How to Fry a Bouquet of Roses or a Funny Valentine Story

A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, my husband came home bearing a large plastic with something inside covered by a newspaper. Our conversation was like this:

Mr. L: Prituhin mo ‘to.

Me: Ano ‘to?

Mr. L: Prituhin mo para kainin natin.

Me: Yayyy food!!

Mr. L: Buksan mo tapos prituhin mo na agad ha?

When I opened it, I saw a bouquet of flowers. Awww… pero ang una kong sinabi, “paano ko piprituhin ‘to?” minsan talaga kasi may pagka-slow on the uptake eh HAHAHA!

Makangiti si buntis! Kilig na kilig hahaha!

Anyway right after that eh siyempre kinilig na ako. Hihi! I really wasn’t expecting anything because I have already learned my lesson about Valentine’s Days a couple of years ago. Let me tell you the story. Medyo nakakahiya ito, cringe-worthy even pero bear with me.

For our first and second Valentine’s Day, Mr. L, my boyfriend pa lang back then, made efforts to get me flowers, chocolates, and a Valentine Card. The works! So on our third Valentine’s together, I was counting on getting something from him. REALLY counting on it. By the way, this was around the time when we were past the lovey-dovey stage. Already on our second year, we were starting to discover traits of each other that we find annoying and irritable. Lampas na sa stage na lahat cute, lahat nakakatuwa: he wasn’t very forgiving on my being late anymore, I was finding his tone of voice somehow hurtful at times, stuff like that.

Already I had this thought at the back of my mind that he’s changed, that perhaps he doesn’t love me the same anymore, and that our relationship was not going in the direction I wanted. Kaya naman, when Valentine’s Day came, I was sort of nervous. Feeling ko it would be a sign na hindi niya na talaga ako mahal kapag wala siyang gift. Ang babaw ko, kainis diba? Hahaha!

Come midday, my Facebook friends were already posting photos of flowers and chocolates from their thoughtful boyfriends and husbands so medyo napi-pressure na ako. Btw, natatawa talaga ako habang tina-type ‘to hahaha! Nakakahiyang ikwento ito pero push lang, baka kasi may mga ume-emote din sa inyo out there, baka maka-relate kayo. Afternoon came and one of our interns got a delivery of a bouquet of chocolates and it was delivered to our office pa! Shet. Naisip ko kailangan talaga meron ako kahit isang rose lang!

Syempre I had to change clothes para mas maganda sa picture.
Also, i-flaunt ang baby bump! :)

It seemed though, that my boyfriend had no plans. So painit na ng painit ang ulo ko by the hour. By the time na magkita kami, I was searching his hands for any indications na may flowers ako pero waley. So hindi ko siya pinansin. Hahaha!! Ang init talaga ng ulo ko no’n mga misis, as in di ko siya pinapansin, tapos nagdadabog pa ako. Paka-spoiled brat! My poor boyfriend didn’t even know what was wrong.

He then took me to the grocery store and to the market to get some ingredients. Aburido pa din ako nito. Then he brought me home. Once we got to my apartment, I watched TV and continued to ignore him. He, on the other hand, made himself busy in the kitchen; chopping, peeling, cooking. After an hour I noticed there was a serving of spaghetti on my table, a platter of homemade buffalo wings, and freshly fried potato chips made from actual potatoes that he painstakingly peeled and sliced into thin circles. I was surprised! Akala ko nagpi-prito lang siya ng manok, obvs I wasn’t paying attention when we were at the grocery.

Ang laki ng smile ko nung nakita ‘yung mga pagkain. Obvious naman na mahilig ako sa food diba? Pero I was so happy seeing everything that he slaved over for in the kitchen all laid out on the table. I almost cried! He told me, he didn’t want to get me flowers that year because he thought they were only good for taking photos. He didn’t take me to a restaurant because aside from the fact that they’re crowded, they weren’t actually very romantic. He thought cooking for me and sharing a meal together at my apartment would be the best way to spend Valentine’s Day. Aaawww.. Grabe lang.

Looking back at how I acted earlier, I wanted to kick myself. Nakakahiya diba? And I didn’t even get him anything! Ang brat ko lang talaga! I think that was the point when I decided to stop looking for the silly things that’s changed, that was when I understood that relationships don’t always stay kilig-kilig and lovey dovey but it doesn’t mean that you love each other less.

A part of growing together in a relationship is being able to relax in each other’s company, having no pressure to always put the best foot forward, and being comfortable enough to show your bad side without being judged. I realized at that moment how fortunate I am to have a boyfriend who knew me so well he cooked me a meal instead of getting me flowers! Because despite flowers being more social-media-worthy, he knew I loved eating chicken more. And how sweet was he na hindi man lang niya pinatulan ang pag-iinarte ko??! Hahaha!!

So ayan. Until today, when I look back on that Valentine’s Day two years ago natatawa pa rin ako sa sarili ko pero I also get that warm fuzzy feeling because I know that I am loved. Kaya naman this year, I was surprised to get flowers again, bonus pa because he also cooked ginataang papaya for me. Hahy, I love my husband!