Chapter 14

MELISSA QUIZON

I moaned as my bed shook. "Mommy, wake up."

"One minute." I buried my face even deeper into the pillow.

I felt Reid lie next to me. He took a few strands of my hair and then tucked them behind my ear. I was overwhelmed by what he had done. "The food will be cold. Get up."

"Fine."

I embraced him, and he embraced me back. I then kissed him all over his face. My son smelled like toothpaste.

He giggled and forcefully pushed my face away. "No kisses! Brush your teeth first. Your breath stinks."

“You don’t love me anymore just because my breath stinks?”

“No. But I’ll love you more if you brush your teeth.”

I laughed at what Reid said. He quickly got off the bed when I let him go. He blew me a kiss first before running out. "Uncle Doc! Uncle Doc! Mommy is awake!" I heard him shout.

I stretched first before getting up. I yawned as I entered the bathroom. I washed and brushed my teeth before leaving the room. I went to the kitchen and found Eugene holding a bowl full of rice. Eugene made our kitchen small with his large frame. Our ceiling almost touched his head. I had bothered him last night, but he was the one cooking today. I approached him, and I would have picked up the bowl, but he pulled it away from me.

"Morning," he said sweetly. He lowered the bowl onto the table before facing me. "You still look sleepy.

He touched both my cheeks, then removed his hands. I didn't feel embarrassed when Eugene did that to me.

"Is it true that eye boogers can hurt someone?" We looked at Reid. He was already spooning rice onto his plate.

“It depends. When you throw your eye boogers at someone, they will stop and fall. They will be crippled,” Eugene explained.

I shrugged. "Make sense."

Eugene gently combed my hair. I sat down on the chair and scooped up some rice as well. After Eugene washed his hands, he sat down next to Reid.

"Uncle Doc, can you give me some corned beef?" Reid's politely requested.

Eugene's eyebrows rose. "What? You call me 'Uncle Doc' now? I thought you’d call me—"

Reid averted his eyes. "It just slipped out of my mouth."

"Eh?" My forehead furrowed. I swallowed what I was chewing before speaking. "What are you both talking about?"

"Boy's talk, mommy."

"Huh?"

Reid turned to Eugene. His eyebrows went up and down. "Don’t ever tell, Uncle Doc. It’s just between you and me!”

"Yes."

Wow, Reid had found an ally, huh? I grinned. "Fine, I won’t ask."

"Uncle Doc, are you going to do anything tomorrow?"

"My days off are Friday and Saturday. Why?"

"We have Family Day tomorrow. You are family!" I stopped eating. Eugene and I looked at each other. "I still don't believe that you’ll take Mommy away from me. I just want the three of us to bond."

"All right. I'll come. If that’s what you want."

I noticed the relief flashing across Reid's face. Suddenly, Eugene's cellphone rang. He snatched it from his pocket and looked at it. "Excuse me. Urgent call."

He got up and left the kitchen to answer the call. I just silently watched Reid as he ate the food. It seemed that he was getting closer and closer to Eugene. Eugene came back to tell us that he had to go to the hospital because he had an emergency. He kissed me on the forehead and gave Reid a high-five.

Friday came, and Eugene didn't disappoint Reid. We went to the Family Day venue in his car. The school had chosen to hold the event at a famous resort, and we had to wear swimwear, so I put on a one-piece swimsuit for that event. It was good that my budget allowed for Family Day.

We arrived at the event center. We each had a cottage there, and there was a large pool in the middle. The principal said that other games would be held there.

The emcee took the stage and moved the microphone close to his mouth. "Our next game is Flag Snatching. What we need are all the fathers and their sons."

"Reid!" I stopped and turned to Thunder. He was sitting on his father's shoulders while looking down at Reid. I waved at Zander, and he nodded at me. “Let’s go! Come on!”

“Huh? I don't have a father.” I turned to Reid. He was kneeling on the cottage chair and resting his two hands on the backrest. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to join.

"What else am I here for?" I stopped approaching him when Eugene appeared behind Reid. Reid couldn't respond because Eugene had already picked him up and placed him on his shoulder. He grinned at me before running closer to the pool. "Come in!"

I first removed some meat from the grill the school had set up for lunch. I entered the cottage to get my camera and immediately ran to the pool. The two were already soaked with water. Reid was wearing a belt with a handkerchief tied to it on his waist. The handkerchief would serve as the flag that each player must grab to win. I adjusted the knot of my sarong first because it had loosened a bit before getting serious about taking Reid's picture.

“The only rules of this game are to gain more flags. When you lose your flag, you are out of the game,” the emcee reminded all the participants. "Game? Is everyone ready?"

"Game!" all the players said in unison.

When the emcee whistled, the game began. Many were removed immediately in the beginning, but Eugene and Reid were good and fast. The teamwork between the two of them was perfect.

“Go, Reid! Go, baby! You can do it!” I cheered as I continue to take pictures. Many also shouted to cheer on their husbands and children. I was shocked when Reid shook a bit. “Eugene! Don’t drop my son if you don’t want me to hurt you!’

"Yes. I’m scared of you,” I heard Eugene shout.

As Reid continued staring at someone in front of him, he didn't notice a kid coming up after him from behind.

“Reid! Behind you! Aah!” In my confusion, I didn't notice that I was at the very end of the coping, and I fell into the pool. I surfaced and coughed because water had entered my throat. When I opened my eyes, Eugene's smiling face greeted me.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes—oh, no!" I noticed that the handkerchief was gone from Reid's waist. I looked up at him. "They got your flag, baby."

He was still sitting on Eugene's shoulders. He scratched his nape. “Mommy, I looked at you when you fell, so Thunder took the chance and got my flag."

I looked around to try and locate Thunder. He and his father were still playing. I looked back at Reid. "Oh, I’m sorry."

“It’s okay. You are more important than the game.”

I smiled because of what my son said. I suddenly remembered what I had been holding before I fell into the pool. I stomped my foot under the water when I saw that my camera had drowned in the water. “The pictures! Eh! How unlucky!” My son's handsome face had been in all the pictures in that camera. I heard Eugene laugh weakly and looked at him seriously. "Laughing at my misery?"

“Nope. You were cute earlier when you were into the game. We saw how you looked like before you hit the water. Priceless.”

I slapped him on the arm. He just laughed and removed some of the hairs that had covered my face. "Let's leave the pool. The sun is up, so your skin might get burned."

I noticed that many were looking at us. Some of them were wearing smiles that seemed suggestive. I was the first to climb the stairs and then lifted Reid off Eugene’s shoulder. We waited for Eugene to get out of the water. He gripped both railings and pulled himself out.

I stared as I watched the water drip down his body. A few drops of water rolled down his abs. His trunks had slid down a bit, so I could see his V-line. He messed up his hair to get rid of some of the water, which him even more attractive.

Both my cheeks grew hot. I averted my eyes before he caught me staring. I looked around—almost all the women around the pool were staring at him. I even saw a couple start to fight because the man had been telling a story, but the woman had been watching Eugene.

I dragged Reid to our cottage and immediately wrapped a towel around him.

"Lunch break first," the emcee announced.

I prepared the plates and served the food I had cooked. Eugene and Reid talked about a few more games that would happen later. When lunchtime was over, I didn't let Reid join in the first game because he might experience a stomachache. He had eaten quite a lot. When the first game was over, he ran over the deck.

“Reid, wait. I'm not done yet. You need sunblock!" I grabbed Reid's arm and continued rubbing the sunscreen onto him. The sun was too intense. I didn't want him to complain that his skin hurt after this event.

“Come on, Mommy. Hurry! Hurry! Look, Thunder is already there!” The game was called 'The Last Man Sitting,' where you couldn't be the last one to take a seat on the remaining chairs. That was his favorite game.

I let go of his arm to apply the lotion to his leg, but before I could finish, he ran away. I sighed deeply.

"Reid!" I didn't notice that there was a rock in my path, and my knees hit the hard floor when I tripped over it. I shook my hand and sat down when I saw the wound on my knee. "Ouch."

"Mommy, are you okay?" I looked up at Reid. He was standing in front of me.

"Reid, I have a wound. The pain," I said tearfully as I blew air on it.

"It's because you weren't careful." When I looked up, I saw Eugene. He was standing next to Reid. He knelt with his back facing me. "Piggyback ride."

I no longer hesitated and immediately climbed onto Eugene's back. When I encircled my arms around his neck, he stood up.

“Join the game, Reid. I'll take care of your lame Mommy.” Reid just nodded and ran to the venue.

"I haven't put lotion on his legs yet," I said softly as I watched Reid distance himself to us.

Eugene laughed softly and walked back to our cottage.

"What a fucking scene!” I heard a man shout. I searched for who the owner of the voice was. I noticed a man on the other side of the wall, not far from where Eugene and I were. He hit the stone wall with his fist with so much force, I was scared that he was bleeding now. I winced. Suddenly, my heartbeat quickened when he looked at us. Wright stared at me for a moment, then quickly turned around and walked away.