Chapter 165 - Bye My Love

The following day.

Caroline woke up at 7:00 in the morning followed by baby Cathy.

She went inside the bathroom to do some washing.

A few minutes later, she exited the bathroom and went back to bed.

She smiled at her daughter. "Good morning, Cathy! Rise and shine!" she nuzzled the baby's chubby cheek.

Baby Cathy giggled and squealed in delight. "Mama...Mama...Mama..."

Fresh tears rolled from Caroline's eyes. She wiped the tears with her fingers.

"Let's go downstairs, baby. Let's prepare your breakfast," she kissed her daughter's forehead lovingly.

Caroline carries her daughter in her arms and exited the bedroom, she went downstairs and find her mother in the dining table sipping her coffee.

Thelma smiled brightly upon seeing her granddaughter, she put her mug on the table. "Come to grandmother baby so that your mother can eat her breakfast," she said.

Baby Cathy smiled..."Grandma..."

Caroline put some rice, fried Milkfish, and tomatoes on her plate and began eating.

She rose to her feet and put a coffee mix on the mug then poured hot water on it, she sat down on the chair and resumed eating.

"When are they going to come here to fetch baby Cathy?" Thelma asked.

"After lunch," replied Caroline.

Thelma released a deep sigh.

Caroline prevented herself from joining her mother's sighing. She cried a lot already last night.

She no longer wants to cry, her bucket of tears won't change a thing in her situation.

"Mother, cheer up! Don't feel so sad about it. Cathy will be gone for one year only and after that, she will be back in our care. Let's just give Uncle Hector and Auntie Clara a chance to enjoy their granddaughter. Don't feel sad about this...okay?"

Thelma took a deep breath. "Alright, I will stop being so melodramatic. I'm just feeling emotional, I just can't help it," she said.

Caroline shrugged. She resumed eating so that she can feed her daughter next.

Done eating.

Caroline prepared baby Cathy's solid food consisted of mashed rice and fish.

She then feeds the food to her daughter while her mother was holding the baby.

After feeding Cathy, Caroline took her daughter back in her bedroom to prepare her bath.

Done with bathing... the mother and daughter duo went back to the bed and watched nursery rhymes together.

Caroline sighed heavily.

There's nothing left for her to do... but spends the rest of the remaining hours with her daughter.

Four hours later.

Lunchtime.

Caroline went downstairs to eat lunch.

Thelma cooked two variants of dishes for lunch... Pork Adobo and Vegetable Soup.

The delicious foods somehow cheer up Caroline's subdued mood a little bit.

She finished eating dinner and also made a bowl of mashed rice mixed with the vegetable soup for baby Cathy.

A few minutes later. Done feeding baby Cathy.

Caroline went upstairs and changed her daughter's diaper in the bedroom. She dressed baby Cathy in her favorite pink dress.

She said she won't' cry anymore... but now that the final hour of their separation was approaching... the painful throbbing in her heart was getting louder... killing her.

"Damn! This is so painful!" she said loudly.

She winced in pain.

A deep sigh escapes her lips.

She massaged her chest and shut off her eyes for a few minutes.

She will be okay...she will be fine...this is just the beginning of her torture...more to come.

She needs to be strong and survive... or else life is not worth living anymore.

She took a deep breath and exited the bedroom carrying her daughter in her arms.

She plopped down on the sofa and wait for the visitors to come.

Thelma came into the living room and sat beside Caroline on the sofa. She wants to be her daughter's support when the time they would take Cathy away.

The two women sat beside each other on the soda in complete silence.

A few minutes later, Merle comes into the living room.

"Merle, get the traveling bag from Caroline's' bedroom and bring it down here in the living room," Thelma instructed the housemaid.

"Yes Ma'am," the housemaid answered.

Merle climbs the stairs and reappeared in the living room a few minutes later holding the traveling bag containing baby Cathy's things, she put it in the corner near the door.

Merle went back to the kitchen.

Thick silence settled again in the living room.

Thelma power on the television to expel the gloom that was surrounding them. Any noise is better than the deafening silence.

One hour later.

The sound of the car can be heard parking in front of the house.

Merle went outside and opened the gate based on Caroline's instruction.

Caroline and Thelma went outside to welcome the guest.

"Welcome back everyone!" Caroline said in a lively voice masking the pain she was feeling inside.

It's just Catherine, Hector, Clara, and Ramon this time. John was not among them.

The guest went inside the house and settled on the sofa.

Caroline faced the elderly couple. "Auntie, baby Cathy already eats solid food. She likes mashed rice mixed with vegetables, fish, meat, or any kind of soup. Then she drinks milk twice in 24 hours. She already learned how to walk but lazy. Overall, she behaves nicely, she seldom indulged in tantrums. If she does... it will be rare, only if she feels sick or not feeling well. She's a healthy baby..." her voice trailed off stopping the tears about to come out from her eyes.

She shut off her eyes for a few seconds trying to gather the strength to continue talking.

"She's still in diapers...And she loves watching nursery rhymes. Here is the USB, I downloaded all her favorite nursery rhymes on it," she handed the USB to Clara.

Clara accepted the USB and put it in the pocket of her shoulder bag.

Caroline took a paper and gave it to Clara. "That paper contains an important list of things concerning my daughter..."

Clara accepted the paper and put it in her shoulder bag. "I will chat with you every day so that you can see baby Cathy and how she's doing so that you won't feel sad anymore. I'm sorry we have to do this... Caroline. I hope you understand us," she said apologetically.

Caroline smiled. "Nah. No need to say sorry, Auntie. I'm sure baby Cathy will love you guys!" she concluded their conversation.

Caroline kissed her daughter's forehead and gave her daughter to Hector.

Hector smiled with happiness. "How are you baby...Grandpa is here visiting you again. Let's have a one year vacation in Thailand, okay?"

Baby Cathy smiled and touches her grandfather's face.

Clara stood up. "I guess we're done here, we need to keep going," she said to Caroline and Thelma.

Caroline nodded her head.

Catherine went to her sister's side and patted her shoulder. "We're going now, sis. I'll call you later," she said. She went to her mother's side and kissed her cheeks. "Bye Mother," she said.

"Bye daughter, give my regards to baby James and baby Angel," Thelma responded.

Ramon went inside the living room and took the traveling bag containing the baby's stuff, he deposited it in the car's trunk.

Clara, Hector, and Catherine went back inside the vehicle.

When the car was moving forward and the passenger inside stops waving their hands...

Caroline can no longer hold back her tears.

She and Thelma went back inside the house wearing a morose expression on their faces.

Caroline went to her bedroom and buries her face on the pillow, this time she let the tears fall, hoping that the pain she's feeling in her heart will disappear.

Thirty minutes to her crying, her cellphone rings...

She picked up the mobile device from the bedside table and answered the call.

The caller happens to be her husband.

"Hello...hubby..." she said, her voice was hoarse from crying.

"Sweetie...w-what happen to your voice? Are you crying?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes."

"But why?"

"Auntie Clara and Uncle Hector were here a while ago and they already took baby Cathy and bring her to the Infinity Jade Tower. I'm crying because I feel sad seeing my daughter go," she explained.

"Oh, that's sad...I'm sorry sweetie. Please don't cry anymore. Don't worry, time flies too fast and one year will soon fade away and you will be seeing your daughter again. Cheer up, please?" he said in a gentle voice.

"Okay, when are you coming back here?" she asked.

"Tomorrow, I'll arrive there at 1:00 in the afternoon. I'll see you soon. See you at my place in Blue Bell Residences. I'll go there straight from the airport."

"You want me to fetch you?" she offered.

"No need...just prepare some dishes... or you can order through that food app I told you about if you feel lazy cooking some food. Suit yourself, sweetie," he said.

"Okay," she replied.

"I'll text or call you later. I love you and I miss you!" he said.

"I love you too!" she responded.

"Bye, sweetie..."

"Bye hubby..."

Caroline ended their conversation after she no longer hears her husband's voice at the other end.

She breathed deeply and wiped the tears from her eyes. It's very hard when she has no one to share her burden right now. She missed Mike's comforting presence.

She gets out of the bed and went inside the bathroom to take a long shower hoping she will feel better after taking a luxurious bath.

Later, after she's done bathing she will watch a comedy film to improve her mood.

Thirty minutes later.

Caroline exited the bathroom feeling refreshed. She went to the closet and picked up her pajama and donned it on her body.

She climbed into the bed and turn on the television. She browsed on many comedy titles and chose a family comedy.

The film starts rolling...

The one hour and thirty minutes comedy show brought laughter to her lips.

She looked at the clock hanging on the wall, it's still late afternoon, plenty of time to kill before nightfall, dinner, then sleep time.

She will go downstairs to help her mother prepare the dinner, she needs something to do to occupy her mind.

Any distraction can help her cope up with Cathy's absence in her life.

After the movie ended, she watched another comedy film to continue the good vibes she derived from watching those entertaining and hilarious movies.

After done watching the second film, she feels a lot better inside.

She turns off the television, exited her bedroom, heading downstairs to the kitchen to help her mother prepare dinner.