Philip appeared in the living room in a flash, his eyes lighted in alarm. "What?"

"Look," she said and held out her arms at the space she was facing at the back of the sofa.

Philip almost ran to her side and his face widened in surprise and alarm when he saw what she was excited about.

"Oh my God," Cassandra uttered once again, this time beaming from ear to ear. "I didn't know he can walk," she whispered.

Philip was gaping as he stared down at his amused nephew who was standing with his hands at the back of the sofa for support. "I didn't know he can stand."

"Is he hurt?" she asked in concern. They didn't know what happened to Willie or where he had been since he woke up. She made a move toward the child but Philip stopped her.

"Wait, let him be," he said, watching in fascination.

"Maybe he can already stand like that. After all, he's one year and two months. Go ask Chanty," she said, bending down to smile at Willie who squealed in laughter at her face.

Philip ran for his phone and returned, already talking to his sister.

"What did she say?" Cassandra excitedly asked.

"Yes, he's standing right this moment at the back of the sofa," he said to the phone, ignoring her question. Cassandra flew toward him and pressed her ears to his phone to listen. Philip rolled his eyes and turned on the speaker and held his phone in front of them.

"Oh, well, he does that," Chanty's voice said. "He started scrawling and standing a few months ago."

Hearing his mother's voice ringing around the room, Willie squealed once again and the unexpected happened. He walked.

"Hey, you still there?" Chanty asked. Cassandra and Philip did not hear a word as they stood frozen on the spot, looking down at Willie's unsteady gait as he walked toward them, his tiny little hands held up for the phone. "Philip?" Chanty asked again and Willie squealed, his rosy cheeks shining with the rays of the sun.

"Uh...does he by any chance know how to walk?" Philip asked, finding his voice.

Cassandra was already jumping up and down, clutching his arm in excitement. She stifled her cry of joy as she watched Willie make another cautious step forward.

"No, he can't walk just yet. I've been waiting for that milestone. Why? Philip, why?" Chanty's voice had grown excited now.

"Because he's walking toward us right this moment, Chanty!" Cassandra couldn't hold her silence any longer.

"What? Oh my God, are you serious? Oh, my baby! I want to see right now!"

"Hold on, I'll make a video call," Philip excitedly went through the motion on his phone. When it was ready, he took Cassandra's hand and they stepped back from Willie. He held up his phone camera at the child for Chanty to see.

"Oh my God! My baby is walking! I'm so proud of you, Willie!" Chanty cried out.

"Oops!" Cassandra cried when Willie stumbled on his feet and dropped on the floor on his butt.

Philip made a move to get him but Chanty's voice stopped them. "Don't get him! Let him stand on his own!"

He looked at Cassandra and she nodded. "Yes, he should learn how to stand on his own. Don't worry, he's okay..."

He looked back at Willie who was just about to cry but was already struggling back on four and standing. Slowly, he nodded and watched in anticipation as his nephew staggered toward him, arms held out.

Cassandra and Chanty cheered and they spent the next hour recording videos and cheering for Willie.

*****

That morning was great, but the rest of the day was like hell for both of them. Willie was too proud and happy to walk and they had to bar the foot of the staircase so he couldn't crawl up. They had let him walk around, but mostly, it was Cassandra who had to watch over him since Philip was busy cleaning the house and doing secret work inside his office.

Chanty called a few times and Mary and Hope called after hearing the news from Chanty.

Though her husband was too busy, she made it sure he did the changing of Willie's diapers as she promised. It was messy at first try but he was an expert the second time. Cassandra took pity on him and prepared dinner of salad and the leftover pasta from last night. As Philip munched on the food, she fed Willie with mashed potato on her lap.

"Chanty said Willie's babysitter will be coming over tomorrow afternoon," he told her.

"Really?" she found herself feeling somber all of a sudden. Willie had touched her fast and she'd miss taking care of him. She and Philip hadn't had any serious argument since the baby came and she was almost afraid it would all change when they were left alone again.

She had also seen another side of her husband she never expected to see. Like one time earlier, when Willie accidentally tore one of the papers he was reading which she was sure was very important, he reacted calmly and took Willie in his arms for a kiss after telling him he shouldn't have done such a thing. Well, she wondered if Willie understood what he said, but it was sweet all the same.

Philip must have noticed the drop on her face because he said, "We can always come see him, you know."

"I know," she answered in a whisper, feeding Willie's open mouth.

"If you want, we can take Willie to the park tomorrow," he peered at her bent head and when she snapped it up with a smile on her face, he grinned. "Yeah, I guess that's a good idea—if you wash the dishes," he added.

"Sure!" she instantly replied, already thinking of tomorrow.

She received a call from Harrison later that night, but she had to cut him off because she was busy watching Willie and following him around.

By the time Willie fell asleep on Philip's chest—face down with his chubby extremities spread out—as her husband lay asleep on the comforter, she ran for her camera and snapped a picture. They both fell asleep the moment Philip laid back and Willie walked toward him and dropped on his chest.

Cassandra smiled, thinking that her boys looked so good right that very moment.

Her boys? Cassandra shook that thought away. That was not right.

She gently took Willie's sleeping form and laid him in his makeshift basinet beside Philip.

No, there might no longer be a time for her to visit Willie in the near future. Six months may be long, but it was also too short.

*****

The next morning, Cassandra dragged her feet to do her chores that morning while Philip watched over Willie in his office while having a conference call. By lunch time, they prepared sandwiches and packed Willie's things to go to the park. And though she thought Philip's home was secluded, he actually lived in a somewhat rich community only that the houses were very much apart from each other. And like every community, it had a park.

When they got there, there were kids with nannies playing and running around the grass-covered ground. Philip—as always—looked fresh in a black and white striped shirt and khaki shorts and sandals. Cassandra dressed Willie in a light-blue shirt and white shorts and socks since he still had no shoes while she chose white pedal pants and a blue sleeveless blouse to match him. She actually thought they looked like a family of three just having a normal day at the park.

They spread their picnic cloth under a big tree and Philip watched over Willie as the child came stumbling on his feet, following older toddlers passing by as Cassandra prepared some food. And when he got tired, Willie contented himself sitting munching a biscuit across Cassandra and Philip were eating melted ice cream she bought from home. She took a large spoonful of vanilla, her eyes resting on Willie.

The child was looking up at her, resting on one hand now when he suddenly squealed with laughter that almost threw him on his back. Cassandra frowned.

"What?" she asked laughingly at Willie. He stopped laughing, looked at her once more and his musical laughter rang out again. "What?" she asked a second time.

Philip was already smiling when he curiously peered at her to see what caused Willie's amusement and when he got a good look, he let out a low chuckle, his shoulders shaking with it.

Suddenly annoyed but amused at the same time, Cassandra glared at him beside her and demanded, "What?" She felt like the two of them knew something she didn't know—which was true—and she felt really stupid. "Philip!"

"What?" he asked when his laughter started to die, but when his eyes focused on her face yet again, he started chuckling some more and worse, Willie joined him, his chubby face with biscuit crumbs was flushing with glee.

When Philip saw her narrowed eyes, he held up a hand and said, "You got some vanilla mustache, babe."

"What?" she didn't hear his answer actually because she was too mesmerized as she looked at his happy face—a genuine Philip happy face.

"There," he pointed with his spoon and it landed where he intended it to be—on her nose.

Cassandra gasped. She couldn't believe he'd actually do it and she was frozen for a second. Willie laughed harder when he saw her face.

"That was a very bad move, babe," she said through clenched teeth and lunged forward, a spoonful of ice cream.

Philip was too busy laughing to dock away in time and half of his right cheek was suddenly covered by the white sticky cream.

"Don't think I'll let that pass," he knelt on his knees and with one hand, caught her arm before she could scoot away and slowly but surely lathered ice cream from his spoon on her left cheek as she vigorously shook her head. The laughing Willie was forgotten for a few seconds as they fell on the ground wrestling with each other with their laughter muffled by trying to close their mouths to prevent having each other's spoons stuck in them.

Philip was lying on top of her, keeping her imprisoned. Cassandra tried to wriggle away, slapping his shoulder. "Philip! Get off me, you crazy bastard!" she cried out with a laugh.

Her husband leaned his head closer to whisper in her ear, "Shh...don't say bad words, babe," he said with laughter in his deep, masculine voice.

And then they stopped.

Their laughter ebbed away as their eyes met.

It was the first time Cassandra saw Philip's eyes glimmer with laughter and she was sure she was actually happy for the first time in years as well. The small smile on her lips was still there when his came down. She closed her eyes as his lips landed on her cheek that was covered by the melted ice cream. Cassandra moved her head so their lips meet and when they did, she felt that same surge of electrifying energy once again and everything around her dissolved in just a mere little particle—unnoticed, unimportant. Her hand instinctively let go of the useless spoon and traveled over her husband's broad shoulder that was shaking with laughter just seconds ago.

Philip groaned as she responded with the same urgency as his kiss, his hands wound around her to lift her closer to him. All her senses seemed to have focused only to that moment of being in his arms and tasting his urgent, hungry kiss.

"Gah!" Willie's voice was like a whistle in the wind at first, but her experience yesterday taught her that she couldn't forget everything no matter how she didn't want to stop. Cassandra moaned and drew all her strength to push Philip away gently and when he did move away—probably thinking the same way as she—they both cleared their throats at the same time and faced Willie who had long stopped laughing and was fixing them a curious look.

"Hey," Cassandra forced a big smile on her face and crawled toward the child. "Would you like to go for a walk?" Of course she did not wait for an answer because she was eager to get away from Philip. The obvious strong sexual tension was lurking naughtily around them and it was a sure sign of impending problem for later. She and Philip would be alone at home and she'd love to go home with Willie wherever he'd go later with his babysitter. She couldn't trust herself to behave accordingly if something like what happened a few seconds ago happened again!

*****

Cassandra made sure that they spent the rest of the afternoon focused on Willie alone and they did just that.

They were actually getting good at forgetting something that happened despite the knowledge that they had real issues to talk about. After all, they were husband and wife and a man and a woman strongly attracted to each other. But there was that stupid contract, his secret with her father, and both their pride to block every possibilities.

And there was that undying issue of Dennis bothering her conscience every time. And there was Angelica who seemed to be determined to get her out of the picture. Well, Harrison was another matter entirely. She considered him a close friend and nothing else.

Chanty called them up hours later to tell them that Willie's babysitter was already on her way to get him, so they packed and drove back home with a gloomy mood. Willie was oblivious of everything because he was focused more on his new shoes that Philip bought for him at the store across the park. The only thing that brought a smile on Cassandra's face was that the babysitter would surely have trouble until Chanty returned from her trip.

Cassandra let Philip handle the matter of handing Willie to the babysitter after giving him a strong hug and a kiss. She couldn't handle goodbyes pretty well, so she locked herself in her room and watched Willie and his babysitter drive away. She sighed and stepped back when they were out of sight and decided to take a bath. When she was done, she thought of doing some work so she grabbed a sketch pad and went down, out to the lawn at the back of the house near the woods. Philip was out of sight so she thought he was probably back in his office.

She sat crossed legged on a lawn chair and stared at the blank page of her sketch pad. Like a writer's block, she didn't know what to do or how to start. She decided to let her hand do the work and started sketching the deepest secrets of her mind. Minutes ticked by, then hours and she did not hear Philip approach from behind her until she heard his voice.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Her back straightened in alarm and instinctively hugged her sketch pad closer to her chest. She would rather die than tell him what she was doing.

"Nothing," she snapped, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. Her heart was already hammering, afraid that he saw what she was drawing because he was standing so close behind her.

His lips twitched to one side as he peered down at her flushed face. "What were you drawing?" he casually asked but his face was full of curiosity and knowing.

"Nothing," she jumped to her feet when his hand reached for her sketch pad. Cassandra stepped back, her one hand grabbing the top sheet of paper and started crumbling it in a fist. She didn't care if it was all ruined. It was never meant to be seen by anyone after all.

He circled around the chair and walked toward her and she retreated further away.

"It's nothing, really. Why do you want to see it, anyway?" Her hand was already behind her back, the paper already balled up.

"What's that behind your back?" Philip's face was already full of amusement at her anxious state.

He's enjoying this, she thought. And he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.

She ran back to the direction of the house, but he was faster. He caught her in no time and she shrieked.

"Philip! It's nothing! Really! Let me go!"

"Not until you let me see what it is!" he said with amusement and warning, reaching for her balled hand.

"No!" she held it out of his reach and threw it to the only place she thought was safe—in her mouth. "Hmmm!" she tried to shout 'no' as she struggled and fought against his strength.

He just scoffed in disbelief. "I can't believe you actually like to eat paper, babe."

"Hmmm!" her eyes bulged as his fingers tried to open her mouth. "Hmmm!" she shook her head away and fought him with her hand. And when she was desperate enough, she kicked him on his shin and rushed out of his strong embrace when his grip loosened.

"Cassandra!" he yelled at her when she ran back inside and up to her room and into the toilet.

"Crazy bastard!" she shouted over her shoulder after spitting the paper out, flushing it in the toilet.

"Hey!" his laughing voice said outside her door as he knocked.

"What?!"

He was laughing so hard she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Leave me alone, Philip!" she yelled and went to her bed. What's with him and this playfulness? He's definitely crazy, was all she could think of.

She was proud of her quick waste management technique earlier. She would have died in shame if he saw that she drew a picture of his naked body. That would just be... She couldn't find the words and she left it at that.

All she knew was that she would have locked herself in her room for the rest of six months until her hair grew long enough to climb out if he ever saw that drawing. She would rather die a thousand deaths!

Philip continued knocking.

"What?!" she shouted.

"Your mom's on the phone," he said louder. She doubted that for a second because it was possible he was using her mother to get her to open the door.

"Yeah, right."

"No, I'm serious. She's really on the phone."

"Fine!" she jumped out of bed, went back to check if she flushed the toiled thoroughly and opened the door. He was really holding the phone in his hand and he handed it out to her with an amused smile.

Cassandra frowned. He was really different today—it was like Willie's childishness magically possessed him.

Or maybe it was the side of him I never got to see before...

"Hello," she said at the phone as that thought ran through her mind. He did not leave, but stood there looking at her.

"Hey, dear, how are you? Is Willie okay?" her mother's voice asked.

"He's not here any longer, mom," she said dryly. "His babysitter fetched him this afternoon. What's up? Why did you call?"

She heard her mother gasp. "Don't tell me you forgot! It's your father's birthday this weekend!"

"Of course I didn't forget," she lied. No birthday crossed her mind lately.

"Anyway, don't forget to come Saturday evening, okay? And tell Philip not to worry about the guests. I already invited that friend of his, Henry Bell. And Hope and Mary and William will also be present. I also invited Harrison and he said he'll not miss my parties for the world! He's such a sweet young man, isn't he? Your father's associates will be there as well so dress up, darling. Okay, good bye, I love you!" Her mother is always like that. She would talk on and on and then, before anyone realized it, the conversation was over.

"Okay," she sighed when the line went dead. She didn't like parties and now she was forced to attend one. Awesome. And she would be facing her father again.

"What did she say?" Philip asked.

"It's about dad's birthday party..."

"You're not enthusiastic about it?"

"Not really. I don't like parties," she looked at him. "And I don't like my dad at the moment."

"Yeah, I figured that out already. Anywhere with alcohol is not good for you," he leered.

She frowned. "What's with you today? You seem different."

He frowned. "Different?"