𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 [MONTGOMERY DE LA CRUZ AU]

THIRTY FIVE ૐ IF ONLY

"HEY. I'M COMING HOME."

Olivia stared wide-eyed and a stomach churning with nerves at the screen of her phone. Gulping, she looked at the time stamp which reads '2:13 AM' and calculated swiftly inwardly. Montgomery must've arrived his house by 6 in the morning.

To her horror, Montgomery's name popped up on the phone through an incoming video call and she cursed herself internally. She went inside of the house and in to the kitchen where she found a quiet spot and away from the others and answered the call.

"Hey," The young man smiled weakly, his eyes tired and sleepy.

"Hey, you could've called sooner, I would've picked you up from the airport." Olivia said briefly.

"Nah, 's all good, got a cab as soon as I landed." He shrugged, rubbing his eyes weakly. "Anyway, what time does the graduation start?"

"Uhm.." Olivia squints at the wall clock that reads '1:19 PM'. "it starts at 2:30 so we have to leave around 1:30 or so. Are you coming?"

"Might not, I have to drop by somewhere before I head to the party." Montgomery sits lost in thought for a few seconds before shaking his head in a daze, smiling faintly. "Anyway, I gotta go. I have to go somewhere with Mom in a few. I'll call you later, 'lright?"

Olivia nodded and ended the call just as Dominic waltzes in with his graduation gown proudly, a sly grin playing on his mouth. "I see my playing cupid is working."

"You wish." She retorted with a roll of her eyes, scowling at him. She throws the hand towel towards him and he smoothly ducked, running his hand carefully to check if his hair was damaged in the process.

"Killjoy," Dominic calls out after her fuming retreating figure, chuckling. He mumbled to himself, "just wait 'till tonight, you'll be as happy as you were few years ago."

The graduation ceremony passed with the usual roars of victory of the seniors; some took pictures with friends and families, some couldn't wait to get out of their graduation gown and head straight to parties, some were crying. By the time they came back home, the Connelly's household was buzzing with excitement. The house were full of family members on both sides of the in laws, and a few of their friends. There were various types of foods prepared by the high-end catering services in California. Everyone appears to be eager to have a 1-on-1 talk with Dominic Connelly, the freshly graduate young man, the next one step in line to run the business.

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Montgomery de la Cruz entered the house, his green eyes darting everywhere for familiar faces. He was greeted by a few of the family members, directing him to the garden where he was greeted by more people, earning firm handshakes and pats on the backs. His eyes roamed over the tables and lit up when he saw her familiar figure sat with some of her cousins, Grayson by her feet, laughing as he tried to bite a Golden Retriever's ear.

He smiled and made his way to the table. He puts his hands behind him, hiding the two big, baby blue shopping bags. Her cousins caught sight of him approaching the table and sat in a awestruck silence leaving Olivia explaining to her 6-year-old why it was wrong to try bite a dog's ear, still unaware of his presence.

"--Grayson Juliann de la Cruz, if you bite that poor dog's ear again--"

"—I just wanna try, it's so soft and fluffy—"

"Hey, what's going on?"

Olivia stopped mid-sentence while Grayson looked up quickly, his mouth still agape to steal a bite on the dog's tail this time. "Daddy!" He jumped up to his feet and into the young man's arms, nestling his face on his neck. "I missed you. What took you so long?!"