TPP - Special Chapters

Valentine's Day (part 2)

At Starbucks Reserve, Forbes town...

Hope headed inside the coffee shop and immediately recognized her siblings because it wasn't overcrowded at the moment.

"How's Mama? How did she react?" Sofia inquired once Hope settled down on the couch.

"She didn't say anything at all and kept smiling, well I can see that she's slightly disappointed," Hope explained.

"I could already foresee her reaction na, considering none of us had yet greeted her!" Sofia smirked at them.

"Where are our letters pala?" Hope wondered.

"Here are our cards, Hopie, ito rin kay Basty," Sofia said as her phone beeped, "Papa's on his way na raw here, 10 minutes."

Children waited for their father and certainly enjoyed spending leisure together, informing each other about several great and enjoyable activities they could be doing afterward throughout the day. Several minutes later, Richard contacted his children and requested them to leave immediately whilst he waited outside.

"Hi Pa, did you check the place?" Hope inquired as soon as they opened their van door.

"All set, Ate," Richard reassured them, "no need to worry about anything. Kumusta si Mama? Nag message sa inyo?"

"She's asking us lang po what time we're heading home," Sofia responded, then flung herself inside their van, still holding a cup of frappuccino.

"Anyway, Mama knows we're probably heading back home in the evening, Pa," Paul remarked, chuckling.

"That's excellent, we'll have more time to prepare; just ensure everyone hasn't forgotten anything," their Papa stated once they were all inside the van.

"I seriously cannot believe we totally upset Mama!" Hope exclaims, making them all laugh their hearts out, "Anyway Pa, where are all—"

"Backseat, complete na lahat ng materials natin," Richard said before starting the van and driving away.

Their journey to the venue took a lot longer because the youngsters had been requesting a bunch of stop-overs for brief snacks including cookies, brownies, and more—as if they weren't supposed to have their snack feasting thereafter.

Richard as well as the children planned to spend the entire afternoon planning for their Valentine's Day arrangements.

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Thus in mid-afternoon...

Dawn was startled awake mostly by the loud buzzing of her phone. She reached for that on the nightstand pretty quickly, when she recognized several handwritten notes above it.

She grabbed her phone to answer the call as well as ignored reading letters for quite a while.

"Hi love, I miss you," Richard said on the other end of the line.

"I miss you too, babe, pauwi ka na?" Dawn whispered, massaging her eyes gently.

"I simply phoned to wake you up, mahal. Hintayin ka namin ng mga bata sa baba. Please take your time, I love you."

"Ha? What do you mean?" She wondered, however, the connection abruptly terminated, leaving her perplexed.

Dawn returned her attention to the envelopes, reaching for them as well as observing that each one seemed to have a post-it note on top of that. She proceeded by scrutinizing the small gold envelope.

"From your best Honey, Pumpkin, and Sweetie!"

She figured it would be from their three eldest children just by reading the paragraph. She'd been calling them certain nicknames since they were babies: Honey for Hope, Pumpkin for Paul, and Sweetie for Sofia.