"Daddy!" Jamie leaped into Nat's arms upon spotting him at the door.
"Hi Princess! I missed you!" Nat snuggled Jamie close.
"I missed you too! Where's ninang? Did she not come with you?" Jamie cranked her neck looking for Aika.
"She's going to meet us at the airport straightaway with your titas...say bye bye to Mummy and we can go." Nat nodded towards Aly.
"Right...bye Mummy! I love you!" Jamie give Aly a hug.
"I love you too, baby..." Aly squeezed her tight.
"Thanks for the last 3 days. She looked like she really enjoyed herself." Nat smiled at Aly.
"I'm her mother, Nat. It's the least I can do." Aly smiled back.
"Uh...right. I'll text you next week then. Bye." Nat stuttered.
"Come on Daddy, let's go see ninang, tita Tricia and tita Jill!" Jamie was already running to the car.
"Slow down Princess! Your ninang will kill me if you fall and hurt yourself!" Nat chuckled as he called out.
"Let's see if my Cinderella story worked." Marco whispered into Aly's ears, making her jump.
"God! Anyways, what Cinderella story?" Aly was confused.
"Nothing. I just made Cinderella come to life." Marco smirked.
"What did you say to Jamie?" Aly was totally in the dark.
"Nothing? Maybe I added some seasoning to an already cursed story?" Marco avoided the question.
"I...You...God! Jamie is 5 for God's sake!" Aly cursed.
"Old enough to know. I'm doing her a favour by giving her a heads up. The fastest way to get to a child is through her emotions." Marco shrugged.
"You're incorrigible." Aly spat.
"You'll thank me when we get the child." Marco was unfazed.
~
"Look who's there?" Nat pointed the Robredo sisters waiting near the check in counter.
"NINANG!" Jamie breezed through the busy airport with one person in mind.
"Hey sweetie!" Aika picked Jamie up and did a little swirl, glad to see her after an entire week.
"Sometimes I think two of them are the ones in a relationship..." Jill joked as Nat approached them.
"Tell me about it..." Nat agreed.
"Daddy, can I sit next to ninang on the flight, please?" Jamie looked at Nat with her puppy eyes.
"What's the configuration like on the plane?" Nat turned to Tricia.
"I think it's a 2 by 2...the flight was full so we have 40A, 40B, 43A, 43B and 45A and 45B." Tricia read out their seat numbers.
"If Jamie wants to seat with ate Aiks and ate is sitting with kuya Stephen...that leaves me with you, kuya..." Jill did the math.
"I could seat with Steph...right?" Nat eyed Stephen, who had just joined them.
"Sorry bro but I haven't seen my mahal in a week..." Stephen shook his head.
"No worry kuya, Jill doesn't bite." Tricia joked.
"Yeah kuya, I don't bite. I'll just swallow you whole." Jill put on a serious face.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath The Surface
RomanceAika Robredo was a poster child: with a Masters from Harvard, a respectable career trajectory and dependable eldest daughter of the Robredo family. Everyone was telling Aika that all she had left to do was finding her 'dream guy' to settle down with...
