The Son Who Forgot His Own Home While Building Someone Else’s

My name is Gideon. I work as a senior administrative officer for a government bureau in Iloilo. My job is to manage crises, organize schedules, and make sure everything runs like clockwork. I’m the guy people call when they need a problem solved quietly and efficiently. But the biggest crisis in my life is the one I’ve created by choosing a girl named Sienna over my own blood.

Sienna and I have been "seeing each other" on and off for three years. She’s beautiful, flighty, and comes from a family that is constantly in some kind of trouble. Her brother gets into a motorcycle accident, her mother’s roof leaks, her younger sister needs "emergency" tuition for a field trip. And every time the phone rings, I’m the one who answers.

I’ve spent my weekends driving to her province to fix her father’s generator. I’ve spent my savings paying for her aunt’s hospital bills. I’ve even used my connections at work to help her cousin get a permit they didn't qualify for. I convinced myself that by becoming the pillar her family leans on, I was earning a permanent place in Sienna’s life. I thought that if her parents loved me, she’d have no choice but to love me too.

Meanwhile, my own parents live twenty minutes away. My father’s knees are failing him, and my mother has been asking me to fix the screen door on their porch for six months.

"Gid, are you coming over for Sunday lunch?" my mom would text.

"Sorry, Ma. Sienna’s dad has a plumbing emergency. I have to head over there now," I’d reply, already in my car with a toolbox I bought for her family, not mine.

Last month was my father’s 70th birthday. It was a big deal. My sisters had planned a dinner, and all I had to do was show up with the cake. But an hour before I was supposed to leave, Sienna called me, sounding breathless.

"Gideon, please, my brother Rico got picked up by the police for some misunderstanding at a bar. He’s terrified. My mom is crying. Can you go down to the station and talk to them? You know how to handle these things."

I didn't even hesitate. I called my sister and told her I’d be late. I spent the next six hours at a crowded, humid police station, using my "officer" voice to negotiate Rico’s release and paying a "settlement" fee out of my own pocket that was meant for my dad’s birthday gift.

By the time I got to my parents' house, the lights were off. The cake I’d sent via a delivery rider was sitting on the counter, half-eaten. My mother was sitting in the dark, looking tired.

"He waited for you, Gideon," she said quietly. "He kept saying you were just busy with work. But we saw Sienna’s post. You were at the station for her brother."

I didn't have an answer. I felt the guilt like a stone in my stomach, but then my phone buzzed. It was Sienna.

"Gid, you're a legend! Mom says you're basically part of the family now. Rico is home and safe. We’re all having a little celebratory drink, come over!"

I left my mother sitting in the dark and drove to Sienna’s. I wanted that "legend" feeling. I wanted to be the hero. When I got there, the house was full of laughter. I was greeted with slaps on the back and plates of food. But as the night went on, I noticed Sienna wasn't sitting near me. She was in the corner, showing her phone to her cousins.

"Look at the flowers Aris sent me!" she giggled. "He’s so sweet. He’s currently in Singapore for a business trip, but he still made sure I got these because he heard I had a stressful day."

Aris is a guy she met at a wedding. He hasn't lifted a finger for her family. He wasn't the one sweating in a police station or paying for her mother’s medicine. But he was the one she was dreaming about.

"Gid, thanks again for the help with Rico," she said, walking past me to get a drink. "You're like the big brother we never had. We’re so lucky to have a 'service man' like you in our lives."

Service man. I went home that night and looked at the screen door on my parents' porch. It was still broken. I looked at the missed calls from my sisters. I’ve sacrificed the people who actually love me to serve a family that treats me like a free contractor. I’m the man who fixes everyone else’s home while my own is falling apart, all for a girl who sees me as a utility instead of a partner. I’m a senior officer, but in Sienna’s world, I’m just the help that pays for the privilege of working.