"I got the letter from the lawyer today." Marco handed Aly a brown envelope.

"Letter? What letter?" Aly pried open the envelope.

"The lawyer's letter for us to get custody of Jamie. The old man has about 1.5 months left to live. We don't have time." Marco rolled his eyes.

"Shared custody...main custody goes to mother with father having visatation rights...what am I reading?" Aly gasped as she read the document.

"Main custody goes to us. Anything less than that won't suffice. We went through this countless times, Aly." Marco shrugged

"Marcus Daniel Hernandez, do you hear yourself now? How can we ask for main custody when we've only met Jamie for 7 months? Are you even thinking about Jamie?" Aly raised her voice.

"I am, that's why I'm rushing things! Look, if Aika's mother wins the elections, the media will start digging into the sisters' relationships. And they'll find out about Nat and Jamie." Marco explained.

"And what about that? Co-parenting isn't something scandalous?" Aly retorted.

"Yeah, but wait till they find out about you...they'll call Jamie names and start writing things about her. Do you want that? Or do you want her to grow up outside the public eye with us?" Marco tried to reason.

"Still? I can't just give this to Nat and demand him to sign it right? Besides, if Nat decides to take it to court, what nakes you think that we'll win? What about Jamie's feelings?" Aly gripped the paper so hard it was crumpled.

"To be honest, you don't know what Jamie thinks either. She treats you this way because she doesn't know. Things may change totally when she knows that you are her mother. If we manage to convince the judge that Jamie wants to be with us and we are in a better position to care for Jamie, we have a good chance. I have the best lawyers remember?" Marco challenged.

"You're crazy. I'm not doing this." Aly threw the paper on the ground.

"You don't have a choice, Alyssa. You know your father's business depends on our company. If I don't get the company, my brother will cut your father off and boom, everything will amount to nothing. This is for us as much as it is for me. You need the kid as much as I do." Marco grabbed Aly's arm.

"I won't use my daughter as a pawn..." Aly gritted her teeth.

"Relax, no one is using her as a pawn. We are merely coming up with a win-win situation for everyone. We get custody, Nat gets visitation rights, you father keeps his company, I get my rightful position and Jamie gets to live in luxury. No one loses out." Marco tightened his grip on Aly.

"What kind of mother uses her daughter as a bargaining chip! Have I not done enough harm?" Aly yelled in frustration and anger.

"You don't have a choice, Aly. Don't try to be noble when you are not in the position to. You have one week, or I'll take things into my own hands." Marco ended the conversation.

~

"Nice to see you again, kuya." Joy waved as Nat climbed into the van with Aika.

"Good morning titas. Hi Joy. Tita Annie, you cut your hair? It looks great on you!" Nat bowed to the older ladies, even noticing the hairstyle change in Annie.

"Thank you Nat, even my husband didn't notice..." Annie grinned as she gave Nat a thumbs up. 

"You need to stop attacking the hearts of the titas like this, kuya." Joy scoffed as she watched Annie and Ella hand Nat the snacks they had packed.

"Ate, Ms Marjorie is joining us today. She should be reaching an hour later than us." Joy informed Aika. 

"Tita Marjorie is a famous local celebrity. We did a vlog with her once, she and her family are really sweet individuals." Aika explained to Nat. Nat immediately did a Google search, not wanting to be rude or make any mistakes when he greeted her later. 

"Kuya, you're getting better at this!" Joy gave Nat a thumbs up. He was great at getting the message across with a 'Leni Robredo for President po. Salamat po'. 

"Not to mention how to literally attract attention because of how tall and pogi you are!" Ella praised a shy Nat. 

"At this rate, we'll end up seeing tweets of people asking who ate Aika's pogi bodyguard is..." Joy teased. 

"I'm not the point, everyone else here is." Nat looked at the people surrounding Aika, all of them holding up Leni-Kiko signs and cheering. 

"Tita, watch out for the motorcycles. How about you walk inside and I'll take the outside." Nat reached his hand out for Annie as a motorcycle zoomed past her. He proceeded to guide the older lady inside, safe from oncoming vehicles. 

"Aika, sino yung sweet boy na yun? Anong pangalan siyang?" Tita Marjorie asked Aika as she noticed Nat's considerate nature.

"His name is Nat. Our latest addition to the team and a good friend of mine, tita." Aika smiled. 

"Siya taken na ba? My girls are single." Tita Marjorie whispered. Aika felt her heart beat nervously. 

"Yes po. Taken na siya..." Aika gave the older lady an awkward laugh. 

"Too bad then...his girlfriend must be one lucky girl." Tita Marjorie commented. Aika felt proud. She was indeed a lucky girl. 

"You're going home for lunch with tita right?" Nat asked as they took a water break. 

"Yep, finally having lunch with mama after so long...Wanna join us?" Aika offered. 

"I shouldn't invade this precious mother-daughter lunch date...Oops, Gabe is calling." Nat got a call. 

"Work?" Aika inferred as she saw Nat's face fall. 

"Unfortunately, yes." Nat sighed. He wanted to continue with Aika for the rest of the afternoon. 

"Go ahead. I'll see you..." Aika assured him. 

"Sorry titas and Joy, work emergency. See you next time." Nat bowed to the older ladies before taking his leave. Aika got a message one minute later.

Sending a virutal goodbye hug and kiss to my best house to house campaigner <3 

Remember to grab lunch while working!

I will. Love you <3

Love you too <3

~

"Uh...do you have time? I need to talk to you." Aly held onto Nat's hand. Nat had just dropped Jamie off at Aly's house for their Sunday date.

"Sure...What's up?" Nat gently retrieved his hand from Aly's grasp. 

"I...I...want to tell Jamie that I'm her mother." Aly blurted. Nat closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Now?" Nat asked after a moment of silence. 

"As soon as possible." Aly avoided Nat's eyes. 

"Do you want to do it yourself?" Nat bit his lip anxiously. 

"Do you need to prep her? Will it be too much for her to take?" Aly didn't know what the plan was either. 

"Daddy! Auntie Aly! What are you talking about?" Jamie appeared just on time. 

"Princess, come here." Nat lifted Jamie onto his lap. 

"Is there something wrong?" Jamie looked at the adults. 

"Nothing's wrong...Auntie Aly and I were just discussing something. We thought you could help us?" Nat asked. 

"Ooh, I wanna help! What's the problem?" Jamie was excited. 

"So I watched a cartoon recently...and in the cartoon, there was a daddy, a baby and a mummy. The baby grew up alone with her daddy because her mummy had left them." Aly gave it a shot.

"That sounds like Daddy and me!" Jamie interjected, surprising the adults. 

"One day, the mummy came back and wanted to know if the baby hated her mummy for leaving her..." Nat continued. 

"Did the mummy ask the baby?" Jamie was getting engrossed. 

"The mummy was scared about what the baby would say. If you were the baby, what would you think? Would you hate your mummy?" Aly went straight ahead. 

"You mean if mummy came back, would I hate her for leaving me?" Jamie looked at Nat and Aly. 

"Something like that...So what do you think, Princess?" Nat leaned forward so he could see Jamie's expression. 

"Uh...It depends on why Mummy left. If Mummy left because she had no choice, then I won't be angry. Daddy told me that sometimes, we have to make decisions that we don't like..." Jamie furrowed her eyebrows.

"But what if your Mummy had a choice?" Aly prodded.

"Hmm, then I would ask her if she left me because she didn't love me. I would ask if she missed me while she was gone." Jamie pursed her lips.

"And if she says that she misses you so much and loves you so much?" Aly's heart was beating furiously.

"Then...then...I will tell Mummy that I love her too." Jamie broke into a smile.

"Really? You will?" Aly was surprised.

"Uh huh. If Mummy loves Jamie, so does Jamie. But Jamie doesn't know...." The little girl sighed.

"Don't know what, Princess?" Nat wondered.

"I don't know if Mummy loves me or misses me..." Jamie played with her fingers.

"She does. Mummy loves you and misses you so much, Jamie." Aly couldn't stop herself.

"How do you know, Auntie Aly? Do you know my Mummy?" Jamie blinked in confusion.

"Princess...I think..." Nat didn't want the situation to escalate any further.

"I am your Mummy, Jamie. Mummy's here." Aly let her emotions get the better of her.

"Aly!" Nat was too late.

"Daddy...is Auntie Aly really my Mummy?" Jamie had tears in her eyes as she looked at Nat, pulling at his shirt.

"Princess...I...I'm sorry...Daddy didn't mean to keep it from you." Nat's heart broke as tears rolled down Jamie' cheeks.

"Are you really my Mummy...Auntie Aly?" Jamie broke down into tears as Nat and Aly both nodded.

~

"Ate, have you seen this?" Tricia handed her phone to Aika. 

"No...I haven't had the chance to check my phone yet." Aika was getting worried as she dug her bag for her phone. 

"Nat...pick up...come on..." Aika muttered as she dialled Nat's number non-stop. 

"Is kuya not picking up?" Tricia was equally concerned. 

"No...it's ringing but he's not picking up..." Aika was bit her lip worriedly. 

"Call kuya's mum?" Tricia suggested. Aika immediately dialled for Alice. 

"Aika?" Alice picked up after 2 rings. 

"Hi Auntie, sorry to disturb you this late but I was wondering if Nat is okay? He posted something worrying online and he wasn't answering his phone..." Aika paced up and down. 

"I was going to call you but Nat stopped me. He said that he didn't want to disturb you..." Alice hesitated. She had promised Nat not to call Aika but she was equally worried about Nat. 

"Is there something wrong, Auntie? Please tell me Nat and Jamie are okay?" Aika felt her heart drop. 

"They're physically okay...but...something happened at Aly's house today. Jamie found out that Aly was her mother. Jamie refuses to speak to Nat and Nat is just cooping himself up in the room, beating himself up for hurting Jamie." Alice sighed. It hurt her heart to see them like this. 

"Is it okay if I come over now? I can reach in 15 minutes." Aika had already grabbed the car keys. 

"Please do, Aika. You're the only one that can reach them both..." Alice pleaded. 

"Ate, where are you going? It's 11.30 at night!" Tricia called out. 

"To Nat's place! He needs me! Help me inform mama!" Aika yelled behind her as she dashed off. 

"Aika! Thank god you're here!" Alice heaved a sigh of relief when she opened the door to Aika's worried expression. 

"Is everything okay? How are they?" Aika took off her shoes hurriedly. 

"Jamie fell asleep an hour ago...I'm not sure about Nat. He's locked himself in the room and won't answer me at all." Alice looked in the direction of Nat's room. 

"Let me give it a try. Don't worry too much, Auntie." Aika assured Alice as she headed to the master bedroom. 

"Nat? It's me. Can you open the door for me, please?" Aika knocked on the door gently. There was no reply. 

"Muscles? Please? I just want to make sure that you're okay..." Aika tried again. The door clicked after 30 seconds. 

"I'll leave you two." Alice took her leave after knowing that Nat was okay. 

"Nat..." Aika felt Nat's strong arms wrap around her the second she entered the dark room. 

"Aika...I am such a failure. Jamie has never looked at me that way before." Nat recalled the look of betrayal on Jamie's face when Aly told her the truth.

"Hey, hey...look at me." Aika felt her way to Nat's face and cupped it. Forcing him to look at her. The moonlight reflected off Nat and Aika's clear orbs.

"I hurt her. I hurt Jamie. It's the last thing I ever wanted when I decided to let Aly come back into her life..." Tears fell from Nat's eyes onto Aika's hands.

"It's not your fault, Nat." Aika wiped Nat's tears with her fingers. It was the first time she had seen Nat cry in the time they were together.

"I should have protected Jamie from this mess. I should have given her time to be ready. I should have..." Nat was shaking.

"Nathaniel Lee. Listen to me. Listen." Aika was firm.

"I...I'm...listening..." Nat steadied himself.

"It's not your fault. I know this wasn't how you planned to tell Jamie but things have already happened. What you have to do now is think about moving on. You are Jamie's father, all the more you have to be strong." Aika wanted to tell Nat that everything would be okay but she knew what he needed for objective advice.

Nat leaned onto Aika, feeling himself calm down as Aika stroked his back slowly.

"Thank you sunshine..." Nat spoke after a good 10 minutes.

"Come on, I think you need some sleep." Aika led Nat to the bed.

"Sorry for worrying you so late at night. You must be tired from all the house to house and the debate tonight...Because of me, you can't even rest properly." Nat felt guilty.

"Shh...I'm okay. I'm fine. In fact, the earlier you go to sleep, the longer I get to rest too." Aika knew that this was the only way she could get Nat to sleep. 

"I'm sorry, sunshine..." Nat muttered as he fell asleep, his arms tight around Aika. 

"All will be alright in time, muscles." Aika kissed Nat's forehead as she drifted off as well. 

~

"Have a good talk with Jamie. I'll be back in 2 days, I promise." Aika had to leave in the wee hours the next morning. 

"Thank you for coming over, love. Focus on the campaign and don't worry about us." Nat gave Aika a kiss on the lips. 

"Ninang will be back in two days for you, sweetie. I love you." Aika wanted to give Jamie a kiss before she left. 

"Stay strong, muscles. I know you can do it." Aika assured Nat. 

"Remember to take care, love." Nat reminded Aika. 

"Same goes to you, love." Aika smiled. 

Nat couldn't fall back to sleep after Aika left and decided to sit by Jamie's bed. He held Jamie's tiny hand and felt emotions stir in his heart. Aika was right. He had to be the one protecting Jamie and not the one hurting her. 

"Daddy?" Jamie woke up about 2 hours later. 

"Morning Princess." Nat smiled at Jamie. 

"Can you hug me?" Jamie stretched her hands out.

"Of course, Princess. Daddy is so sorry. Daddy loves you so much..." Nat repeated as he held Jamie tight. 

"I love you too Daddy." Jamie knew very well. 

~

"Nat? What are you doing here so early?" Aika was surprised to see Nat at the door. It was 4.30am on a Wednesday. 

"I happen to be on leave today and thought I would join you at the market this morning." Nat grinned. 

"You need to stop surprising me like that in the morning..." Aika chuckled as she naturally passed her bag to Nat as she put on her shoes. 

"I'm sorry sunshine. I'll let you know in advance next time." Nat gave Aika his signature smile, asking for forgiveness. 

"I'm sure the team will be glad to see you. How's Jamie doing?" Aika hadn't seen Jamie for a while.

"We had a talk. I swear Jamie's too mature for her age..." Nat didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse.

"What did she say?" Aika was curious. 

"She said she actually had a feeling that Aly was more than my friend. There was no reason for her to spend every Sunday with her Daddy's friend. She asked if she could see Aly this Sunday and ask her questions." Nat recounted. 

"She's taking it better than we all expected. Maybe we underestimated Jamie's ability to comprehend what was happening around her and the emotional burden she was capable of handling." Aika suggested as they entered the lift. Nat nodded thoughtfully. Jamie had assured him that she was indeed angry at him for hiding the truth but she understood where Nat was coming from. Jamie knew that Nat did so to protect her, because 'you'll understand when you get older' wasn't just used by adults to placate children. Adults did it out of love. 

"She asked for you though. She said that she wanted to talk to her ninang." Nat looked at Aika as the lift doors opened. 

"I was going to head over tonight anyways." Aika smiled. 

"Are we expecting rain?" A drizzle had started.

"Uh...ask God?" Joy chuckled nervously. The weather forecast didn't predict rain.

"Do we have umbrellas?" Nat looked at the ladies' sling bags. 

"They're all in the car because umbrellas don't work well if we're walking around trying to make contact..." Annie sucked her breath.

"We have raincoats, don't we?" Aika remembered.

"Right!" Joy dug through her backpack.

"I only have 3...we used 1 the last time..." Joy held up the black raincoats.

"I'm fine, the rain isn't that heavy." Aika insisted that the others put on the raincoat instead.

"I have a jacket." Nat pulled out his Uniqlo windbreaker from his fannypack. 

"You have everything inside that tiny bag..." Ella was amazed at how much stuff Nat managed to squeeze inside. 

"Here, put it on." Nat handed it to Aika.

"What about you?" Aika pushed it back.

"You're wearing white. That alone is a good reason for you to put this on. Plus, you can't fall sick. No buts." Nat unfolded the jacket and held it up for Aika.

"I'll try to get a raincoat for you, kuya." Joy felt sorry.

"It's okay, Joy. A little rain won't hurt." Nat assured Joy.