Nat found himself waking up earlier than usual and turned to his left, where Aika was still sound asleep in his arms. He could hear her soft breathing and the warmth radiating from her body to his. A smile crept up Nat's face as he took the time to admire Aika's facial features...

Aika wasn't a big fan of makeup and was usually barefaced unless there was a special reason to put on some light makeup. No doubt that Nat was wowed whenever he saw Aika with lipstick and blushed cheeks but she was even more mesmerising without.

Her curled eyelashes, high cheekbones, baby pink lips, shoulder-length hair...everything about Aika just looked perfect to Nat.

"It's not nice to stare when someone is sleeping..." Aika chided Nat.

"How not to? You're the third most beautiful person I've ever seen." Nat shrugged.

"Third? I expected lower honestly. Who's above me?" Aika chuckled.

"My mama and Jamie. Actually, scrape that. You, Jamie and mama are all first place in my eyes..." Nat placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"It's too early to be this cheesy, Mr Lee." Aika rolled her eyes.

"I can say it in the afternoon, at night or any other time of the day because you're beautiful every second. Every...single...part...of...you..." Nat kissed Aika's forehead, nose, both cheeks and her lips as he spoke every word of the last sentence.

"Why do you always have to tempt me every single time?" Aika placed her palms on Nat's cheeks.

"Because I love you?" Nat whispered as he leaned in a gave Aika another peck.

"Me too." Aika smiled as she initiated the kiss this time. With a quick motion, Nat wrapped his hands around Aika's waist and turned their bodies so she was lying on top of him.

Nat found his arms slipping under her shirt (it was his but Aika would always wear one of Nat's shirts whenever she slept over), the touch of Aika's skin sending electric shocks through Nat's fingertips. Aika let out a tiny surprised yelp but smiled as she ran her hands along Nat's muscular arms before catching his hands. She clasped their fingers and pinned their hands onto the bed, knowing that if she didn't control Nat's hands, both of them would go too deep to return...especially when Jamie was about to wake up.

"That was dangerous..." Aika whispered as she tore away from Nat's body, unwillingly.

"That's why I always count on you to take control." Nat laughed as he kissed Aika's exposed shoulder blade.

"You overestimate me. I may very well fall to temptation one day." Aika poked Nat's side.

"I'll wait till that day comes..." Nat leaned in, attempting to steal another kiss.

"Definitely not today." Aika pushed Nat away and got out of bed before Nat could catch her. Jamie was probably awake and waiting for Aika's morning hugs.

~

"How's it going over there? I miss you..." Nat was video calling Aika, who was in Naga for the week.

"Going good. Should be coming back as planned." Aika was tickled when she saw Nat pout.

"I can't...NINANG! I MISS YOU MORE!" Jamie pushed her father and focused the camera on herself.

"I got you presents from Naga! Missed you a lot too!" Aika had a tiring day but seeing Jamie smile relieved her of the exhaustion.

"2 more sleeps until you come back right? Daddy keeps clinging to me because you aren't here!" Jamie rolled her eyes as Nat turned red in embarrassment.

"He just loves you that's why. I'll scold him for you when I'm back okay? Have fun at school today and I'll see you on the weekends!" Aika waved goodbye as Jamie gave her a virtual goodbye kiss.

"Can't wait for you to come back...my bed feels so empty without you." Nat whispered, making Aika end the video call immediately. Nat made it a point to send her a picture of him pouting, but ended up smiling like a fool seeing Aika send a picture of herself.

The day passed rather uneventfully for Nat, although he did spend a good portion of his lunch break exchanging Telegram stickers with Aika and digging out her childhood pictures from VP Leni's Facebook.

I will get my revenge when I'm back

Be my guest, I have 100% confidence.

You suck

I love you too, sunshine

Nat smiled as he continued texting Aika while heading to Jamie's kindergarten to pick her up. Until Nat spotted the person he was hoping to see yer desperate to avoid...

"Hi..." The lady gave Nat an awkward greeting. Nat stood rooted to the ground.

"How did you find us here?" Nat managed to keep his cool, although he didn't know for how long more.

"I missed you...and our daughter." The lady took a step closer to Nat.

"You didn't answer my question. How did you know where Jamie's school was?" Nat felt his anger rise.

"Jamie? Is that the name of our daughter?" The lady took another step closer to Nat, almost touching him.

"Jamie's coming out any moment and I don't want her seeing you...at least for now. So if you have any consideration for my daughter..." Nat was about to finish his sentence when he spotted Jamie running out.

"DADDY!" Jamie made a beeline for her father.

"Hey Princess!" Nat picked Jamie up and gave her a hug.

"Hello! Oh...you're the nice lady who found my mermaid keychain last time!" Jamie recognised the lady next to her father.

"Hi, little one...that's right, I was the one. You remember me?" The lady reached out to touch Jamie's cheeks but Nat had given her a fierce glare.

"Jamie, do you want to get a juice with yaya first? Daddy has to talk to this lady here for a bit..." Nat spotted Jamie's nanny approaching and heaved a sigh of relief.

After sending Jamie off with her nanny, Nat turned to the lady, who was looking at Jamie's retreating figure.

"We need to talk." Nat took a deep breath as he walked to the nearby cafe, with the lady following behind.

"It's been so long since we had coffee together..." The lady was reminiscent.

"Aly...no, Ms Alyssa Carlos. Do you realise what you are saying now? How incredulous all these sound?" Nat crossed his arms.

"I know but I'm also serious about making amendments. That's why I'm back. To be with you and our daughter." Aly reached for Nat's hand but he pulled back the moment her fingertips touched him.

"Amendments? How about we hear some explanations first? About why you decided to just disappear and reappear out of nowhere?" Nat was honestly about to blow his top.

"I had my reasons, believe me...I didn't want to either. I tried searching for you and Jamie but to no avail. That's why the moment I heard that you two were in Manila, I came..." Aly had tears in her eyes as Nat looked at her void of emotion.

"I called you so many times after you left. I tried texting and messaging you on Instagram and you didn't even reply to a single one. It seems like I was the only one trying. How do I believe you?" Nat gritted his teeth.

"Niel...I'm sorry. Can't we go back to where we were? You, me and Jamie...we could be a happy family!" Aly raised her tone.

"Don't call me that again. It's Nathaniel for you. As for Jamie, I need time..." Nat hated the sound of Aly using her old nickname for him again.

"Daddy!" Jamie had broke away from her nanny and ran to Nat.

"Princess, why are you here?" I thought you were having juice with yaya?" Nat made a silent prayer, hoping that Jamie wouldn't ask about Aly.

"Daddy, is the nice lady your friend?" Jamie turned to Aly, making Nat's heart sink.

"Hi Jamie, sorry that I didn't get to introduce myself earlier. My name's Aly, your daddy's best friend." Aly felt Nat's glare on her but ignored it.

"Hi Aly, thank you for finding my keychain!" Jamie smiled at Aly, causing a weird sensation to stir in Aly's heart. Perhaps it was her suppressed maternal love towards Jamie...

"Jamie, give Daddy 5 minutes alone and we'll go for dinner okay?" Nat gave Jamie's nanny a pleading look of help.

"If you want to see Jamie and tell her who you are, I won't object to it. I don't have the right to. But if you choose to come back into her life, I want you to promise that it won't end up the same way it did 4 years ago. Jamie is not a toy or attraction that you can abandon after you get tired or bored. Think about it carefully before you make empty promises. I will not let you hurt her again." Nat set the rules clearly.

"What about us? If I promise never to leave Jamie, can we start again?" Aly tried her luck once more.

"In case I haven't made myself clear enough, let me repeat. We are over. You and me, we're done. We were over the day you disappeared without a word. If there is going to be any type of relationship between you and me, it's solely as Jamie's parents. Nothing more than that." Nat drew the line.

"Niel..." Aly had tears in her eyes.

"If there's nothing, I will take my leave. Call me when you have your answer." Nat wrote his number on a napkin and got up.

"Is it because of that girl? It's because of her that you aren't willing to start anew with me, right?" Aly blurted out.

"What did you just say?" Nat knew that Aly was referring to Aika.

"I said, it's because of that girl. You want her to be Jamie's mother and your significant other, don't you? It's because of her that you wished I never appeared so you can live a happy life with her and my daughter." Aly lashed out.

"Alyssa Carlos. Don't push your luck or my patience. The issue neither lie in the fact that I have someone I love nor the fact that she has shown Jamie way more love than one could ever imagine. The fact is that you think it's okay to leave without saying a thing, come back, pretend that nothing happened and insist on getting your way without thinking about how Jamie and I feel. Aika has nothing to do with this so don't you even dare blame it on her." Nat was raging at the fact that Aly was trying to put the blame on Aika. He stormed off with a clasped fist, leaving Aly alone at the table.

~

"Aika...so that's her name?" Aly was staring at Nat's number on the napkin.

"So how did it go?" The suited man sat in front of her, undoing his tie.

"Looks like it'd be tough..." Aly sighed. A tinge of heartache mixed into her otherwise cold tone.

"But not impossible. Who's the other girl?" The man crossed his arms as he snatched the napkin from Aly's hands.

"I don't know...He didn't say much. Marco, must we really do this?" Aly took the napkin back.

"Look, the old dude is dying and he said that everything would come to us as long as we have a child. She's the only hope we have before he dies." Marco raised his voice.

"If we aren't going to truly provide Jamie with a home, it's not right for us to take her away from Nat just for an inheritance!" Aly retorted.

"Aly. It's 10 million USD we're talking about here. And who says we won't provide Jamie with a home? You're already her mother, I can be her father. We could be a family. Isn't that what you wanted too?" Marco reasoned.

"But..." Aly hesitated.

"You came to me on your own accord 4 years ago, saying that you wanted to be with me instead of that loser. We've tried all these years for a child so that I'd be able to inherit the company and now that we have a child, what's stopping you? Think about how we could be happy? You and Jamie could enjoy life and I become the President of the company. Jamie would be happier with us than with her father." Marco tried to convince Aly.

"But Nat has raised her so well...he loves her." Aly sighed.

"He's probably just a struggling salaryman trying to make ends meet. What kind of life can he give your daughter? Jamie would have everything she wants with you and me. Most importantly, she'll always be beside you. No need to share her with that loser and his girlfriend." Marco took a different approach to convince Aly. It was obvious that neither Aly nor Marco knew anything about Nat's true identity.

"If you can stand the thought of sharing your daughter with another woman, having her calling someone else Mummy, then be my guest. I'm just trying to help you get back what was yours to begin with. Jamie is your daughter and she can be our daughter if you want..." Marco continued to push on. He could see Aly giving in.

"Jamie looked so happy with her...she even called her ninang." Aly felt a pang of jealousy hit her as she clenched her fist.

"She's supposed to be happy with you. You're her mother, not that girl. Trust me and I'll help you get your daughter back. Our daughter." Marco grabbed Aly's waist and pulled her close.

"I want Jamie back." Aly whispered. Marco broke into a twisted smile as he kissed Aly.

Things were about to get messy...

Sorry for being so late:")

Comments always greatly appreciated❤

Also, Aly is going to be a fun character🙃