"Jamie, could you help Jeri find her shoes?" Jamie immediately got off the couch at her mama's call for help.
"Coming! Jeri, didn't ate tell you not to hide your shoes?" Jamie held her little sister's hand as they scoured the 2 storey penthouse for Jeri's shoes.
"But Jiselle said it would be fun to play hide and seek!" Jeri pointed to her twin sister as she and Jamie came down the stairs with Jeri's shoes in hand.
"Jiselle..." Jamie narrowed her eyes at the younger twin.
"Sorry, ate..." Jiselle pouted.
"Mama, when is Daddy coming home?" Jamie turned to Aika, who was occupied at the moment.
"Anytime soon. He left the office 30 minutes ago." Aika checked her watch.
"Is Daddy for real? It's Jeri and Jiselle's 4th birthday today and he's working?" Jamie was lost for words.
"Anak, you know Daddy's been really busy recently..." Aika appeased Jamie.
"Speaking of the devil..." Jamie turned at the sound of the doorlock.
"Papa!" The twins ran into Nat's arms.
"Hey my little princesses!" Gabe had called Nat into the office at 5am and he was tired but seeing the twins made his exhaustion dissipate immediately.
"Sorry for leaving you to do all the prep, sunshine..." Nat gave Aika a kiss as he wrapped one arm around her waist.
"It's okay, I know it's crunch period at the office." Ever since Nat became the CEO of the Philippines HQ, things had gotten busier.
"I'll go get changed and help you." Nat rushed into the master bedroom.
"Anak, can you do me a favour and call your ninang Tricia to check what time she's arriving?" Aika handed Jamie her phone since the 11 year-old didn't have one yet.
"Okie, gotchu!" Jamie unlocked the phone and got to work.
"Mama! Jiselle took my book!" Jeri stormed up to Aika with a pout.
"How about you ask Jiselle nicely to give you back the book?" Aika put down the thing in her hand and knelt down before Jeri.
"I did but Jiselle didn't want to." Jeri sighed.
"Do you really want to read that book?" Jeri nodded at her mama's question.
"Jiselle, it wasn't nice for you to take my book while I was reading it. I really want to read the book too, can we share?" Jeri talked to Jiselle the way Aika had told her to.
"Jiselle, it's not nice to take away Jeri's book while she's reading it. If someone is already using something you want, you ask politely if you can have it." Aika explained slowly to Jiselle.
"But I did, and Jeri said no too..." Jiselle defended.
"If Jeri said no, it won't hurt to be patient and wait for Jeri to finish reading before having your turn. You wouldn't like it if Jeri took away the book you were reading, would you?" Aika stroked Jiselle's hair.
"Sorry Jeri...I shouldn't have taken your book away. You can have it back..." Jiselle handed the book back to Jeri.
"It's okay, we can read it together." Jeri smiled at sat down next to Jiselle.
"Parenting is tough...I didn't give you a hard time when I was 4." Jamie was watching Aika talk to her sisters.
"Yeah right, you had the terrible twos with a capital T." Nat refuted, ruffling Jamie's already braided hair.
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...
