JAY SERIES

When stars fades 11

Jay was getting better day by day and you admit to yourself that it's been a month since he and you lived together again. And the months he's stayed with you prove that he's completely changed.

You had no news about Aliana and didn't ask Jay about her because you're still uninterested in her, even though you don't know if Jay and Aliana are still talking which isn't your problem because all you want right now is a peace of mind.

It's morning, and Jay has prepared breakfast for you. He left early today because he said there was an urgent business meeting at their company so the usual time he left didn't happen because he needed to adjust.

You're still feeding Estelle when you see a sticky note on the floor. It may have fallen earlier, but you missed it when you were getting ready to eat. You read the messages left on the sticky note.

"Good morning, baby. I'll make you some tasty food, eat it before you go, and take a fruit with you since it's nutritious. Stay hydrated okay, see you later."

You put your hands on your face after reading it, and you can't help but smile at his message. You're still wondering where he got the nickname "baby," because he's never called you that before in your life.

"Hello, mommy, why are you smiling?" Estelle asks as she puts her feeding bottle in her mouth.

You simply look at her and kiss her on the cheek.

"Because your daddy is sending me mixed signals again," you explained to her, as if she understood.

Estelle smiles at you as she continues sucks on her feeding bottle.

When you finish eating, you bathe Estelle because she has class today and since her Nanny isn't back you'll be the one to deliver her to school, and if Jay is out early, he'll be the one to pick up Estelle. That was your routine as a parent, so you became used to it.

When you came at the parking lot, you noticed Riki getting out of his car which surprised you because he rarely uses his car when nothing important is going on.

He was dressed in a black hoodie and carried a large slingbag on his back. So you assumed he returned home from night duty and dressed in civilian clothes.

Riki looks serious as he exits his car, his brow slightly creased, you try to call him but decide not to because he appears to be in a bad mood. So you just keep an eye on him until he enters the elevator.

"Baby, get inside," you say to Estelle as you fasten her seat belt. After ensuring that everything is in order, you take the wheel and begin driving. Because there is no traffic on the way, you can easily deliver Estelle to school, and you also arrived at work earlier than usual.

As your coworker greeted you and smiled as you walked into the office, you returned the greeting.

"Good morning,"

"Wow, you're early today," she said, knowing you're always late due to heavy traffic on your way to work.

"I hope there's no traffic every day," you replied. Because that is the most common issue that workers face on a daily basis.

You're about to open your laptop when your phone vibrates, so you grab it to check for a message, and it's from Jay.

[Did you eat breakfast?] He said on the text, and you tap a reply for him.

[Yup,]

You expected him to respond slowly because you know him to be a slow responder, so when you received a response from him you wondered how he could use his phone while in the middle of a meeting.

[How is it?]

[Um, same as usual.] you replied.

[But, do you like it?]

You're not sure why he suddenly asks this, but his curiosity causes you to smile.

[I'm not going to tell you," you replied.

You were just finishing up your conversation with Jay when your coworker taps your shoulder and you realize you didn't even start working because your mind was preoccupied by Jay's message to you.

When it was lunch time, the guard called you because there was lunch food sent to you.

"From whom?" you ask.

"I don't know ma'am, the delivery boy said this food needed to be sent to this company address, and he said it was already paid," he explains. You're still confused after accepting the food. When you get to your table, you're still wondering who sent it to you, or if it was sent to you by mistake.

You're still staring at the food despite the fact that it said it was for you. You have a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't because this is the first time it has happened. So you just sit there staring at it for five minutes until your phone vibrates.

"Did you receive the lunch food I sent you? If so, eat it and we'll meet in the evening, okay?"

When your heart is racing, you place your hand on your chest after reading Jay's message, you muttered something to yourself.

"I thought I was done with feelings like this."

You awoke one morning because of the sunlight, and you looked to your side to see Estelle, but she wasn't in your bed so perhaps she was with Jay, so when you got out of bed, you decided to do your usual morning routine before leaving your room but when you left your room, Jay and Estelle were not there so you get your phone to see if Jay has left a message because Jay didn't say anything about them leaving this morning, but Jay didn't even text you so you just have to wait until they get home.

When you hear the door open at 10AM you rush over to see them. Jay was wearing a hoodie and was holding Estelle in his hands. When you saw your daughter, you frowned.

Estelle was licking a large lolipop while her hair was tied in two but not properly fixed. You frowned at Jay because your daughter didn't look nice, unlike every other time you and Estelle went out and you will dressed her.

"Why did you let her wear that, and look at her hair? It's not even properly fixed," you asked.

Jay looks at Estelle for a second before turning to face you.

"Why, she still likes it," he said, looking at Estelle and pinching her cheeks.

Jay went into the kitchen and placed the paper bags on the table. He bought you dessert as an apology for leaving you alone in the condo, but you still didn't know where they went, so you asked him.

"Where did you two go?" you ask as you follow him to the kitchen. He looks at you.

"I won't tell," he replied, smiling as he removed the food from the paper bags. You appear clueless by Jay's behavior because every time he responds to your question he always smiles, making you even more curious about where the two of them are going so you ask Estelle because you know children don't lie.

"Baby, where did you and daddy go?" you ask, but Estelle looks at Jay and sticks out her tongue before he looks at you.

"Mommy, daddy said don't tell you that we went to Tita-"

Jay hurriedly went to pick Estelle up while covering her mouth with his hand as she began to say something.

"Jay!" you exclaimed, because Estelle had a freakout for a second and began crying.

Jay was smiling while kissing her daughter's cheeks.

"Did daddy tell you not to tell mommy?" Jay told as Estelle wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder.

When your gaze met Jay's, you asked him the question that made you wonder if it was the reason he didn't want to tell you.

"Maybe you went to Aliana and let her meet Estelle, like what you did on her birthday," you judged, but Jay chuckles as he approaches you and kisses your side head.

"Oh, please stop overthinking."