kakaiirellano

Dianne smirked over the rim of her mug. “You know… if you ever get sick, I now know the perfect cure.”
          	
          	Lucien didn’t look up from checking her thermometer. “Please don’t say sex.”
          	
          	“Sex,” she said sweetly.
          	
          	His head snapped up, eyes narrowed. “Seriously?”
          	
          	She leaned back against the pillows, playing with her blanket like an evil mastermind. “I’m just saying… don’t you want to feel better, baby? You look a little tense.”
          	
          	“You're insufferable,” he muttered.
          	
          	“Oh, come on. We can call it… holistic therapy.”
          	
          	Without a word, Lucien grabbed the nearest pillow and chucked it straight at her face.
          	
          	Dianne yelped, laughing hysterically, the pillow bouncing off her head and landing in her lap.
          	
          	“If you weren’t actually sick,” he growled, trying not to laugh himself, “I’d shut you up with that ‘therapy’ so hard you’d forget how to talk.”
          	
          	“Ohhh? Promises, promises.”
          	
          	He ran a hand down his face. “God, you’re lucky you’re hot and feverish.”
          	
          	“You’re lucky I’m weak right now. You’d never survive healthy-me.”
          	
          	Lucien stood up, pointing at her like she was some kind of wild animal. “Don’t tempt me. I’m already one towel slip away from turning this room into a crime scene.”
          	
          	Dianne snorted into her blanket. “Sir. This is a hospital-grade situation.”
          	
          	“I am the medicine,” he said dramatically, walking away.
          	
          	She howled with laughter.

kakaiirellano

Dianne smirked over the rim of her mug. “You know… if you ever get sick, I now know the perfect cure.”
          
          Lucien didn’t look up from checking her thermometer. “Please don’t say sex.”
          
          “Sex,” she said sweetly.
          
          His head snapped up, eyes narrowed. “Seriously?”
          
          She leaned back against the pillows, playing with her blanket like an evil mastermind. “I’m just saying… don’t you want to feel better, baby? You look a little tense.”
          
          “You're insufferable,” he muttered.
          
          “Oh, come on. We can call it… holistic therapy.”
          
          Without a word, Lucien grabbed the nearest pillow and chucked it straight at her face.
          
          Dianne yelped, laughing hysterically, the pillow bouncing off her head and landing in her lap.
          
          “If you weren’t actually sick,” he growled, trying not to laugh himself, “I’d shut you up with that ‘therapy’ so hard you’d forget how to talk.”
          
          “Ohhh? Promises, promises.”
          
          He ran a hand down his face. “God, you’re lucky you’re hot and feverish.”
          
          “You’re lucky I’m weak right now. You’d never survive healthy-me.”
          
          Lucien stood up, pointing at her like she was some kind of wild animal. “Don’t tempt me. I’m already one towel slip away from turning this room into a crime scene.”
          
          Dianne snorted into her blanket. “Sir. This is a hospital-grade situation.”
          
          “I am the medicine,” he said dramatically, walking away.
          
          She howled with laughter.

kakaiirellano

As the laughter slowly faded and their makeshift Ranger battle came to a close, Alia suddenly sprung up from the carpet, ran straight to Dianne, and threw her arms around her waist in a tight hug.
          
          “Tita Yanyan…” she mumbled into her shirt, cheeks warm and glowing. “This is the best day ever. I won’t forget it, pinky promise.”
          
          Dianne melted, her arms instinctively circling the little girl. She kissed the top of her head, eyes softening with emotion. “You mean that?”
          
          Alia nodded eagerly. “Cross my heart. Even the part where Kuya fell off the couch.”
          
          Lucien, still sprawled on the floor beside Aidan, snorted. “Yeah, that was a highlight.”
          
          Dianne giggled… until a realization hit her like cold water. She gently pulled back and squinted at both twins suspiciously.
          
          “Wait a second.” Her voice turned mock-serious. “Did either of you… take a bath today?”
          
          Aidan and Alia looked at each other, then back at her with the guiltiest grins in the universe.
          
          “…No,” they answered in perfect unison.
          
          Dianne dropped her head back with a groan. “Oh no. Not again.”
          
          Lucien raised a brow, curious. “What do you mean ‘again’?”
          
          Dianne gave him a look—one he’d grown familiar with since this whole babysitting adventure began. “Let’s just say bath time is not ‘Ranger-approved.’ It’s a battlefield of tears, foam, and betrayal.”
          
          Lucien chuckled and stood up, brushing imaginary dust from his pants like he was reporting for duty again. “Well then,” he said with a dramatic sigh, “I guess it’s time for the Blue Ranger to go to war once more.”
          
          He clapped his hands. “Alright, Rangers! To the bathroom! We must scrub off the dirt of battle and restore our powers!”
          
          Alia gasped. “Do I get bubble powers after the bath?”
          
          “Only if you let me wash your hair,” Dianne teased.
          
          “I’m in!”

kakaiirellano

Dianne sat with her mom and Lucien’s mom on a picnic mat, watching the kids bury Lucien halfway in sand while he pretended to cry for help. Her mom leaned closer, whispering, “He’s a good man.”
          
          She smiled. “He is.”
          
          Lucien’s mom teased, “You tamed a wild one. And now you have a house, a dog, and future diaper problems.”
          
          They all burst into laughter.
          
          “Careful,” Dianne joked, “we might ask you both to babysit.”
          
          Her mother-in-law pointed. “Only if you name the baby after me.”
          
          Lucien, now freed from the sand by the kids, ran up and tackled Dianne playfully into the mat, making her squeal. “Hey!”
          
          “Team Lucien needs backup,” he said dramatically. “I’m being outnumbered.”
          
          Dianne laughed, brushing sand off his shoulder. “You’ll survive. You always do.”
          
          He stared into her eyes for a moment. “Not without you.”
          
          They kissed, with Mochi barking like a third wheel in protest. Everyone groaned and laughed and cheered from the background.
          
          It wasn’t just a celebration.
          
          It was a beginning.
          
          A new life, a new home, and the beautiful, chaotic family they’d always dreamed of.

kakaiirellano

The two of them stood outside the cathedral moments later, alone in the courtyard, moonlight glinting off the fountain nearby.
          
          Lucien wrapped his coat around her shoulders and kissed her temple.
          
          "I wanted to be your first everything," he said softly.
          
           "But I'll settle for being your last."
          
          She turned in his arms, cupping his face. 
          
          "You're not the ending, Lucien. You're the beginning."
          
          He laughed softly. 
          
          "Of what?"
          
          "Of me. Of who I'm finally brave enough to be—with you."
          
          Tears threatened again, but she didn't wipe them away.
          
          They stood in silence for a long time, just holding each other.
          
           The city lights sparkled in the distance. 
          
          The moon bore witness to a love that had been tested, broken, rebuilt, and now sealed with vows.
          
          She remembered something he once said:
          "Money can buy anything... except the greatest thing of all."
          
          And now, standing in his arms, wearing his name and carrying his future—she understood.
          
          He hadn't bought her. 
          
          He had waited for her.
          
          He had believed in her.
          
          And she had finally, finally chosen him.

kakaiirellano

✨ New Story Alert! ✨
          She works for him. He touches her like he owns her.
          But what happens when she learns the truth about the man behind the power?
          Fall into the heat, lies, and obsession of Under His Command—my new seductive dark romance now live on Wattpad.