“Mahal, nasaan pantalon ko?”
“Oh, somewhere.”
Goyong frowns, squinting suspiciously at his Papa Pole who is seated at the head of the table as usual, somehow regal in his sleeping clothes with a disheveled state of hair. Across him, standing in the doorway of their kitchen, is Goyong’s Itay Miong, looking like the exact opposite of Pole– barely put together and a complete mess. His white under shirt is nearly translucent in some parts due to his dripping wet hair, and in place of pants is a towel– rather short, Goyong notices– loosely wrapped around his waist.
It takes a moment for Pole to look up from his newspaper, casually taking long sips from his coffee as Miong patiently waited for anymore clues to the whereabouts of his missing pants. Goyong, familiar with this game his fathers like to play, simply watches and waits, embarrassment and exasperation mixing in his stomach the longer the silence stretches.
Finally, after a couple of moments, Pole looks up, face a carefully drawn blank. “Hinanap mo ba doon sa may washing machine?” he says, shrugging. “Baka sinampay at hindi naipasok.”
“Chineck ko na ang mga sinampay.” Miong replies with a sigh. “Wala doon.”
“Pero sa washing machine?”
“Pole, linabhan ko ‘yon noong isang linggo pa. Wala siya sa washing machine.”
“Malay mo.”
“Ipapalabas mo ba talaga ako na naka-towel lang?”
Goyong chokes on a sip of his coffee. Pole, however, just smiles slyly, leaning forward to place his chin in his hand. “Oo.”
Despite himself, Miong pinks. “Pambihira ka talaga.” he hisses. “Ano 'to, 'look with your eyes not with your mouth’?”
Pole’s gaze dips lower, oogling the very short towel Miong has, shielding the rest of him from the elements. “I am looking with my eyes.”
And Miong, clutching his towel a little harder, grows a stunning shade of tomato red before stomping off.
Goyong wants to die. “Papa,” he admonishes, the second hand embarrassment eating him alive. “I’m right here.”
Pole sniffs. “I married him. I am allowed.”
“They’re not in the washing machine, are they?”
“Of course not. Sa tingin mo ba ganon ako ka-obvious?”
“So ba’t mo pinapunta si Itay doon?”
“Wala lang,” his Papa says, then turns to the window to watch his husband quickly make his way toward their laundry area. On the journey, Miong trips slightly, causing his towel to fall a fraction too low for polite company. Pole smirks. “Just wanted to enjoy the view.”
Goyong promptly excuses himself to go and throw up his breakfast in the nearest bathroom.
