"Jamie, could you help Jeri find her shoes?" Jamie immediately got off the couch at her mama's call for help.

"Coming! Jeri, didn't ate tell you not to hide your shoes?" Jamie held her little sister's hand as they scoured the 2 storey penthouse for Jeri's shoes. 

"But Jiselle said it would be fun to play hide and seek!" Jeri pointed to her twin sister as she and Jamie came down the stairs with Jeri's shoes in hand.

"Jiselle..." Jamie narrowed her eyes at the younger twin. 

"Sorry, ate..." Jiselle pouted. 

"Mama, when is Daddy coming home?" Jamie turned to Aika, who was occupied at the moment.

"Anytime soon. He left the office 30 minutes ago." Aika checked her watch.

"Is Daddy for real? It's Jeri and Jiselle's 4th birthday today and he's working?" Jamie was lost for words. 

"Anak, you know Daddy's been really busy recently..." Aika appeased Jamie. 

"Speaking of the devil..." Jamie turned at the sound of the doorlock.

"Papa!" The twins ran into Nat's arms. 

"Hey my little princesses!" Gabe had called Nat into the office at 5am and he was tired but seeing the twins made his exhaustion dissipate immediately.

"Sorry for leaving you to do all the prep, sunshine..." Nat gave Aika a kiss as he wrapped one arm around her waist. 

"It's okay, I know it's crunch period at the office." Ever since Nat became the CEO of the Philippines HQ, things had gotten busier.

"I'll go get changed and help you." Nat rushed into the master bedroom. 

"Anak, can you do me a favour and call your ninang Tricia to check what time she's arriving?" Aika handed Jamie her phone since the 11 year-old didn't have one yet. 

"Okie, gotchu!" Jamie unlocked the phone and got to work.

"Mama! Jiselle took my book!" Jeri stormed up to Aika with a pout.

"How about you ask Jiselle nicely to give you back the book?" Aika put down the thing in her hand and knelt down before Jeri.

"I did but Jiselle didn't want to." Jeri sighed.

"Do you really want to read that book?" Jeri nodded at her mama's question.

"Jiselle, it wasn't nice for you to take my book while I was reading it. I really want to read the book too, can we share?" Jeri talked to Jiselle the way Aika had told her to.

"Jiselle, it's not nice to take away Jeri's book while she's reading it. If someone is already using something you want, you ask politely if you can have it." Aika explained slowly to Jiselle.

"But I did, and Jeri said no too..." Jiselle defended.

"If Jeri said no, it won't hurt to be patient and wait for Jeri to finish reading before having your turn. You wouldn't like it if Jeri took away the book you were reading, would you?" Aika stroked Jiselle's hair. 

"Sorry Jeri...I shouldn't have taken your book away. You can have it back..." Jiselle handed the book back to Jeri.

"It's okay, we can read it together." Jeri smiled at sat down next to Jiselle.

"Parenting is tough...I didn't give you a hard time when I was 4." Jamie was watching Aika talk to her sisters.

"Yeah right, you had the terrible twos with a capital T." Nat refuted, ruffling Jamie's already braided hair.

"Mama! Daddy messed up my braids!" Jamie ran after Aika to help her. 

~

"Ninang Jill!" Jiselle ran up to Jill the second she entered the function room.

"Hey my little Jiselle-bear!" Jill picked Jiselle up.

"Lola!" Jeri headed for Atty Leni, who was behind Jill.

"Happy birthday, Jeri-girl!" Atty Leni bent down to hug Jeri, wishing her a happy birthday.

"Jiselle really reminds me so much of Jill when she was a baby...the cheeky smile, the mischievous antics and never-ending energy. It must be a bunso thing..." Aika chuckled as she and Nat watched the twins.

"Well, Jeri is just like you, Aiks. The silent observer that has her opinions and knows exactly when to be assertive." Atty Leni approached the two.

"And I'm the perfect mix of Daddy and Mama." Jamie boasted, making the three adults chuckle.

"Don't let your Mummy hear that, anak..." Aika shushed Jamie.

"Jamie ain't wrong, sometimes I think she's more of you than me!" Aly popped up behind Jamie and hugged the girl.

"Mummy! You know I love you equally, don't you?" Jamie gave Aly a peck on the cheek. 

"I'm not sure about that, baby." Aly teased. All of them knew that Jamie loved both her mothers equally, although both Aika and Aly found joy in teasing Jamie every now and then. 

"Ninang Tricia is here!" Jamie spotted the bespectacled lady and Stephen behind her with a huge diaper bag in hand.

"Hi sweetie!" Tricia gave Jamie a side hug. 

"Hello, Kyla! Ate Jamie missed you!" Jamie turned her attention to the 1 year-old in the baby carrier that Tricia had strapped to her.

"Are you excited to see me or Kyla?" Tricia pretended to be jealous.

"Kyla." Jamie deadpanned, earning her a little nudge. 

"It's okay, I'm here to see Jiselle and Jeri too." Tricia retorted childishly.

"Jamie!" Natalia waved to her cousin.

"Ate!" Jamie was glad to finally see someone her age. 

"How are you so tall..." Natalia complained as she stood next to Jamie. At 11, Jamie was almost 1.6m tall.

"Not when I'm next to Karine..." Jamie chuckled as Karine walked over to join the girls. 

"Hey girls!" Karine was now 21 and a staggering 1.75m tall.

"Time for the cake cutting!" Nat announced as he brought out the cakes, one for each twin.

"It amazes me how Jiselle and Jeri are so different...I mean they are fraternal twins but still..." Jill looked at the cakes on the table.

"Jiselle is totally the free-spirited bunso while Jeri's the soft-spoken, mature one..." Alice agreed. Her granddaughters couldn't be more distinct.

"Maybe that's why Jeri's named after you, mama." Tricia suggested.

"I'm not sure what Sophia would say about Jiselle being named after her..." Kevin joked. 

"For once, I am grateful for my short name. I mean, compare Jamie Lee Jia Wen to Jerika Eleonore Robredo Lee Jia Xuan and Jiselle Sophia Robredo Lee Jia En...I'm out of breath just saying their names!" Jamie panted. 

"Well, at least you girls will be trilingual growing up. English, Chinese and Filipino..isn't it beautiful?" Tricia offered.

"It is...until you start mixing up all three languages in one sentence!" Jamie remembered the times she had to substitute words in a different language because she couldn't figure out the translation.

"Let's take a picture of the 5 of you!" Jill gathered Nat, Aika, Jamie and the twins. Nat and Aika each carried one twin with Jamie in the middle. 

~

"Birthday parties are tiring..." Jamie flopped onto the couch the second they reach home.

"I'm glad you know, Princess." Nat whispered since he was carrying both Jeri and Jiselle, who were asleep. 

"I'm not having a party next year for my birthday." Jamie announced.

"Don't speak so fast, anak." Aika caressed Jamie's cheek before joining Nat in the twin's bedroom. 

"How is it that they're 4 already..." Nat tucked Jiselle in while Aika took Jeri. 

"The next thing we know, they're entering college." Aika sighed. Her babies were growing up in the blink of an eye.

"And we'll be old." Nat chuckled. 

"Daddy, Mama..." Jamie whispered from the door of the twins' room.

"What's all these..." Nat and Aika were surprised to see food and drinks laid out on the coffee table.

"It's Friday. And Fridays are family time." Jamie held both Nat and Aika's hands, sitting them down. 

"You prepared all these?" Nat was touched.

"Uh huh. I've got Mama's favourite Clovers and your favourite cheese rings. And since I can't drink, we're all having sparkling juice!" Jamie beamed. 

"Thank you, anak..." Aika hugged her eldest. 

"Aww, my Princess is all grown up..." Nat was touched. 

"I'm 11, far from grown up. I wanna be Daddy's Princess and Mama's anak forever." Jamie shook her head. 

"Of course you'll be." Nat and Aika squished Jamie in the middle with a big bear hug. 

"Jiselle and I want hugs too!" Jeri and Jiselle appeared from upstairs. 

"Shouldn't you two be asleep?" Nat was tickled.

"Hug!" Jiselle stretched out her arm.

"You know what this calls for..." Aika grinned.

"FAMILY HUG!" The 5 of them yelled concurrently as they each took their spots naturally in the extended hug. 

A short 1.5k ending but I hope you guys enjoy it. 

In case anyone was wondering, Jerika means the one and only or powerful, Eleonore means shining light while Jiselle means pledge, Sophia means wisdom.

Jerika Eleonore (the one and only shining light)

Jiselle Sophia (the promise of wisdom)

Thank you for coming along this 45 chapter journey with me, I really appreciate each and every one of you! Maraming salamat <3

Signing off,

Silent Rambles