Today's my brother's birthday. He's the eldest, and my only brother. Somehow, we're not on very good terms. We barely speak to each other, and if we do, it sounds like "kuya, telepono, kuya tawag ka ni ma, kuya paheram computer, kuya this, that."

But today, I decided to buy him a present because he gave me one (for the first time, it was KikoMachine :]) last Christmas. I bought a comic book that he really loves, 'Pugad Baboy'. Since I had no time to wrap it, I just stuck a Post-It note on the book saying 'Happy Birthday Kuya! haha, tanda mo na. God bless you. -ina' and slipped it in his room while he ate his dinner in the sala. Later I joined him to eat and watched in suspense as he went to his room. What would his reaction look like? A clear picture of him angrily ripping up the note came up. D: I chewed my spaghetti slowly, shivering at the thought.

Finally after minutes of waiting in agony, he came out of his room and told me, "Salamat sa libro ha." with a smile of a totally different person, a smile so deep in meaning, kind, warm and at the same time sends shivers down my spine; I just can't comprehend it because I've never seen my brother smile at me before,.

My mouth was full of spaghetti then, so I just smiled and said "Mhm." And off he went to get a haircut.

Just what kind of siblings are we?
I don't know.

Happy Birthday, Kuya.
~ina