1 Chapter 1: She’s Born

Lucy

Mom's on the delivery room. I hope she's safe.

Today is November 18. She's giving birth to our fourth sibling. We still don't know the gender because they wanted to surprise us.

"Lucy, Mom's okay, right?" Lucifer asked. I held his hand and hugged him tight.

"She's okay. We just have to wait for her to come out there." I said, pointing my finger in the delivery room.

My twins doesn't call me ate.

Here comes another sibling. I hope it's a girl!

Nauna akong lumabas sa tummy ni Mommy. After two hours, sumunod si Lucas, and after an hour, lumabas na rin si Lucifer.

I didn't know how Mom managed to take care of us. Mom and Dad never hired a nanny, mas gusto kasi nilang sila ang nag-aalaga sa amin.

Noong lumaki na kami, doon lang kami nagkaroon ng maids.

Dad came out from the delivery room. There's sweat all over his face, but he's very happy.

"Dad, how's mom?" Lucas said.

He gave us a wide smile. "She's okay."

"Dad, boy or girl?" I asked.

"Girl."

We screamed like there's no tomorrow. The doctor who just came out, looked at us with a smile on his face, too.

My twin brothers tightly hugged me.

"Really, Dad? Pwede po ba kami ang magpangalan sa kanya?" Dad nodded.

We quietly entered the room where Mom was transferred. There's a paper on the table.

"Her name will be Lianna." I said.

"No, her name should be Ingrid." Lucas said.

"No way, Ingrid doesn't sound cute on her. She should be Lily." Lucifer said.

"I said Lianna!"

"Lucy! Magigising si mom!"

"Mom lost her consciousness when she gave birth to our sister. Duh." Lucas said.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, my suggestion still stands. Her name will be Ingrid." Lucas added.

"No! Her name will be Lianna!"

"Hey, hey! You two, stop fighting. Why not just combine her name?" Lucifer got a point. Just combine her name and there'll be no problem.

Lily Lianna Ingrid. Eh.

Lianna Lily Ingrid. Doesn't sound good.

Lianna Ingrid Lily. What is that?

Lianna Ingrid. Perfect! Just remove the Lily, it doesn't match her name.

"Her name will be Lianna Ingrid D. Mendoza." I said as I wrote her name on the paper.

"Where's the name Lily?" Lucifer asked.

"Look, twin, Lily doesn't match Lianna Ingrid. Besides, it will be hard for her to write her name on a piece of paper because her name's too long. Please don't take this personally." I said. He just nodded.

I looked at Mom who's still sleeping. She lost her consciousness when she gave birth to Lianna, our little angel. Lucas and Lucifer sat on the chair near her bed and held her hand.

I quietly left the room and saw Dad resting outside.

"Dad, where's Lianna?" I said.

"Lianna?"

"I named her Lianna, Dad. She should have the same name that starts with L like us." Dad smiled.

He stood up and walked to the nursery room.

Babies! They're so adorable!

We went inside. Dad stopped in front of a baby girl. She's sleeping.

"Dad, she's so cute!" I whispered in a low voice, enough to be heard by my Dad.

"She really is." Dad touched Lianna's nose. I touched her hand.

She looks like mom. My little sister's so cute!

Dad and I went outside. "How's your Mom, is she awake na ba?" I shook my head.

We returned to Mom's room to check on her. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Lianna, I have to let her rest.

When we went inside, I saw my twins talking to mom.

"Hon," Mom said while looking at Dad. "where's Lianna?"

Mom already knew. I glared at Lucas. Among the three of us, he's the one who can't stop being a spoiler.

Dad was about to speak when we heard a knock. The nurse entered the room, carrying Lianna on her arms.

All eyes were on Lianna, sleeping on the nurse's arms. The nurse slowly placed Lianna in my mother's arms.

Mom's tears fell.

"She's beautiful," Mom said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Congrats, honey." Dad said. "We did it."

Dad hugged mom and Lianna. We joined Dad, we're doing a group hug now.

—

We let mom and Lianna rest. After that, our doctor told dad that mom and Lianna can leave the hospital after three days.

Dad accompanied us home to get some clothes. We brought some food before we went back to the hospital.

"Mom!" Lucas and Lucifer said. They ran towards Mom and hugged her tight.

"Hon," Dad said. "how are you?"

I looked at Mom, she smiled at me, and looked at Dad again.

"I am very happy, hon. Seeing our children makes my heart flutter." Lucas and Lucifer stood beside me. Dad walked towards Mom.

"Close your eyes, kids." Dad said. I think they will kiss each other. This will be fun, I'll just watch them. I covered my eyes with my hand, but I can still see them.

I put a space on my finger, so I can see what they are doing. They're kissing each other nga.

"Dad, can we open our eyes now?" Lucifer asked.

"Open your eyes now," Dad said.

We opened our eyes. They're both smiling from ear to ear. Ha! They kissed, I saw them. I saw how Mom clung her arms on Dad's neck.

"Here, mom." Lucifer said. He gave mom the grapes we brought.

I opened the yogurt and drank it. I gave Lucifer one.

"Why don't I have one, twin?" Lucas asked. "Because no, Lucas."

He laughed at me and stood up. He got his own yogurt drink.

"Hey, sis." I looked at Lucifer. He's holding a strawberry yogurt.

I was about to get it when we heard someone knocking. Dad opened the door, the doctor came in.

Based on his facial expression, it looks like he's got some bad news for us.

"Doctor?" Dad said.

"Mr. Mendoza, I hate to break this to you, but after checking your baby..." The doctor heaved out a deep sigh. "I'm sad that this thing happened to your daughter at an early age." I am confused.

"What do you mean, Doc?" Mom said.

"What I mean is... Lianna's sick. She has a very rare condition without any cure."

Silence. I felt like our world stopped.

How I wish this was just a prank.

"You're just kidding, right, doctor?" I said. He shook his head and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry, but she will die at the age of eighteen."

My tears fell. My twin brothers touched my back.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I repeated the test many times, but nothing changed. It's still the same. I'm sorry." Doctor said.

I hugged Dad. Mom was crying. "Dad, why Lianna?"

Even though dad was having a hard time speaking, those words that came from his mouth somehow shattered and relieved me.

"I don't know, Lucy, but this must be God's challenge, let's just trust Him, and his plans for our family."

❄

Lianna — daughter of the sun, and is the diminutive form of Eliana which means, 'Jehovah is God.'

The meaning is to wrap around or bind. The name comes from the 'lianna vine' that grows somewhere in the South American jungles. (Lucy's suggestion)

Ingrid — a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch feminine given name. It continues the Old Norse name Ingiríðr, which was a short form of Ingfríðr, composed of theonym Ing, and the element fríðr "beloved; beautiful" common in Germanic feminine given names. (Lucas' suggestion)

Lily — a feminine given name directly derived from lily, a flower. The name is derived from the flower, whose meaning is 'pure', 'passion', and 'rebirth.'

Lily can be short for Lillian, Lilika, Liliana, or Lilith. It might be from the Greek word "louloudi" which means flower. (Lucifer's suggestion)

Lucy — English and French feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning as of light (born at dawn or daylight, maybe also shiny, or of light complexion)

Lucas — Lucas is the Latin derivation of the Greek name Loukas. According to its Greek origin, Lucas refers to the Patron Saint of doctors, artists, and creatives.

Lucifer — The Latin word 'lucifer' means 'morning star', or as an adjective, 'light-bringing.'

Today the name is a synonym for the devil. In Christian tradition, Lucifer was used as the proper name of the devil before his fall from grace. In popular culture, Lucifer is synonymous with the devil or Satan.