"My Runaway Prince..."

"First Sight..."

Hope:

I got home to find my sister Faith trying to calm my youngest niece.

"What's wrong?" I asked worried.

"She has fever. I'm worried Hope. She has not stopped crying since lastnight."

"Where's Brent?"

"He won't be home for another hour."

"Then we can't leave Sammy behind. It's either we take her with us too, to go see a doctor."

"Do you still have money? I have some saved up, but it might not be enough to cover meds and doctor's fee."

"I have money. We can..." A knock sounded from behind me. Thinking it was my brother in-law I immediately opened the old wooden door to find a tall, muscular handsome man standing there.

"Hope Sueño?" His voice made my knees tremble.

"Yes?" I breathed.

"You have some explaining to do." He handed me a marriage contract, and I felt the blood drain from my body.

🚑🚑🚑

Lucian:

The older kid's name was Samantha. Sammy, as they called her. She slept comfortably in my lap, her arms wrapped around my neck, unwilling to let go of me even in her sleep.

"I'm sorry, are you uncomfortable? I can take Sammy you know." Hope asked.

"It's fine, she's not that heavy. Besides, she kinda took a liking to me immediately."

"I'm sure you're used to women gravitating towards your charm." Did he just blush?

"Puppies, kittens, and ostrich included." I chuckled. Just then the door to the clinic opened, and Hope's younger sister and younger niece stepped out with the doctor.

"Nothing to worry about. Sandie is just teething. Butter or margarine helps in lubricating the gums to ease the pressure. Apply liberaly in the morning." The doctor told Hope as I stood, still carrying Sammy.

"Thank you doctor." Hope replied, before the doctor bade us goodbye.

I followed Hope to the cashier as he paid the doctor's consultation fee, noting that his sister Faith chose to stay seated in the waiting area instead of being the one to pay for her daughter's visit to the doctor.

"Hey, are you hungry? We could grab a quick bite before going home." Hope offered.

"No. I'm fine. Besides, we need to talk. Remember? This marriage thing, and all that."

"Right. Right. I'm sorry. It was for a school activity you see. It was never meant to get out of hand. We can have it straightened out tomorrow. I can take a leave of absence to help you get this thing erased from the records."

"They can do that here?"

"Well yeah. I mean, there was no pastor present to officiate the ceremony. Without a pastor..."

"There was a signature on the contract. A certain Carlos Rembrandt signed as a pastor that officiated the ceremony. A Glen Fortunato signed as witness, as well as one Maria Sarabia."

"Oh god. Who were those people. I only know of Glen... he was my classmate in that subject. He is also my bestfriend. The other two names are unheard of."

"Then we have a problem. Unless the pastor can justify that he never performed the ceremony, we are legally married... for all intent and purposes." Again, another blush as he tried to look away from me.

"We can start by going back to the goverment office and try to look for this Maria person first. Then I'll have Glen track down the pastor at the same time. I'm really sorry about all this."

"I have pressing matters waiting for me at home. This needs to be taken cared of immediately."

"I understand. Again my apologies. It was never meant to get out of hand. I'm pretty certain Glen was not the one responsible for filing this contract in the first place. We'll get to the bottom of this, I assure you."

"Until then, I am tied to you. I am your responsibility, as you are mine. After all, we are married."

"But it's not real, right? I mean it was just for a school project."

"Maybe to you. But under my country's laws, until this matter is resolved... we are legally married."

"You can't dissolve the marriage from your country?"

"No. It has to be dissolved from where it originated."

"Oh god. I'm so sorry. I'll do my best to fix this, I promise."

"Alright. So shall we? I really need to take a shower and get some sleep. I'm a bit tired from my trip."

"What hotel are you staying at by the way?"

"Hotel? No. No hotel. While we're married I'll be sleeping in your bed." And for the third time today, his face turned an adorably cute shade of pink.