorna on the same day that he arrived home. The family of Luis told him about what happened when he was gone, and Luis full of guilt rushed to the woman he truly loved.

 

“Forgive me, Lorna, forgive me,” Mario was kneeling and asking forgiveness from Laura. Mario was in tears.

 

“Mario?” at first Lorna could not believe that the man kneeling was Mario.

 

“I’m back, and we will get married,” Mario said.

 

“But it’s too late. Our baby died, was gone,” for the first time after a long period, Luis and Antonia saw Lorna broke down into tears.

 

“We are still young; we could still make many beautiful babies. Lorna, if your parents would agree, will you please marry me?” Mario was asking Lorna to marry her.

 

Lorna looked at to her parents' who was present and witnessed everything. Antonia with tears in her eyes looked at her husband. Luis, who had verged of tears in his eyes too, said, “Mario I don’t know how could I say this, but I regretted what I had done. Please, forgive me if I looked you and your family down. Lorna, forgive me too for what I had done to you. I made a mistake.”

 

Condescending, Luis asked forgiveness from both Mario and Lorna. Antonia pitied her husband as Luis swallowed his pride but her admiration to him became stronger. She reached to the hand of Luis and squeezed it, her gesture of understanding and of supporting him. Luis could be sometimes strict, but Antonia knew that her husband loves their daughter very much.

 

Five years that Mario was gone, he had struggled to study and at the same time worked with a promise to himself that he will come back to Lorna successful; that the parents of Lorna will not looked down him anymore. He succeeded. Studying the HRM course at the same time working in the restaurant gave him an idea to open a restaurant by himself. Before his coming back to Lorna, he had his restaurant for six months already and the business formula was a success. The Bank that financed his business endeavors was surprised when he fully paid his loan. The Bank advised him about franchising, and that was his plan but first he must come back home and marry Lorna before it’s too late and Lorna would marry someone else.

 

Mario and Lorna got married. They were both happy. Lorna miraculously was cured from her depression. Two sons were granted to them.

 

Franchising of Mario’s restaurant business was a huge success. Luis and Antonia were glad to their daughter’s happiness. What happened to the little baby girl, Lorna’s first born was forgotten until the last months that Lorna just keeps hammering to Mario about it.

 

Mario had no time to entertain his wife quest for the truth about the accidents that take their daughter away. It was almost thirty-five years ago. He was a busy man. Besides his restaurant business, he also was a paid writer-contributor in the local newspaper. His articles were about the culinary arts that appreciated by many readers.

 

Lorna, understood that Mario was not interested to what she wanted to know, decided to do it with or without the consent of her husband. She will ask her parents what really happened to the accident that took the life of their daughter.

 

ONE day, Mario came home and there’s nobody but only their helper Amalia.

 

“You don’t know where she went.” Mario asked Amalia.

 

“She said to me that if you ask, I will tell you that she goes to her parent’s house and will stay there for few days,” Amalia answered Mario.

 

Mario was troubled. He knew why Lorna went to her parents, and he doesn’t like it. Now he realized that the flashback of Lorna from what happened a long time ago would bring many nasty things to both, Lorna and her parents. Lorna was trying to wake-up the pains that was long forgotten. Mario lost no time. He must stop Lorna. The parents of Lorna were living in a remote place about one hundred kilometers away, the place Luis inherited from his parents and there they chose to live quietly after Luis retired from his work as a policeman.

 

LORNA, who let herself brought by a taxi in where her parents lived had already confronted her parents.

 

Luis and Antonia who was first surprised and glad upon seeing their daughter was shocked. They did not expect the question of Lorna to them.

 

“It happened a long time ago,” Antonia was the one who answered Lorna.

 

“I know, Mama, but I wanted to know it now. I wanted to know about that accident that killed my baby.” Lorna said to her mother. ****to be continued****