"MAMA!" The door of the penthouse burst open and Jamie ran in. The entire family followed suit. Atty Leni, Tricia, Stephen, Jill, Gaile's family and even Aly were all here.
"Princess, what did you just call Aika?" Nat couldn't believe his ears.
"MAMA!" Jamie repeated.
"Princess..." Nat looked at Aika, unsure of her reaction. Going from tita to ninang may have been easy, but becoming mama was a whole new dimension.
"If you and ninang are getting married, doesn't that make ninang my mama? Right, mama?" Jamie turned to Aika.
"Aly...can I?" Aika wanted to get Aly's acknowledgement. Afterall, she was Jamie's mother and Aika wanted to respect that.
"Jamie's right, Ate. You are her mama." Aly assured Aika she was totally okay with it.
"Come to mama, anak..." Aika knelt down in front of Jamie with her arms wide open.
"I love you, mama!" Jamie crashed into Aika's embrace.
"I love you too, anak." Aika never knew the word 'mama' could stir her heart like that.
"Mama, how does it feel to finally have an apo?" Tricia whispered to Atty Leni.
"I can finally use that membership card from UP on Jamie's university." Atty Leni couldn't be more excited.
"Ateneo, mama." Tricia shook her head.
"Don't forget NYU, NUS, Harvard and Duke." Jill added.
"Dasao, I want to see the ring!" Karine, Kevin and Alice were on Zoom.
"Welcome to the Lee family, Aika. We couldn't be more excited!" Alice smiled.
"Thank you, Uncle and Auntie." Aika could see the smiles on all their faces.
"It's Dad and Mum now, Aika." Kevin reminded Aika.
"We'll fly over the second I'm done with my exams!" Karine really wanted to be here but she was in the middle of her national exams.
"Also Ate...I really wanted to ask if you had no idea that kuya was going to propose?" Tricia needed an answer.
"No...was I supposed to?" Aika was confused.
"How about you take a closer look at this?" Jill brought out the origami hearts that Jamie made.
"What about them?" Aika didn't understand what Jill was hinting at.
"Rearrange the letters, mama!" Jamie chimed in.
"M..A...R...R...Y...M..E...You mean I had this the entire time and didn't notice?" Aika gasped.
"It's okay, sunshine. What matters is that I'm yours now." Nat grinned, tickled by how adorable Aika was.
"Okay, what other hints did you drop?" Aika was curious.
"Uh...The Sunset is the name of this apartment? And when I said that this penthouse didn't have an owner yet..." Nat trailed off.
"No way. You mean this is the penthouse that you bought in January?" Aika remembered the key that Nat had gifted her during her birthday.
"Uh huh. I think it just found its owner. I hope you like it..." Nat handed the keys to Aika. He was afraid that Aika wouldn't like the place.
"I love it." Aika whispered as she hugged Nat.
"You can decorate any way you like. I like anything you like." Nat kissed Aika's forehead.
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...
