The First Love Of Alipang Havens

Dad's movement on the landing was what aroused Chilena from dreams about Dillon. Thinking that Alipang must be coming, wanting to say good morning to her, she hastily pulled back on the pajama bottoms she had shed in the night, then opened her door in anticipation.

No one there. Dad was downstairs; Melody was still asleep; so was Mom, who had had to change Harmony's diapers twice in the night. As for Alipang....his door still stood as it had been last night, and a peek revealed that the bed had not been slept in. She was withdrawing from her peek when she heard sounds of a second person stirring downstairs; putting two and two together, she felt awful.

Whether by Alipang's choice or mere chance, Chilena had no opportunity to speak privately with him until the late afternoon. Then, he was in the fenced backyard, practicing his double-stick drill, and getting really good at it. Assuming her best sweet-as-honey expression, she went out the sliding patio door to go to him. When he saw her, he moved to one side, Escrima batons still whirling. For a moment, she was afraid that he was angry at her; but then she saw his perfectly normal smile, and realized that he was taking them out of the line of sight of those indoors.

As she came up to him, Al tossed aside the rattan sticks, and held out welcoming arms to his sister, saying in Tagalog, "After all, it's late night _someplace_ on Earth right now!"

Chilena flung herself joyfully into those dear strong protective arms, and clung fiercely to Al for almost a full minute before whispering, also in Tagalog, "I'm so sorry, Al! I _knew_ you were downstairs waiting for me: I was just, well, cowardly about talking with you just then."

At this point, Al brought her face to his and kissed her directly on the lips. It was not at all unheard of for them to kiss each other on the lips; but his doing it _this_ time startled her, as if he were signalling her that he _knew_ about Dillon--! She pushed her face back into his shoulder and neck, to conceal the blush brought on by that thought. Al had not known her secret; but by her very reaction to his supposed signal, he now did guess. Might as well grab the chance to seem wise and insightful...

"Dillon kissed you yesterday, didn't he?"

Now the left side of his neck actually could _feel_ the heat in her left cheek that was pressed against it, as her blushing increased. "Yes, he did," she admitted. "But Al, don't be mad at him! He was very sweet and gentle about it; he even asked my permission the first--" There was no letup to the heat in her face; she had not meant to let him know there had been more than one kiss.

But he only chuckled. "The _first_ time, you say? Well, I don't blame him for wanting another one."

She clutched at him with all the strength in her arms, not wanting to look him in the eyes right now. In a very low whisper she said, "I started the second one myself. But he still didn't push it. And you know what? I don't think he _would_ have pushed it even if he _weren't_ afraid of you. I think he's a true gentleman."

"Then I'm happy for you, Chil." He ran his hands up and down her back, as he often did in their embraces if he thought she needed soothing. And soothing it was. "Here, this will make you feel okay about not having told me sooner: I have a delayed confession of my own to make. Last Sunday afternoon, while the Herons were visiting, Summer and I were in my room--"

Chilena pulled her head abruptly off of her brother's shoulder, _wanting_ now to look into his eyes. Her face and voice were both full of delight as she said, "Al! Did you kiss _her?_" As she had been thinking lately, it would be the best of all possible worlds if Al and Summer had a romance at the same time as she was having one with Dillon--provided Al didn't get in any trouble with Mom and Dad over it.

"No, I didn't." Now it was he who blushed, though it was less visible with his darker complexion. "I wrestled with her. She actually started it; it was fun, but I'm sure she didn't want to kiss, and we didn't kiss."

Sighing with disappointment, Chilena leaned into his embrace again.

"I'm sorry, Al. It would be way cool if you could have someone too--you know, besides us having each other, which we always will."

He kissed her hair. "Don't feel bad, sweets. I'll have someone when God chooses her for me. Meanwhile, I'm glad we can still tell each other everything."

That last part made Chilena secretly feel bad again. She still had kept one thing back from Al: the fact that it was precisely Summer being LIKE A SISTER to him, instead of a girlfriend, that made the real sister jealous of Summer. But this was one thing she was not prepared to confide; so she simply stood there in Al's arms, soaking in his love for as long as they could get away with standing there hugging.
 
All good things in the mortal world must end, for ultimately the soul is made for Heaven. But the good things don't always end in a sudden crashing collapse; they often _erode_ away, almost unobserved.

Quinn Kramer, the Navy veteran's son, joined the Escrima class. He attended only four sessions before he decided he just didn't like it; there was nothing wrong with Master Pitik, Alipang or anyone there, Quinn just wasn't enjoying Escrima. His father did not force him to continue. But one serendipitous benefit came of Quinn's trial run: Wilson Kramer and Pitik Imada took to sparring together frequently in the nearest available boxing ring, to keep themselves in shape. For being significantly older, Pitik did very well.

No equally dramatic benefit came from another failure in the second half of that summer. Scarcely two weeks after their first kiss, Dillon and Chilena hit the first but not the last bump on the road of puppy love. At an outdoor basketball court, they were shooting hoops...and Chilena outscored her boyfriend.

In the sudden cold spell that ensued, Alipang tried to intercede with the sulking Dillon, saying to him in a phone conversation:

"Dillon, there's nobody in this world who's better at _everything_ than everyone else. So what if Chilena can shoot more baskets than you can? She can also beat ME at that. She sings beautifully, too; I can barely squawk out a song without making flowers wilt. If you're as smart as I think you are, you _won't_ let a good thing get away from you just because of a little ego-bruise; and my sister is the best thing you'll find in this county."

This intercession, listened to by Chilena, earned extra kisses for Alipang; but it did not make much difference to Dillon. After three more dates, each less satisfactory than the one before it, Dillon stopped phoning or dropping by. Chilena had not been sufficiently meek and fawning for him.

There was a strong shoulder close at hand for Chilena to cry on, and she made use of it with a vengeance for the rest of August. No night went by in that period without a "downstairs meeting;" her brother's lap was for now Chilena's favorite piece of furniture. Alipang was ambivalent about his sister's redoubled clinginess; he never got tired of sharing affection with her, but her needy behavior was putting his friendship with Summer on hold.

It was on one walk they took together during this time that the siblings made a happy discovery. Cutting through a wooded area at the edge of an old commercial property, which looked as if no one else had come through recently, they discovered a sizeable tree which for some reason had very little vegetation around it on the ground. As this made them hopeful of not encountering chiggers, they took the risk of sitting on that ground for a snuggling-and-commiserating session. Coming away with no chiggers, they agreed to remember the spot; Chilena declared that it would henceforth be her "thinking tree."

And somehow they made it through to Labor Day weekend.
 
(Labor Day of 2005)

Labor Day came, and with it the grand municipal picnic, for which most restaurants in town closed their doors to set up food concessions at Lakeshore Park. This included the Pansit Paradise; and the Havens family, by now regular customers of the Imadas' establishment, made sure to give that concession plenty of business.

Summer was there with her mother, and with some fellow homeschoolers, including a very tall girl with light brown hair, named Callie Shore, who had ambitions as an artist. Alipang got to talk with Summer in a brief interval when Chilena was in the restroom. He hastily apologized for not seeing more of Summer; fortunately for his case, his friend already knew something of the breakup with Dillon. "It's okay, Al, I know your sister needs you a lot right now," Summer assured him. "If I had a brother, I'd want him to be there for me the way you are for Chilena. And I'll be there for you--to cheer you on at your presentation."

Mom and Dad kept custody of Melody and Harmony, of whom the latter was beginning to be old enough to take active notice of things like music and balloons. Chilena remained glued to her brother all day, never more than ten paces away from him except when his part in the Escrima demonstration required it.

The girl Escrima student Naoko did get to perform in the exhibition; she sparred with Gilberto as Alipang sparred with Master Pitik. The rest of the students were all granted a nominal role, performing a singlestick drill in unison early in the program. The most impressive piece was reserved for a climax: Master Pitik and Alipang, each with two rattan sticks, in a full-speed sparring bout with non-contact control. No bones were struck, but there was plenty of clacking of the sticks.

As promised, Summer Heron was among those cheering loudly.

Alipang's own family members, even knowing his streetfighting background, were astonished at how far he had come over one year in a tightly disciplined martial art. For sure, Master Pitik was doing his best to _make_ Alipang look good, just as an expert dancer can make a less-talented partner look good; but Alipang really was doing well. For a theatrical finish, Alipang pretended to be knocked sprawling (he had warned his family and Summer not to be alarmed by this); Naoko and Gilberto, with single rattan sticks, "ganged up" on Pitik from behind, to be fended off; Alipang got back up and renewed his onslaught; Pitik stood between one opponent on one side and two on the other side, one arm extended in each direction, each of his sticks duelling two sticks; then he suddenly allowed all three students to deliver simulated knockout blows.

Falling onto the stage, Pitik sprang up again just as fast, while his students came to attention. To the audience, Pitik boomed, "Even if you're a master, it's a good idea to avoid being surrounded! Thank you for watching." Then all four combatants fell on their backsides in comical exhaustion and were carried out one after the other by the junior students, to thunderous applause from the audience.

In the euphoric aftermath of the successful presentation, even Chilena in her present needy state could not refuse to let Alipang out of her embrace long enough that he could accept a congratulatory hug from Summer. But less expected was the hug Summer then gave to Chilena. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you with Dillon," she whispered in Chilena's ear; "but I'm happy for you that God gave you a brother like Al." Chilena was so moved by this kindly gesture from someone she had resented, that she burst into tears, kissed Summer and clung to her for a minute or longer. Before parting, she told Summer, "Please don't feel like you have to stay away. Come and see Al any--well, not ALL the time..."

Summer laughed. "How about I pay visits to _both_ of you together? Then you and I can _share_ Alipang."

Chilena laughed back, wept again, kissed Summer again, and on the whole felt a thousand percent better after this encounter. This did not, however, mean that she stuck any less closely to her brother during the remainder of the festival.

When time came for the evening concert, Mom and Dad took "the babies" home for bed; a time and place were arranged for Dad to pick up Alipang and Chilena later. Left on their own, the inseparable siblings found a suitable place outside the main crowd, where Alipang could sit against a tree and cradle Chilena in his arms for the entire duration of the show. There was no sign of Dillon, which was fine with Chilena.

She came away that night barely remembering the music, but remembering vividly the sensation of being held and loved and cherished and protected...by her brother, the mighty two-stick Escrimador.


~ ~ END OF PART FOUR ~ ~ ​
 
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Wow...great job. I admire someone that can write and make the entire thing "attention-keeping."

"All good things in the mortal world must end, for ultimately the soul is made for Heaven. But the good things don't always end in a sudden crashing collapse; they often _erode_ away, almost unobserved."

^^I really like how you worded that.^^ Beatiful stuff. Alipang's character is wonderful. I love how after the night she didn't go downstairs to meet him, he didn't get upset, and quite the opposite, he greeted her with a hug. I look forward to more.
 
Unforgotten_Memories said:
Alipang's character is wonderful. I love how after the night she didn't go downstairs to meet him, he didn't get upset, and quite the opposite, he greeted her with a hug. I look forward to more.
Click to expand...

Thank you. The recipe for Alipang is pretty simple: take the best elements of my own youthful relationship with my sisters, flavor with an Asian culture, provide the loving parenting that my Mary and I gave to our adopted Asian daughter, add the wish-fulfillment machismo that God refused to let me have any of, and there you have Alipang!
 
NOTE: Not having been able to get at the very first of the Homeschoolers roleplay threads to check on certain minor character names, I'll just have to make them up all over again. I'm sure no one would have noticed. :p


PART FIVE: HARD LESSONS FOR A SOFT HEART

Spring of 2007:

Trees, utility poles and houses flew by. Daylight Savings Time caused early mornings to give less light TO see them fly by; but the searcher was accustomed to moving about in darkness at need.

The fifteen-year-old Alipang Havens was fast enough on a bicycle by now to have raced competitively. Perhaps he might have done something of the sort, had he not been more interested in earning money for his eventual higher education, all aimed at becoming a dentist like his hero, his adoptive father. He was now employed as a busboy and general thing-doer at the Pansit Paradise; and the heavy hours he worked, plus homeschooling time, left early mornings as the best bet for a mission like this.

Pausing at a silent intersection, he checked the street signs: Beechwood Avenue, which he was following, intersecting with Ripley Drive. From a pocket he brought out a piece of paper, and a tiny piezoelectric pencil-flash powered by thumb pressure. The little circle of blue light was just enough to let him re-read what was written on the paper in his own still-imperfect handwriting:

Neer intresectoin of BEECHWHOOD
AVANUE and JAVALIN SREET​

He wished mightily that the local telephone directory provided a street map as he understood they always did in big cities. It would make this SO much easier. It was a good thing Mom and Dad trusted him to take care of himself on pre-dawn exercise outings. Usually they _were_ just for exercise; but this morning he was _exercising_ his role as his sister's keeper.

He would have to go beyond the apparent ending of Beechwood Avenue, in case it resumed after a break. He hated when streets did that; it was clearly something that complicated the giving of directions, which was all part of his thinking ahead to when he would be a licensed driver....

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Chilena felt what she knew was her father's hand gently nudging her awake. When she opened her eyes, it was not yet 7:00 a.m.; but there were Dad, Mom and Alipang, all three of them wearing the I-love-you-BUT expression.

Somehow, Chilena knew she was busted.

"Sit up, honey," Dad ordered. "Before anything else, I'll tell you: don't you dare be angry at your brother. He loves you more than anyone or anything else in the mortal world, and this morning he proved it. You just might not like his method; but given the circumstances, I do like it.

"The boy whom you met at Burger King the day before yesterday, who gave the name of Eddie Zimmer, told you that he lived close to the intersection of Beechwood Avenue and Javelin Street. But he never gave an exact address; and he said he wanted to meet you today at the bridge east of Rafferty's Truck Stop. Your brother smelled a rat in Eddie not giving an exact address for himself; but he didn't want to betray your confidence unless he found something to alert him. He was prepared to stake out the bridge if necessary; but something else that he tried first was enough.

"Al biked the entire length of Beechwood Avenue, all the way across town, farmland to farmland. Nowhere does it intersect with Javelin Street. Eddie--if that even is his name--lied to you.

"I've already called the police. Now that Tomas Costamesa is Chief of Police, I expect some action. They'll survey that bridge today, starting an hour before the time you were to meet Eddie. As for you, Chilena, it is not for punishment but for your protection that you are grounded until further notice."

Chilena's eyes were white all around. She could not make her mouth speak. Eddie had seemed so _nice_ when they met at that fast-food counter....
 
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Mr. Imada was very understanding about Alipang saying he needed the day off. He knew all about Chilena's bad luck with boys. That bad luck seemed to have lifted this year; Chilena had begun acting more independently, not out of intentional rebellion, but in a belief that things were getting better now. Yet even in a low-crime town like Smoky Lake, bad things _could_ happen to an incautious girl...especially with not-so-low-crime Shilohsville nearby.

Rafael and Carmen began discussing a way of helping Chilena keep out of trouble: offering her a waitress job at the Pansit Paradise, to be in the same hours as Alipang worked. This would make money for her, while keeping her in a safe environment where she would often see--and wait on--friends.

================

The treehouse, which now had an old throw-rug on its floor, was within permissible bounds for the grounded Chilena. Especially when Alipang was in it with her, the two of them warmly and mutually enclosed in their most comfortable snuggling position for a lengthy meeting.

"I'm glad you're not mad at me, Chil," said Al, simply and very sincerely, in between two kisses which proved her non-angry state. "I _had_ to protect you; I couldn't _stand_ it if I lost--" He gulped.

Chilena's eyes widened with understanding. "Lost another sister?" She burrowed harder into his embrace, straining her own arms around him with all her might. "Oh, Al, I'm sorry I made you and our folks worry! I just thought it was all right. Things had been going well for months; Mom and Dad were letting me do more things on my own...I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"I love you, Chil."

"I love you, Al."

"Sweets, didn't you _wonder_ why that Eddie didn't give you his exact address?"

Chilena winced. "You're going to say I'm stupid...but he _looked_ so friendly." She paused. "Don't keep me waiting. Aren't you going to say I'm stupid?"

He kissed her again. "Only if you _don't_ learn from this." Inwardly, Alipang was remembering last fall, when a boy named Gus Pemberton, who _didn't_ have any such red flags about him as Eddie Zimmer, had not _quite_ rung true in Dad's mind as a boyfriend for Chilena. That time, with no obvious lies to point to, Chilena had been furious at not being allowed to go out with Gus.

Dad had later told Alipang--but said to keep it from Chilena--that barely two weeks after being warned away from Chilena by Alipang, Gus had been arrested for a violent crime against another young girl.

Throughout the whole duration of a very long cuddling session with his sister--since this was as much social life as either of them had right now, and each remained happy with the other's company--Alipang toyed with the idea of telling Chilena about Gus. But in the end, as always, he resolved not to go against Dad's orders.

There was one thing to be said for being needed to keep Chilena safe: between that and his restaurant job, he had no time to wish he had a girlfriend.
 
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What brought Alipang and Chilena out of each other's arms and out of the treehouse was a visit from Chief Costamesa himself. With Mom taking the babies out someplace to avoid their hearing anything grim, Dad joined his elder children in the kitchen to see what the police chief had brought. No one showed any sign of thinking it odd that Chilena sat on her brother's lap instead of on a chair of her own; Alipang always made her feel safer.

"Here," said Costamesa, "are the photographs we took of everyone seen on foot around that bridge during the surveillance period. We didn't question anyone, because we didn't want to tip our hand before you had a chance to look at these shots. Take your time, Chilena; is any of them Eddie Zimmer?"

Alipang's arms were passed around Chilena's waist from behind as she perched on his knees. While her left hand sifted through the photographs, her right hand was gratefully caressing the powerful forearms against which her stomach was leaning. She took her time, putting aside each picture which definitely _didn't_ contain anyone looking like Eddie. At last:

"Okay, sir, here's the best I can do." Pointing to image after image: "This one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one and this one look as if they could be Eddie."

Costamesa sighed. "Chilena, look at the _clothes_ on those boys. What do you see?"

Chilena looked at the clothes in the pictures instead of the faces. Her face and voice turned sheepish. "I see three different shirts on them, sir."

"That's right. Three different boys all look like Eddie. Maybe _none_ of them is Eddie. We can't arrest people for walking over a bridge. Even with a positive ID, there's also no law against lying about your address in a casual conversation."

"What about conspiracy to do something?" demanded Alipang.

"He may have been up to something," Costamesa conceded; "I'll even go so far as to say he _probably_ was up to something. But boys ask to meet girls every day, and most of the boys aren't planning a felony. I'm sorry, Al. We don't have grounds for an arrest. You did the right thing by checking up on this Eddie; but all we can do right now is keep our eyes open. One thing I _will_ do is make sure that the routine patrols come along Liddell Street at least three random times every shift."

"Thank you, Tomas," Dad said, with a depth of feeling. "And thank you for coming out here yourself."

When the police chief was gone, Dad kissed Chilena's forehead and asked her, "Honey, do you understand that everything we're doing is only to protect YOU from danger and harm?"

From her perch on Alipang, Chilena leaned into her father, winding her arms around him. "Yes, Dad. I'm sorry I messed up. And I love you."

"I love you too, honey, ever so much. Now how about you give your Mom a _pleasant_ surprise, and make supper? I've got all the ingredients ready for you to make lasagna."

"Yes, Dad, right away, Dad......I love you, Dad."

Supper was unavoidably uneasy for Chilena, but made bearable by the realization of how much her family loved her and wanted only good for her.

That night, a very long downstairs meeting with Alipang, including much praying together while simultaneously hugging, ended with Chilena feeling cautiously better.
 
They never did see "Eddie Zimmer" anymore, nor find out what he had been up to. The very uncertainty, though, was haunting enough to Chilena to keep her from resenting her family's carefulness for a long time. And she gladly accepted the offer, when it came, of a job working beside her brother.

On the Saturday morning after the scare over Eddie, Chilena succeeded in waking up ahead of Alipang. Creeping into his room, she awoke no one but her alert brother by opening his door, entering, closing the door behind her, and approaching him.

He sat up. "Chilena?"

She tried to laugh. "Who else? Eddie Zimmer sure doesn't care what your heartbeat sounds like." This time, she did get _under_ the covers with him--their legs under the covers, anyway. They were both clothed and both sitting up; she decided that this was enough propriety, and she wanted to be in a comfortable position to hear his heart. So Alipang held her there while she listened as long as she wanted. Only after she lifted her head, and they kissed good morning, did he speak again.

"What's up? I mean, besides you. Well, and me now too."

"I'm all caught up on every study subject, even ahead on one or two," Chilena replied, nestling closer. "That's one good thing about grounding, anyway. We don't start at the Pansit until eleven; I don't want to be stuck in the house all morning without you while you go to Escrima class. Will you back me up if I ask Dad to let me go along to watch you train this morning? At least then I'll be with you."

"Why, I'm amazed," Alipang teased her. "You mean you enjoy being with me even _more_ than you enjoy being with evil space aliens who stalk the Burger King for victims?"

She kissed his left cheek twice. "Yes, more than evil space aliens. You're my superhero. Which reminds me: do you remember that old cartoon program we've seen on cable, with a brother-sister pair of superheroes whose powers only work if they're together?"

Alipang nodded. "Yeah, the Wonder Twins."

Chilena tightened her arms around her brother. "Let's be the Wonder Twins for awhile, okay? At least until the evil space aliens go away?"

"Sounds good to me, sweets. Only, don't ask me to turn into a block of ice, like the brother in those cartoons does. I don't like being cold."

"Of course; I prefer you warm, too." She pressed in close against him, enjoying the responsive strengthening of his embrace. "You can turn into a tornado or a tidal wave instead of a block of ice."

He kissed her forehead. "But not inside the restaurant; it might scare the customers."
 
I'm glad that highly-valued readers like you, Rachel, are not tired of my depicting love and affection, because frankly, I'm not tired of it!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *​

Dad gave permission for Chilena to go to the Escrima class with her brother--after a phone call to make sure Master Pitik was all right with it. Naoko, who had her own car, came by to pick Alipang up, and showed no aversion to another female being present in the basement gym.

To make conversation, Chilena asked Naoko, "What got you interested in Escrima?"

Naoko gave her a slightly guilty look. "To be honest, at first, only the fact that it was available. I was able to take Shotokan karate classes where we lived before--and no, don't ask me to teach you. Al asked me as soon as he found out I had studied it; I told him that I hadn't had time to get far enough that I could really teach it to any effect. Anyway, if Escrima is the only martial art offered in your town, you're a fool if you pass up the chance to get free Escrima lessons. By now I like it better than I used to think I would. Don't worry, Teacher already knows all about the feelings I went through about learning a non-Japanese art. He's okay with it. He's a wonderful man. Makes me sorry my great-grandfathers invaded his country: something I wouldn't have thought about if I'd never met any Filipinos."

"Of course, when she met ME," quipped Alipang from the back seat, "she lost all her sympathy for Filipinos again."

"Only after the sixth straight time you beat me at sparring," Naoko replied mildly. "I wasn't used to losing, but you initiated me into that world."

Everyone at Master Pitik's basement Escrima school made Chilena feel welcome; two of the boys even showed restrained signs of having formed an instant crush on the petite blonde beauty. But then the class proceeded normally. Alipang did so well at everything that Chilena wondered if he were trying extra-hard in order to impress her. But when she found an opportunity to ask the sweet-faced Naoko about this, Naoko told her, "No, he _always_ throws himself into it this way, with everything he's got. But that doesn't mean that he _wouldn't_ want you to think well of what he does. He talks about you to all of us whenever there's a chance for chat; and to hear him talk, you're the greatest thing since sliced bread and you can do no wrong."

Although Chilena knew perfectly well that Alipang knew all her shortcomings, the revelation that he spoke only good about her to his Escrima friends made her day. The happy effect lasted through her first regular shift at the Pansit.
 
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Saturday night saw another loving downstairs meeting, in which the siblings reviewed everything that had happened at the single booth Chilena had waited on for starters.

Sunday morning, Alipang reasserted his early-riser status, working out with his twin batons for a quarter of an hour before anyone else had stirred. Then he went to tap lightly on Chilena's door; unlike her visits to him, he _never_ simply came in unannounced. The third and loudest knock brought a groggy response: "If you're an evil space alien or a pizza delivery man, you're at the wrong house. If you're Alipang, get on in here."

Once inside with the door closed, it was pitch dark. No light came in the window or the door-crack; and her alarm clock, unlike his digital clock, emitted no appreciable illumination. So he stood where he was, barely inside the room. He would not have gotten into or onto her bed anyway; at most, if he had been able to see, he might have bent over her to kiss her good morning.

"I'm here by the door, Chil, but I lost the pizza." Then he waited in silence.

Covers slid down; a mattress creaked; two bare feet contacted the floor; and soft breathing drew nearer. The facts of anatomy inhibited Alipang from ever listening to his sister's heartbeat; but he liked to hear her breathing. The breathing came close enough to be felt on his bare left arm, and then it turned into a voice that whispered:

"Wonder Twin powers, activate!"

Alipang bent slightly toward the voice. He also raised his arms for an embrace--but kept them very wide until Chilena would come into them, to make absolutely sure that, in this darkness, his hands would not accidentally touch anything they ought not touch. Her own hands found his arms, and she guided herself in till she was right up against him. Unseen lips kissed Alipang's bicep, shoulder, collarbone, jaw hinge, cheek and nose, finally finding his own lips for an official good-morning kiss.

"I guess I _could_ have turned on the light switch," he whispered.

"Well, now it's officially morning, so go ahead."

=====================

Tom Stetzer's sermon this morning was titled, "Unexpected Rewards." He told of how Rebekah in Genesis had shown kindness to a traveller, not knowing that the traveller was Abraham's chief servant Eliezer. Sent to find a bride for Isaac, Eliezer had asked God to make the right woman for Isaac known by her showing kindness. So, because of a good deed for which Rebekah had not expected any reward, she got to be the bride of a prosperous chieftain, and an ancestor of all Israelites.

Listening, Chilena whispered to Alipang when it was over: "Maybe if I'm always quick bringing water to the tables I wait on, one customer will end up introducing me to a handsome, lonely millionaire."

Alipang clasped her hand. "More chance of that than of finding happiness with strangers who lie about where they live." He touched his head to hers to make it clear that those words were not spoken in malice.
 
PART SIX: FAREWELL TO HOMESCHOOLING


Their private "Wonder Twins" gimmick enabled Chilena to stay cheerful about being effectively under her brother's guardianship for all of May and June of 2007. Then came a night on which, at their downstairs meeting, Chilena poured on the snuggles and kisses especially thick, to prepare Alipang for an announcement.

"Al, dear, you know how much I love you; so you have to trust that what I'm going to say is nothing against you. I spoke to Mom alone today, and with all the time I've kept out of trouble, I asked her if....if I could start attending East High as a freshman this fall."

She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that Alipang showed no displeasure at the news. Relief would be because she DID want to be free to try to find a _decent_ boyfriend at last, and it would be good for Alipang not to feel hurt by this; disappointment would be because there still was a part of Chilena that wanted endless assurance of her brother needing her emotional support as much as she needed his.

The next day brought Mom and Dad's verdict, not altogether satisfying to Chilena. As was routinely done for homeschoolers in many communities, they would request inclusion for Chilena in extracurricular activities of the high school. But she would have to wait for sophomore year to be _possibly_ allowed to be enrolled as a regular student. They pointed out to her that even this much would still get her started making acquaintances...and that extracurricular activities included theater, meaning that she might get to sing in a school musical. The musical part was some consolation for her.

Rather than causing Chilena to skip having a downstairs meeting that night, the setback to her desires only reinvigorated her private time with Alipang after they returned from work together and others were in bed.

"An evil space alien is generating a forcefield that's keeping me out of East High," she grumbled exaggeratedly to Alipang, feeding him a hint which he picked up on exactly as she wanted him to. "Yes," he rumbled back in a villainous voice, "and the evil alien has disguised himself as your fellow Wonder Twin!" As he said this, he rose and moved the coffee table away from the couch, clearing some floor space for action; then he turned to face Chilena, who had also stood up.

"Let the battle for human freedom begin!" she whisper-shouted. The battle began rather pacifistically: they simply stepped into a standing hug and stayed in it, swaying in place a little and caressing each other's back. But eventually it grew livelier, and they tumbled and flopped every which way together in an unbroken clinch, arms and legs tangled as they squeezed each other and tried not to laugh too loudly. This went on long after the space-alien metaphor was forgotten, simply as a way to be playing and embracing at the same time.

When Chilena had, as far as possible, wrestled away her frustrations (and it took nearly half an hour, with a few rest breaks in which they never let go of each other), Alipang hoisted himself up to sit with his back to the sofa, which enabled Chilena to crawl onto his lap for a concluding snuggle which did _not_ bother pretending to be a fight. Alipang whispered into her ear through strands of golden hair:

"Listen, sweets, this has been such a productive business conference...that I won't mind...if you, um...want to start...oh, cutting down on our meeting schedule..."

That brought her snapping tensely to attention, an awkward thing do when one is seated on someone else's lap. "What, Al? Don't you want to get together before bedtime anymore?" Her voice and expression suddenly were both woefully wounded; it was fine for _her_ to start edging away from their habit of nearly three years' standing, but _Alipang_ mustn't be the one to start keeping _her_ at a distance.

The answer to woefully wounded, now as ever, was tirelessly tender. Stroking her hair and kissing her, then drawing her head to his shoulder, Alipang murmured, "That's not what I'm saying at all. As far as I'm concerned, apart from any kind of urgent duties, we should go on having downstairs meetings until you have a steady boyfriend and I have a steady girlfriend, and maybe still a few meetings even then. But I don't want to be a Peter Pan, refusing to grow up and stopping _you_ from growing up. So, sure, let's continue as usual for now. Someday, when it IS time to quit these meetings, we can go out with a bang--maybe have a pillow fight or even a pie fight."



Chilena was to remember that conversation some four months later, when East High staged the old-standby musical Camelot, and she stepped out before an opening-night audience as Nimue, to sing:

"Through the dawn, grey with years, / Over hills wet with tears,
To a land young and free, / We will fly; follow me..."

When she saw her brother beaming proudly at her from the front row, delighting in her success even though rehearsals had mostly eliminated their times together, it seemed to her that she loved him even more than she ever had before.
 
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The 2007-2008 school year went by with no major disasters for Chilena; she even had some dates with boys who _were_ truthful about where they lived. And Alipang managed some good times with Summer--mostly on Mondays, when the Pansit Paradise was closed in its less busy months. He and Summer were still only friends, but enjoyed each other's company. Somewhere in that span of time, Nick Heron came home still in his wheelchair--able sometimes to talk a little, but not much more.

As a new school year loomed on the horizon, also looming was exhaustion for Cecilia Havens. Harmony by now was old enough to begin receiving the homebound equivalent of preschool; and with Melody effectively a gradeschooler while the older children were at highschool level, the curriculum diversity was spreading Professor Mom out very thin.

A parental conference led to a new decision. Regardless of Chilena's opinion, Alipang was considerably more mature emotionally than she was. Also, though Cecilia hated to acknowledge this, Alipang's ability to pulverize most human beings within seventy pounds of his weight _was_ a potential plus for his personal safety on campus. Accordingly, for fall of 2008, they would see if they could arrange for Chilena to attend East High at sophomore level, but only part-time, still being taught at home in her most difficult subjects. Alipang, on the other hand, would not only be enrolled FULL-time at East, but if possible would be given the chance to take proficiency tests which would let him dispense with numerous courses which were beneath his level.

Chilena was glad that she would be in public school on _any_ terms, able to socialize more widely at last. But having to face openly the fact that her "little" brother was as much ahead of her academically as he was stronger physically was a bit hard on her. It needed quite a few downstairs meetings, all of them well punctuated with hugs and kisses, to reconcile her to it.

But before Alipang actually took his proficiency tests, doing especially well at math and science, the Wonder Twins were again as mutually loving a team as ever.
 
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At the Tisdale household (and elsewhere too, of course) it was the Saturday night before Labor Day weekend--thus, the last Saturday before the introductory school week which would precede Labor Day weekend. This chiefly affected Kim Tisdale, at 18 years the youngest in her family, who was facing her senior year with still some trepidation about her not-entirely-overcome dyslexia.

But right now, a plum-colored dress in her mother's hands was giving her more distress than any scholastic obstacle--even more distress than the fact that all of her sisters had dates tonight and she didn't.

"Oh, Mommmm! Not _that_ dress! Just when I agreed I could stand going to church again, why does my own mother want me to look like a bimbo IN church?"

"You _won't_ look like a bimbo, Kimmy; you'll just look like the lovely girl you are. Honey, you're legally an adult; you are allowed to have legs and a figure. The dress isn't _that_ revealing, or I wouldn't want you to wear it; it's just flattering enough...especially now that I've hidden your combat boots until Monday. Open-toed sandals would be best with this dress. And I've done my homework on Redemption Free Church; not only is it racially integrated, but it is _free_ from the stupid obsession with wanting every girl to dress like a seventy-year-old granny."

Kim took notice of that. "Then it's different from most churches we've been to before." Kim herself never tried hard to be sexy, if only because years of hearing how gorgeous all her elder sisters were had made her give up on the idea; but she still would rather that a girl were _allowed_ to be attractive if she wanted, without being told she deserved to be stoned for it. "But even if I wear that dress....will you tell me _why_ you want us to go to this church?"

"Will it alienate you forever if I dare to hint that maybe Tori Amos and Xena Warrior Princess _don't_ quite have all the answers for life? All four of you girls will be out of my orbit before I know it; and I want to be able to say that I made _some_ kind of effort to expose my daughters to _something_ spiritual."

"Is there more besides, Mom? I mean, if God wants to educate me, surely He or She doesn't positively _need_ me to be glamorous, even if I am _allowed_ to be."

Eliabeth Tisdale sighed. "Yes, there IS also the tiny little thing that you laugh at, since it's _only_ been the great concern of mothers all over the world since the beginning of time. I _might_ feel embarrassed about it if it were the only reason; but since I'm perfectly serious about the spiritual part, it's no crime to blend in my motherly ambition. I want each of you girls to have a chance of getting a decent man in her life. I'm hopeful for Sharon, on edge for Susan and Baeline...and _you're_ swimming with sharks in between complaining about them! Can you see the well-DUH of it, if I want you girls to try showing yourselves in a place where there may be some young men who _would_ treat you as you deserve to be treated? Sharon already has that kind, if she can hang on to him."

Kim shook her head as if her neck muscles bore the weight of the world. "Mom, please don't think I don't appreciate you wanting to help...and don't think I don't want a man who respects me. But is it _really_ the best strategy to parade into a church trumpeting out, 'Hey bachelors, come over here and marry my daughters'?"

"For much of history, Kimmy, it just about _was_ like that. But I only want you to have a chance. It has to be better than the snotty clubs you've hung out in."

Kim opened her mouth--closed it--and opened it again to say, "Since Raul, I can't argue against that so easily anymore. Okay, I'll wear the plum dress _once_ with the open-toed sandals." She laughed ironically. "Who knows, maybe the _first_ boy I meet at church will be a gallant and chivalrous kung-fu warrior, who's _also_ brilliant at math and science, _and_ who's working toward a respectable career like medicine, _and_ who's experienced suffering so he'll sympathize with me if he finds out all of my past, _and_ who's grown up in a house full of girls so he has a start on understanding women, _and_ who'll think I'm better-looking than all of my sisters!"
 
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In the predawn of Sunday morning, Chilena once again was the first one up, and once again entered her brother's bedroom uninvited. She really needed his presence right now. He had worked hard enough lately--restaurant and proficiency tests--that for once her entrance _didn't_ automatically awaken him.

"Wonder Twin powers, activate!" she whispered from directly above his upturned face, then lowered her own face to kiss him. He only vaguely stirred, so she repeated both the slogan and the kiss. He grunted, but still didn't open his eyes; so she lay down full length right on top of him, albeit on the outside of his covers. A third kiss from that position awoke him quite effectively.

When his arms encircling her proved that she had his attention, she whispered, "The world is changing, Al, just like Galadriel says in 'Lord of the Rings.' "

"And you figured I wouldn't notice any changes unless you woke me up to tell me?" He kissed her back, then said, "Wonder Twin powers are activated, so let's sit up." Once she was in her usual seat on his lap instead of lying on top of him, he asked, "Which of all possible changes has you up so early?"

"I'm afraid, Al. It'll be so different in school."

"But you wanted that!"

As was the routine in her lap-sitting sessions--but not thereby unwelcome--her arms reached further, more urgently, around his neck. "I wanted, well, fun and freedom. But you heard Mom and Dad talk about how you do better than me in every homeschool subject except music. It's true, too. When you're so smart, _and_ so tough and brave, _and_ so kind and sweet, you're going to have girls falling all over you, and then you'll _never_ have any time for me!" She was already close to crying at the start of this speech; by the time she mentioned time, she was raining tears on his neck.

Alipang couldn't recall if this was her recurring phase of "wonderful things;" but be it so or not, the change of entering school was big and real. So he bent his rules a bit more--purposely lying back down, letting her lie on top of him in his arms while she wept herself out. Minutes later, she seemed ready to fall asleep in his embrace, but he slid gently out from under her. Now she was lying prone on his bed, but he was out of the bed, crouching on the floor beside her and rubbing her back as he spoke all the reassurances he could come up with. All of them had to do with his loving her forever, and their bond being able to accommodate each one finding a spouse.

He hoped he was right. Having Chilena in his life did not mean that he didn't want romantic love and marriage; but it did mean that he wanted to go on having Chilena in his life.

She did fall asleep under the Wonder Twin power of his backrub; so he stayed on the floor next to her, and silently prayed over her until enough time had gone by that he figured he'd better kiss her awake again. The recharge of his attention seemed to have made Chilena feel better. But he pondered: Wouldn't it be something if the reason she was agitated this morning is that this morning at church I'm going to meet the girl I'm supposed to marry?
 
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