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Ten

AN: Surprise!! You probably weren't expecting another update so soon lol. The simple truth is we've already passed the halfway point in this story, and I'm just excited to tell you all the rest already. I still can't promise to update every day—I'm sticking to my original commitment of at least publishing a new chapter every Sunday—but hopefully things will start moving along at a faster pace from now on. Again, just because I'm excited to finish telling you the story hahaha. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. As always, please feel free to tweet me your thoughts @silent_shipper. Thanks for all the support!!

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The next three Thursdays, they return to the hospital together. Richard, who had always been good with kids, immediately won the little troop over on his second visit. He bonded with 12-year-old Gab over a mutual love for cars, charmed best friends Kitin and Mariz with his dimpled smiles, and even impressed the somewhat haughty and aloof 9-year-old Nhel with his familiarity with Zendaya from Shake it Up. Everyone liked their friendly new Kuya very much, and he liked and spent time with them all as well, but it was widely accepted that his favorite was little round Kaila, who, at four years old, was the youngest occupant of the ward. She was also the sickest, with acute myelogenous leukemia, and had had more rounds of chemo than anyone else in the room.

The kids weren't the only ones Richard had gotten to know better recently. After each Thursday visit, he drove Maine home to her condo, and they made good use of those hour-long drives (sometimes an hour and a half, depending on the traffic) by talking about nearly everything under the sun. Over the course of the past three weeks, he learned all about her childhood growing up in Bulacan, and more about her family. Besides Coleen, she had two brothers—Nico and Dean—and another sister—Niki—who lived in Australia with her husband and two children. She made him laugh hysterically by telling him stories about the various pranks she played on her brothers—and how they got their revenge by bullying her in return. She talked about her parents with an almost reverential awe, and about Niki with admiration (and maybe the slightest bit of envy?) But it was obvious that of all her siblings, she was closest to Coleen. She spoke of her with pride, enthusiastically telling him how she became interested in furniture design, how passionate she was about supporting local furniture makers and carpenters, and the initial struggles she had to overcome when she first set up shop.

"You sound very proud of her," Richard had remarked as he slowed the car down to a stop at a red light.

"I am," Maine agreed. "Ang galing kasi ni Coleen eh. It wasn't easy for her—she had to fight hard to convince Nanay and Tatay that it was what she really wanted—that it was a good idea—and then she wouldn't take all the money they offered for capital. Sabi niya, she wanted to come up with at least some of it herself, para...alam mo yun? Para she could feel na the store was really her baby. And it is—her very successful baby. Business is booming, and it's because she's so focused and determined. She's such a good entrepreneur."

She shifted slightly in her seat and adjusted the seatbelt around her torso so she could face Richard better. "Alam mo, minsan naiinggit nga ako sa kanya eh. Actually, sa kanilang dalawa ni Ate. They knew early on what they wanted, then they worked hard to get it, and now they're both content and living the dream. Ako lang yata yung drifter sa amin lahat eh...ako lang yung walang Mendoza determination. Baka ampon lang ako," she joked with a laugh, but Richard thought he could detect a tiny bit of bitterness in her voice.

"Kumusta ka na ba?" He asked, genuinely interested to know. "Are you any closer to figuring out what you want to do?"

"Hay," she had sighed. "I don't know, Faulkerson. I have a few ideas, but..."