"Tita...I would like to officially ask for your permission to marry Aika..." Nat felt his heart race.

"OH MY GOD. THIS IS FINALLY HAPPENING." Jill blurted out.

"Shush Jill, it's supposed to be a serious moment." Tricia covered her sister's mouth.

"You know that I'm not the only one that you need to ask permission from, right?" Atty Leni kept a straight face.

"Yes Ma'am. I've already asked for Sir Jesse's permission when we were in Naga. If there's anything else I have to do or anyone else I need to visit...I will..." Nat was anxious.

"You have our blessings then." Atty Leni broke out into a warm smile.

"I do? You mean...." Nat was confused by the sudden change in Atty Leni's expression.

"Yes, kuya. Mama said yes!" Tricia squealed.

"She was just teasing you!" Jill was equally thrilled.

"Thank you tita! Maraming salamat po!" Nat gave Atty Leni, Tricia and Jill hugs.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Tricia went straight to business.

~

"Have a great day in school, Prof..." Nat gave Aika a kiss on the cheek.

"You too, Mr GM." Aika smiled as she got off the car.

"I'll pick you up with Jamie later." Nat waved goodbye.

"Prof, is he your boyfriend?" A few of Aika's students happened to pass by.

"Don't you have classes to go to?" Aika tried to change the topic.

"Hindi po. Our first class is with you." The group of girls shook their heads.

"He's the pogi bodyguard always accompanying you during the campaign, right? He looks even better in real life!" The girls were excited.

"You girls are only going to accept yes as an answer right?" Aika chuckled.

"Yes po." The girls nodded.

"Have you finished the mid-term assignment due later?" Aika had the upper hand now.

"Uh...have a great day, Prof! We'll see you later for class!" The girls giggled as they scurried off, knowing that their favourite Prof Aika was shy.

"Delivery for Ms Aika Robredo? It's from Mr Nathaniel Lee." A GrabFood delivery man was standing in front of the PolSci office.

"Salamat po." Aika took the brown paper bag and peeked inside.

Don't skip lunch while marking those mid-terms. Love you <3

"Hi sunshine, how was lunch?" Nat picked up Aika's call within one ring.

"Masarap. Thanks for the treat. How did you sneak the note in?" Aika recognised Nat's handwriting.

"Because I went out to get it? I would have driven to ADMU myself if I could but Gabe said no and sent it out for delivery." Nat chuckled.

"Patty and Jill are coming for a visit next week, do you wanna tag along?" Aika offered.

"Yes a million times." Nat grinned.

"I'll see you later. Go focus on your work before Gabe calls me to complain about you again." Aika joked.

"Mahal kita, sunshine." Nat whispered before ending the call.

~

"What's all these?" Tricia saw Aika sitting on her bed with origami hearts strewn all over.

"Jamie has been giving me these everyday for 2 weeks...She says that she folds one whenever she misses me." Aika held up the different coloured origamis.

"Aww, that's cute...Can I take a look?" Tricia picked one up and something caught her eye.

"I'm going to run out of space on my table soon..." Aika's table was already filled with cards from Natalia, Alo and Jamie.

"Ate...what's with the stickers on the back?" Tricia saw that each of the hearts had an alphabet letter on them.

"Oh, the stickers? Jamie said that it was to lock the hearts so that the love inside wouldn't run away." Aika smiled. Kids nowadays were too eloquent.

"Ah..." Tricia let out a punctuated sigh.

"Ooh, what are those?" Jill joined the fun.

"Heart origami, with love locked by alphabet stickers." Tricia handed them to Jill.

"I'm impressed, Ate...I really am..." Jill studied the hearts for a while before looking at Aika was a blank expression.

"With?" Aika was confused.

"Nothing. Good night, Ate." Jill dragged Tricia out of the room.

"Enjoy your date with kuya tomorrow!" Tricia added before she left.

"Wow...I can't believe she didn't notice..." Jill was dumbfounded.

"It was literally 13 out of 14 letters." Tricia wondered how Aika didn't realise.

"I know right, the WILL YOU itself was a total giveaway..." Jill sighed.

"I guess that makes tomorrow more exciting then..." Tricia winked.

"I'm not even the main character but my heart is beating." Jill did a little dance.

"Your heart's supposed to beat anyways." Tricia retorted.

"Okay, Dr Tricia." Jill made a face.

~

"Daddy, are you nervous?" Jamie was looking at Nat pace up and down.

"Is it obvious?" Nat paused.

"Very. You're literally telling the whole world that you're going to ask ninang to marry you." Jamie threw her hands up.

"Any suggestions?" Nat sat next to Jamie.

"Just be genuine and sincere." Jamie smiled.

"How are you so smart, Princess?" Nat chuckled.

"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment." Jamie crossed her arms.

"Ok, little ms smart, shall we get going?" Nat offered his hand.

"Ninang!" Jamie jumped right into Aika's arms as she opened the door.

"Hi sweetheart...your titas have been waiting for you the entire morning!" Aika pointed to Tricia and Jill, who ran out upon hearing Jamie's voice.

"Me too!" Jamie wriggled her way out of Aika's arms and headed to Tricia and Jill.

"No goodbye before we leave?" Jamie had her back turned to Nat and Aika.

"Bye Daddy! Bye ninang!" Jamie waved without turning back.

"I thought her independent stage would come only when she was entering primary school..." Nat pouted.

"That's technically only 1 year away. Before you know it, she'll be off to college..." Aika teased.

"Yeah, and we'll be our 40s..." Nat reminded Aika.

"I surrender." Aika raised the white flag.

"Any guesses on what I've got planned today?" Nat turned to Aika with a cheeky look.

"All I know is that we aren't going to sweat..." Aika looked at their outfits. She was in a white spaghetti strapped dress and Nat was in his usual shirt and slacks.

"Nice guess, sunshine." Nat held in his laughter.

"Any hints?" Aika was curious.

"You'll find out in due time, sunshine." Nat winked.

"I remember this restaurant..." Aika lit up as the memories came back.

"Shall we, Mrs Lee?" Nat held up his arm.

"The poor waiter was so confused!" Aika laughed as she remembered that the waiter kept calling her Mrs Lee, even though that dinner had been Nat and Aika's first ever proper date.

"I wonder if the waiter still works here..." Nat looked around.

"Maybe I should have proposed to you before coming here again. So he won't be wrong this time." Nat joked.

"Yeah, maybe you should have." Aika retorted.

"I hope you enjoyed your lunch, Mr and Mrs Lee. It's been a while since you last visited." The waiter that served Nat and Aika remembered them.

"We did. Thank you. We didn't expect you to remember us..." Nat was glad to see the familiar face.

"It's hard not to remember a beautiful couple like you two. We've added a kids menu, do consider bringing your children along the next time, Mr and Mrs Lee." The waiter handed Nat back his credit card.

"We'll keep that in mind, thank you." Aika wondered how the assumption escalated this quickly but was nonetheless amused.

"Time to bring Jamie here next time..." Nat and Aika were laughing in resignation.

"What's next?" Aika was expectant.

"Time for coffee." Nat grinned.

"Snail mail?" Aika read the sign in the store that Nat had led her into.

"Yep, apparently you can write a letter to yourself and you'll receive it exactly 1 year later!" Nat had read about it online and really wanted to do it with Aika.

"So 10th October 2023?" Aika was sold on the idea.

"Uh huh...all you need to do is pick a card and hand it to the assistant when you're done." Nat led Aika to the huge array of postcards displayed for people to choose.

"No peeking!" Aika turned her back to Nat when she found him trying to peek over her shoulder.

"Okay, okay..." Nat chuckled.

"I'm done with mine." Aika chose a cute stamp to finish off her postcard.

"Same here." Nat held his up.

"We'll need you to write your address on the envelopes and they'll will be sent to our storage until it's time to send them 1 year later." The smiling assistant instructed as she handed them the envelopes.

"How about we send it both to my apartment so they'll be delivered together." Nat suggested.

"Good idea, our mail gets lost from time to time anyways." Aika nodded.

"Would you like to choose a complimentary sticker to place inside your envelopes? One for each card." The assistant offered.

"How about you pick the stickers and I'll write the address for both of us?" Nat took Aika's envelope as she deliberated over the stickers.

"I never knew your condo was called The Sunset..." Aika commented as she looked at the envelope.

"I...didn't know until today either..." Nat avoided Aika's eyes.

"I'm hungry..." Aika pouted as they left the store.

"I was waiting for you to say the word." Nat grinned.

"Don't get my hope high, Nat." Aika teased.

"When have I ever let you down?" Nat was confident.

"Hmm, let me see...remember when..." Aika giggled upon seeing Nat's eyes tremble.

~

"Are we there yet?" Aika asked as the car slowed to a stop.

"Almost. Just a lift ride away. Careful..." Nat guided Aika, who had her eyes closed. Nat said it was a surprise and Aika was happy to play along.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Aika was expectant.

"Tadah!" Nat released his hands and the beautiful skyline of Quezon City.

"It's gorgeous..." Aika gasped at how the sky had turned into a dreamy pinkish-purple shade with patches of orange.

"I hope dinner matches your taste buds?" Nat stepped aside to reveal a spread. Every dish was Aika's favourite.

"It's a customised menu?" Aika was pleasantly surprised.

"It took some convincing but anything for you." It did take a bit of effort but the chef yielded once Nat told him about the occasion.

"God, I love you." Aika hugged Nat.

"I got your favourite peanut butter and chocolate fudge ice cream in the fridge as well." Nat pointed out as they were halfway through the meal.

"Now that you mentioned, this is an apartment?" Aika looked around and realisation hit her that they were dining on a rooftop balcony.

"It is. It's actually a service that we're introducing for our new service apartments. In house catering. What do you think?" Nat was curious about Aika's reaction.

"Then I'm assuming this is one of the apartments that your company built? It's a pretty good idea. Imagine living here and having such great food to eat while watching the sunset...it'd be a dream.'" Aika nodded in approval.

"I'll take you around the place later." Nat offered.

"Is there no owner for this unit?" Aika wondered out loud.

"Not for now so I asked Gabe if we could use it to test out the catering service..." Nat gave Aika an awkward smile.

"Whoever owns this house would be really lucky..." Aika commented as she took another bite of her food.

"I hope they think so too..." Nat smiled.

~

"Beautiful..." Nat muttered. His arms rested on Aika's shoulders as she leaned in his embrace. The sun had almost set in the horizon and the city lights were starting to shine in the dark.

"The sky is indeed beautiful today." Aika hummed as she closed her eyes to feel the breeze.

"I meant you. You're beautiful." Nat leaned forward to kiss Aika's cheek, leaving a smile on her face.

"I want my peanut butter ice-cream..." Aika chuckled as she broke free from Nat's embrace. Aika slid open the glass doors joining the penthouse to the rooftop balcony.

The second Aika stepped into the house, fairy lights greeted her. She looked around and saw rows of pictures hung up neatly along the walls. Pictures of her and Nat.

"Follow me?" Nat held Aika's hand and led her to one end of the room.

"From the first time I saw you, you blew me away. You were literally an angel sent by God." Nat had prepared this for days.

"Just as I thought you were just a passing part of my journey in a unknown land, I ran into you again." Nat had a picture of the old couple from the bakery hung up.

"I remember how nervous I was when I first asked you out for a date and even now, my heart flutters whenever I'm with you." It was a picture of their first ice-cream date at night.

"You showed me what unconditional love was." It was a picture of Jamie and Aika.

"You were there through my ups and downs." It was a picture of Nat, Aika, Aly and Jamie.

"You let me into your beautiful world." It was a picture of Nat, Jamie and the Robredo girls.

"You were the light that guided me for the past 2 years." Aika was already tearing up.

"And...I hope that you'll continue being my sunshine for the rest of my life." Nat paused a for second.

"Jessica Marie, will you marry me?" Nat knelt down and held out a ring.

"I never imagined spending the rest of my life with anyone else ever since I met you and Jamie, Nathaniel." Aika nodded as her tears flowed.

"You are my forever, sunshine. Mahal na mahal kita." Nat pulled Aika into a tight hug after he'd placed the ring on her finger.

"And you are my forever too." Aika lifted her face to meet her lips with Nat's.

FINALLY MR AND MRS LEE!