CHAPTER 28

MELISSA QUIZON

"Daddy, are you okay?" Wright helped Reid climb on top of his bed. When he climbed up, Wright adjusted his jacket, which was tangled. Wright was now about to be released in the hospital; we were just waiting for the release order so that he could finally get out.

Wright smiled broadly. "It's nice to hear that you are calling me 'Daddy.' Can you call me that again?"

Reid nodded and bowed. It still embarrassed Wright.

I just watched them as I quietly tidied up their dirty clothes, as well as the other unused clothes I had to fold.

Wright gently pinched Reid's sharp nose. "Why are you so mean to me, eh? I'm your Daddy."

Reid's face turned serious. "Because you made my mommy cry. I love Mommy. Do you love Mommy?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked at Wright. My heart jumped when I saw that he was also looking at me.

Wright shot me an innocent smile. "Yes. I love your mommy so much."

I averted my gaze. My heart was beating fast again, and little men were jumping around in my stomach.

"Eh, why are you making her cry?" How did my son see that?

He cleared his throat. "You don't understand, Son."

"Why weren't you there for my sixth birthday?" Reid asked. Because your father was a womanizer, and he couldn't settle for one woman.

"Son, it is because…"

"At least Doc Eugene was there for my birthday," Reid said innocently while toying with the end of his father's blanket. Wright pulled him up and sat Reid down between his thighs. "Doc is good at games, eh? We always win. Even on Foundation Day, he taught me how to swim. We had a picture, but Mommy's camera got wet. Do you know, Daddy, Mommy fell that time? It's a good thing that Doc was there to carry her."

"Daddy's getting jealous, son." Wright hugged Reid from behind. "I'm getting jealous of Doc Eugene."

Reid tilted his head to the other side. "Why?"

"Because you always mention Doc Eugene," Wright said.

Reid looked at me. "Mommy, Daddy is fighting Doc."

It's up to you and your father to talk.

Wright turned Reid's face to him so their eyes could meet. "Do you love Doc Eugene more than me?"

"I love Mommy more than you two." I smiled at my son's answer. What now, Wright?

"What if you choose who you want to be your Daddy? Me or Doc?" Oh.

"Hmm. I won't choose." Reid shook his head. "I don't want to share my Mommy. I just want her to love me and only me."

He chuckled. "You can't grow up if you only have your mommy."

My eyes widened at what he said.

Reid just stared at him innocently. Wright gently stroked Reid's messy hair. I was sure he didn't understand what his father had just said.

"Reid, do you want to live with Daddy?" Wright glanced at me before turning his gaze back to Reid.

We had also discussed whether we should live with Wright or not. I didn't want to, but Wright begged me. Even though I was so mad at him, I still had a heart. I was not like him. I was not that heartless.

Reid frowned. "Are there a lot of kids in there?"

Wright nodded. "Your cousin is there. You can play with him."

"Is he good at piko? Because I'm the champion in that game. He might cry when I beat him."

Wright chuckled before he nodded.

"Can I think first?" Reid replied.

"Yes."

Reid got off Wright's bed and ran towards me. I stopped arranging clothes as Reid forced himself onto my lap. "Mommy, I'm hungry."

"Hamburger?" I glared at Wright and shook my head. Seriously? Would he kill my son with hamburgers? Where were the nutrients in those?

Reid nodded. "Koko Crunch."

Wright reached for his phone on the small table next to his bed. He pressed it and put it to his ear. "Hello, Mister Contreras…yes…before you go here, buy Koko Crunch at the convenience store first…for my son…yes, as soon as possible."

He hung up.

"Who were you talking to?" Reid asked. He still didn't leave my lap.

Wright smiled. "My assistant."

Reid tilted his head to the other side. It was his habit to tilt his head whenever he wanted to know something. "What's an assistant?"

Wright motioned for Reid to approach him. Reid immediately left my lap and ran to his father. Wright again helped Reid climb into bed and sit on his lap.

"Always curious, my sweet child." He hugged Reid. "Someday, when you're running our empire, you'll understand everything."

Reid looked up at him. "Mommy said that when a child asks questions, he's smart."

"And yes, you are."

"Daddy, we haven't made up yet, ah. We're not yet close, ha," Reid reminded Wright. I went back to folding clothes.

"Ha, why?"

"Because you and Mommy should make up first before we get close to each other." Reid looked down and flipped the flower on Wright's desk. Wright looked at me. His gaze seemed to convey something. I bit my lower lip before averting my gaze.

"Kiss Daddy." I looked at Wright. He was already talking to Reid.

"Where?"

"Here." Wright pointed to his cheek. Our son innocently complied, and after that, Wright hugged Reid tightly. "I love you, baby." I held my breath when Wright looked at me. His eyes were full of love. "And I won't get tired of loving you."

It was good that someone knocked right then. I quickly stood up to open the door for whoever it was. A tall man was revealed to me. His body was muscular, and his shoulders were broad.

"Hi, Mrs. Agoncillo." Mrs. my ass! We weren't even married. "I'm Marvin Contreras, your husband's assistant."

"Come in." I opened the door wide. As soon as he entered, he immediately approached Wright's bed and lifted the plastic bag he was carrying.

"Koko!" Reid said while jumping. He politely picked up the bag. "Thank you."

I lifted him off of Wright's bed. Wright tried to grab my hand, but I avoided him right away. I moved to the table and helped prepare Reid's breakfast.

"Mister Agoncillo," Mister Contreras's firm voice said. "Here's your request for the company's sales this month."

"Thank you, Mister Contreras. You may take two days' leave to spend time with your daughter," I heard Wright say.

Mister Contreras left immediately. When I closed the door, I immediately returned to Reid's seat. I didn't look at Wright, but I knew his eyes were following me.

"Small bites, Reid," I scolded.

Before I could sit down, there was another knock. I took a deep breath before opening the door. Mister Contreras probably just forgot to tell Wright something.

"Did you forget something, Mister Contreras? Oh? Hi." It was Eugene.

I suddenly remembered the seven days he had given me.

"Six days left, sweetheart." I gulped. "May I come in?" he asked smilingly. I opened the door wide to let him in.

"Oh. You again," Wright said coldly. He also lost his expression when he saw the doctor.

"I'm here to check your vital signs. I wanted to check if you were close to dying," Eugene said sarcastically. I let them be and just watched my son eat. I wiped away a smudge of milk on his lips.

"No. I'm good, so you better leave." I widened my eyes at Wright because of the tone of his voice.

"I own the hospital, Mister Agoncillo. My hospital, my rules. Got it?" The tension between the two of them was building up again. And here was my son, busy with what he was eating.

"I'm sorry to say, Mister Fuertes, but we don't need you here. I already have a mighty beautiful nurse, you see."

"With that attitude, she might as well leave you, Mister Asshole-cillo." My body hardened to what Eugene said.

"Mommy, they're fighting!" Reid said.

"No, baby. They're growling at each other. Grr," I said, smiling.

Reid laughed. "Oh! Like dogs! Bark!"

"I'm not a dog." We both looked at Wright. I raised an eyebrow at Reid, telling him not to get involved in the tension between the two of them.

I grabbed Reid's cheek and hit both of our noses. "Don't mind them, baby. Let them fight. Eat your food."

Reid offered me a spoon of Koko Crunch, and I happily ate it. "Love you, Mommy."

Reid was about to finish what he was eating, but the two monkeys still weren't tired of answering each other.

"Daddy, don't fight Doc!" Reid left the front of the table and went to Wright's bedside. He placed both his hands on the side of his waist. I glanced at them as I put away what he had eaten.

When my son said that, the world fell silent.

I found Reid sitting on top of Wright's bed while Wright hugged Reid's waist. He didn't take his eyes off Eugene. It seemed like any minute now, Eugene would take Reid from him. "Doc, let's play?"

"Daddy can be your only playmate, son."

"You're sick. I might get infected." Wright frowned.

"What do you want to play, Reid?" Eugene smiled successfully. It was like he was still teasing Wright because he was the one Reid wanted to play with.

"SURRENDER! Do you know how to play that? It's like a hangman." Reid handed the paper and pencil that were on the table by the side of Wright's bed over to Eugene.

The rules of the game SURRENDER were that there was a word you had to guess. You would provide a letter to complete the word, and when you mentioned a letter that was not in the word, each letter of SURRENDER would be deleted. Surrender had nine letters, meaning you had nine lives. Anyone could guess; it was okay.

"You know, Reid, Daddy is the champion there," Wright said sarcastically to Reid. He immediately frowned when he looked at Eugene. "Maybe Duck still has duty!"

"Wright," I warned.

Wright raised an eyebrow and stared at me.

"Whoever wins can kiss Mommy," Reid announced.

I gasped. "But, baby.."

Was my son selling me?!

"Game!" Wright and Eugene said at once.

Reid wrote something down, and he didn't notice the sharp looks of the two men sitting at his sides. I sat on the sofa and watched them.

"A," Wright began. There were five drawings on the paper, and the only clue was 'things.'

Reid nodded and cut the 'S.'

"E," said Eugene.

Reid cut the 'U.'

"'Don't just guess. You're always wrong, eh," Wright said angrily to Eugene.

"You too," Eugene said back.

"Come on," Reid said laughingly. He was unaware of the tension around him. "First to score three points wins."

You had to start with vowels for the game to be easy. I didn't have any plans to participate. My honor depended on it.

"I," Wright said.

Reid frowned and wrote 'I' on the second line.

"O," Eugene said.

Reid's eyes narrowed even more. He wrote 'O' on the fifth line.

"S?" Eugene guessed again.

Reid smiled and scribbled ou the first 'R' on SURRENDER.

"L?" Wright guessed.

Reid's smile widened, and he snapped the second 'R.'

"N?" Eugene asked.

Reid stepped aside and wrote 'N' on the third line.

Oh shit! You could guess that.

"K?" Wright messed up his hair because Reid had cut the 'E' on Surrender. "Son, it's hard."

"Pinto?!" Eugene shouted. (Pinto is a Filipino word for "DOOR.”)

Reid sounded like he'd been hit. "Aya!"

"He's deceitful! I should be the one to answer that." Wright pointed to Eugene.

Eugene smirked. "Stop it. You're not going to throw anything out."

"It's a game, Doc. You'll be the one to guess," Reid said. He seemed to be bored with what was happening.

They continued to play while I began preparing our lunch. Nobody could disturb them while they were playing. Because my honor was at stake, I was informed of the score. I approached them and looked at the scoreboard.

Reid: 0

Daddy: 2

Doc: 2

Oh, no.

"I don't want to play anymore," Reid announced. He stood up on the bed and wrapped his arms around my neck.

"Huh? No," exclaimed Wright. Both my cheeks got hot.

"It's forbidden to kiss my mommy." Reid kissed me on the cheek before turning back at the two, who looked devastated. "If you want to kiss her, you have to tear us apart."

"You're not going to see it, eh?" I heard Eugene whisper.

"What did you say?!" We were startled by Wright's shout. Even Reid could not speak.

I picked Reid up and walked quickly to the door. Reid must not have seen what would happen. I knew the two were going to have a duel.

"Mommy, they're fighting again!"