Tomorrow, we're having my cousin's fiance's family over for pamamanhikan. They're set to marry in January, but they're moving it five months earlier (two months from now). I got the news from my mother a few days ago that my cousin was pregnant. I was shocked to say the least. My cousin never struck me as the type - whatever that is. This is the cousin who entered the convent to see whether or not being a nun was her "calling". Everyone was happy for her when she met her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was easy to get along with. We were even happier when we found out they were going to get married.

And then, this. I still don't know what I think about all of this. Everyone else seems disappointed, somehow. Her younger sister was in the same predicament. Although, there was no wedding planned. The wedding just came after the news that she was pregnant.

I guess I could say I'm disappointed if I ask the question, "Why couldn't they wait?" Then, I tell myself, well, maybe they did it because they knew in the end, they were going to get married, anyway? I don't know if that's justification enough.

I got the same "sermon" I got from my mother five years ago when I first had a boyfriend. "Dapat di kayo talaga masyado nagtatabi parati, kasi may kuryente." And I believe that. But I still think that you control your actions and if something happens, you know you wanted it.

My cousin's mom was narrating how her daughter was crying while telling her the news. Her mom seemed to say, "She didn't want to, but she couldn't do anything." To which my mom said, "They both wanted it."

I don't know. Maybe we should be all happy again, after all we're welcoming another life into the family. Maybe we should all just be happy for them and hope that their relationship only grows stronger because of this baby.

Best wishes and congratulations to the couple and family-to-be.