Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 18:01:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Michaels <mmanlookin@yahoo.com>
Subject: FILIPINO LOVE - Chapter 20

			       FILIPINO LOVE
				    BY
				    JM


Email:  mmanlookin@yahoo.com

Disclaimers and info:  see chapter one.


			      CHAPTER TWENTY

     "She a nice lady. I like her. I think she like US too," he observed,
after closing the door behind our guest.

     "I couldn't agree more, Love" I replied. "Let's get some lunch and get
ready for the beach.  I think we need some quiet time today after
everything that's been going on."

     "Ok," he said, as he started to remove his clothes.  I guess he likes
to be naked when we're alone, and I definitely had no problems with it!  I
could drink in the sight of his naked beauty 24/7, and a lifetime of that
would still not be enough.  I also decided that if he was going au
naturale, so was I, and began removing my clothes as well, getting an
appreciative nod and smile from Ronni.  When we were both stripped down, I
asked him to take our discarded clothes into the bedroom while I got
started on lunch.  As he gathered up the clothes and scampered to the
bedroom, I turned to the ref to see what we could have for a quick but
filling meal.  I saw the bread and cheese and thought maybe a grilled
cheese sandwich would be good and might also be a new taste for Ronni.
Soup would be the natural accompaniment, and in searching the cupboards,
discovered several different kinds of canned soup, all of them wrapped in a
very familiar red and white label.  I was disappointed to see that there
was no tomato soup, my favorite with grilled cheese, but there was chicken
noodle...almost as good.  But I thought I'd better wait to ask Ronni about
the cheese.  For all I knew, he could be allergic to dairy products.  He'd
eaten ice cream, so maybe he'd be ok with my lunch choice.  He was soon
back, but had taken enough time that I just knew that he had carefully
taken care of our clothes and not just thrown them on the bed or floor.
That's simply the type of person he is, I'd discovered.

     "Thanks for taking care of the clothes," I said, giving him a hug as
he came up beside me.  "I've got an idea for lunch but wanted to ask you
first in case it was something you didn't like.  Do you like cheese?" I
asked, showing him one of the individually wrapped slices.

     "Oo," he said.  "I have once at Lola's."

     "And do you like chicken soup with noodles?" I continued.

     "I like chicken, and I like noodles but not have together in soup."

     "I think you'll like this, then," I said.  "I'm going to put the
cheese between two slices of bread and cook it in a pan.  The cheese will
melt in the middle, the bread will get like the toast we had for breakfast,
and the sandwich will taste very good with the soup."

     "Ok," he replied gamely.  I'm positive he'd eat anything if I told him
it was good.  Hey!  At least he TRIED the egg yoke.

     "Then, would you get me the fry pan and a large glass bowl?" I asked.
"I'm going to heat the soup in the microwave there in the corner of the
counter because the sandwiches will cook quickly and the soup will heat
faster there than on the stove."  I noticed a quizzical look on his
handsome face.

     "What that you say, mic...micro what?" he asked.

     "See that thing metal thing with a door on the counter?" I pointed.
He looked to where I was pointing and nodded.  "It's called a microwave,
and it cooks foods very fast using electric in a special way.  There are
some foods that don't taste very good if cooked in it, but it will be
perfect for the soup."

     "Ok," he said, heading toward the cupboard where the cooking stuff
was.

     Meanwhile, I started making the sandwiches in preparation for cooking.
Ronni was quickly back with the fry pan, for which he got a quick kiss for
his efforts, before going back to get a bowl.  I put the pan on the stove
to heat as I went back to putting the sandwiches together.  I could hear
Ronni thrashing and muttering to himself as he rummaged through the
cupboard, trying to extricate the bowl.  With a satisfied grunt, he shut
the door and I heard the unmistakable clang of a metal bowl hitting the
counter surface.  Oops!

     "Sweetheart," I said soothingly, so as not to let him think he'd done
something wrong and I was upset with him...which I definitely wasn't.  "We
need to use a glass or plastic bowl in the microwave.  Metal is bad for it
and would ruin it.  I probably should have explained all that before you
had to dig to find a bowl."

     "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

     "Don't worry about it, Honey," I said.  "You've never even seen a
microwave before, let alone use one, so it's understandable not knowing how
to use it safely.  You seemed to be having a lot of trouble even finding
the bowl you did.  Let me get these sandwiches in the pan, and I'll help
you."  I already had the pan on medium heat, and it was hot enough, so,
placing the sandwiches in it, I went to help Ronni find the right bowl.  I
bent down to the cupboard where he'd been looking and couldn't see anything
that looked like what we needed.  No wonder he was muttering in his search,
and finally finding a bowl, decided that it would do.  Hmmm!  Is a
puzzlement!  Then I had a thought and opened the cupboard above where I'd
found the salad bowls.  Eureka!!  Grabbing the glass bowl, I set it on the
counter and grabbed the can of soup.  Luckily, it had a pull-tab top so we
wouldn't have to go on another search for a can opener.  Dumping the
contents into the bowl, I hustled to turn the sandwiches on my way to the
ref (whew! Just in time.  Perfect!), grabbed a small bottle of water and
went back to the soup.  Filling the can with the water, I added it, gave it
a stir, set it in the microwave, shut the door and set the timer for one
minute.  I figured better safe than sorry, not being familiar with this
particular unit.  I didn't want the soup splashed all over the insides of
the machine from too much time.  Ronni was watching me all this time, quite
fascinated and quite possibly learning so he could use the "wave" in the
not-too-distant future.  I trotted back to the stove hoping to prevent VERY
well done sandwiches, and was pleased to see everything was ok.  I wanted
Ronni's first dining experience with one of my favorite comfort foods to be
enjoyable.  Just as I was removing the sandwiches from the pan and putting
them on a plate to be cut, I heard the microwave beep.  I went over and
checked the soup to see how hot it was.  It looked like another minute
would be just about right, so I re-set the timer and went back, cut the
sandwiches, put a serving on the extra plate and grabbed two waters from
the ref.  As I put our meal on the dining counter, the microwave finished
doing its thing.  Directing Ronni to grab two soup bowls from the cupboard,
I carefully took hold of the bowl of soup (HOTHOTHOT!) and carefully poured
it into the two bowls he provided.  Grabbing some spoons, we each took our
soup to the counter, sat down and began to enjoy.  At least I did.  I was
wondering what Ronni's reaction to the meal was going to be.

     I watched as he took a small, cautious bite of his sandwich.  He
chewed thoughtfully for a minute, swallowed and took another much larger
bite.  Good so far.  He then took a small spoonful of soup and repeated the
process, making sure his spoon was full the second time and every time
after that.  It looks like lunch was a success.  I then turned to my own
meal.  As I said, this, to me, was comfort food, and I had my own unique
way of enjoying it.  I dunked the end of my sandwich into the soup before
eating it...my favorite way when eating something like this.  Ronni
observed what I was doing, and I saw him take a tentative wipe with his
sandwich in the soup before eating it.  I wasn't long before we were both
dunking and eating with occasional satisfied sounds from each of us.  Not a
word was said between us until we were to the point of having finished our
sandwiches and had to use spoons to finish the soup.  Unashamedly, he
picked up his bowl and slurped the last of the soup that was too hard to
get with his spoon.  And I'm not so proud that I can't admit that I did the
same.

     With a satisfied little burp, he said, "That was very good.  I not
have that before. It very...it IS very good," he corrected himself.  God
bless him!  He was at least trying to improve his speaking.  He also must
have remembered our talk the other day about how a belch is considered a
compliment to the cook, since he didn't seemed in the least embarrassed
this time.

     "Glad you liked it, Love," I said.  "It's one of my favorite quick
meals back in the US, especially in winter with the snow and cold."

     "What snow like," he asked.  "I see on TV sometimes but not
understand."

     "Snow is frozen rain," I started to explain.  "You know how it rains
here all year?"  He nodded.  "Well, where we are now is about the middle of
the earth.  That means there's as much water and land north of here as
there is to the south.  Do you understand so far?"

     "Oo, yes," he said.  "We learn in school where Philippines is on the
big globe in classroom."

     "Ok," continued.  "Because of where the Philippines is, the sun stays
almost the same distance away all the year, so it's always warm here,
sometimes a little warmer when the sun gets just a little closer."  I
continued explaining the reason for the difference in climates between New
England and the Philippines, and Ronni seemed to have a good grasp of what
I was trying to tell him.

     "But I still not know about snow," he said when I'd finished our
geography/meteorology lesson.  Guess you can take the teacher out of
school, but you can't take the school out of the teacher, to paraphrase.  I
actually enjoyed telling Ronni all that information, especially since he
was such an intelligent and avid learner, most especially about anything
that had to do with me and my life before I met him.  Now, I tried to come
up an explanation that would satisfy his curiosity.  Got it!!  Going over
to the ref, I went into the freezer compartment and got two ice cubes.
Then, I retrieved the vegetable grater I'd seen in the cupboard.  Ronni was
watching me intently, probably wondering what the hell I was doing with
those obviously unrelated objects.

     Sitting back down beside him, I held up an ice cube and asked, "Do you
know what this is?"  He looked at me as if to say `You're kidding me,
right?'

     "That is ice...water that get cold and turn hard," he said. Was that a
tone of mild exasperation I detected?  Nah!  Couldn't be.

     "Right," I said, moving along quickly.  "This is frozen water, which
is what snow is: frozen rain.  But have you ever seen a rain drop this
big?"

     "Of course not, silly man," he giggled.

     "It would take many rain drops to make something this big.  So, let's
do this and maybe you'll see what snow is like."  I figured I'd better
hustle things along before the main prop in my little Show-And-Tell melted.
I grabbed the grater and rubbed both cubes against it, getting the desired
results.  I soon had a small pile of shaved ice and told Ronni to feel it.

     "Cold!" he said, as he grabbed a small handful.

     "That's what snow is like, a bunch of tiny pieces of frozen rain," I
concluded.

     "I think I understand, now," he said.  "I hope I see real snow soon."

     "If we can get all the official paperwork done in time, you should be
able to see snow if we go to the US next January," I told him.  This
brought an enormous smile to his sweet face, and he launched himself into
my arms, almost knocking us both over.

     " That be SO good.  I can't wait!" he all but hollered.  I enclosed
him in my arms and rubbed his back...something he loved, as he snuggled in
even closer and began to nuzzle my neck while making those sweet purring
sounds.

     We continued sharing our love for a while, until I said, very
reluctant to break the spell, "We should get the kitchen cleaned up and get
ready for the beach. Your friends will be waiting for you."  He lifted his
head off my shoulder, then leaned in and placed his sweet lips on mine.

     Pulling back, he stared into my eyes for a moment and said softly and
with such deep emotion, "I love you so much, Phil!"

     "And I love you just as much, my sweet, wonderful Ronni," I said with
the same intensity and emotion.  "I simply can't imagine my life without
you."  I then leaned in and returned the kiss.  "You ready to get going?"

     He smiled lovingly, nodded, got off my lap, and started collecting our
dishes to take to the sink.  I also got up and headed to the sink, deciding
that this time, I'd wash and he could dry.  Once again, everything was
spotless in no time, and hand in hand, we walked into the bedroom to get
ready for some beach time with Ronni's friends.


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