Jay's POV:
On the last day we all went to that same cliff where Keifer fell from.
Everyone cliff dived into the water and shouted their love.
Me and Keifer were the only ones left at the top, and he told me
"I bet all my wealth as long as your the first thing I see in the morning"
"Keifer" I said softly
He started crying,
"Why does my name sound so lovely when it comes from your lips?"
Before I could say anything he cupped my cheeks and kissed me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back,
"Come down, what are you guys doing up there?" The ulupongs interrupted.
Keifer dived down and shouted,
"I LOVE YOU UNTIL SCIENTISTS FIND THE END OF THE UNIVERSE JASPER JEAN MARIANO"
I knew he was waiting so I shouted at the sun, "一切会好起来的!"
Then I dived down, joining them. Everyone looked confused and didn't understand but I just laughed and told them to continue.
As we walked back to the house we all went to clean up ourselves and prepare to leave. After I was done showering, I checked my phone.
Kuya with 1,572 messages and missed calls. Aries was next with 413, and Tita with 12.
I opened Kuya's up knowing I was dead.
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: Where the hell are you?
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: Are you ignoring my messages?
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: I can't reach your phone. Call me when you get these messages
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: JASPER JEAN! IT'S MIDNIGHT!
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: JASPER JEAN!! I'M ABOUT TO LOSE MY TEMPER!
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: TELL KEIFER HE'S DEAD!!
From: Kuya Angelo
Message: NO! YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!
Most of his later messages were filled with threats and capital letters. I'm so cooked. Cooked, fried, baked and burnt.
I opened Aries's and they were just about Percy. I know he's been hiding that he's been seeing my father. I don't care, he's my brother too.
When we all went outside to see how we were going back, I saw the cruise ship.
JAY'S ROCKING BOAT.
"Who the fuck chose that name?"
They teased me and I fell asleep on a corner of the boat, only to be moved to a soft bed by Keifer.
When I was outside of my house Keifer offered to come in with me. Naturally I agreed.
As soon as Tita saw me she rushed over and hugged me.
"Oh Jay, we were so worried! If your mom finds out about this, she'll kill us" she joked.
But her smile quickly disappeared when she saw who had just entered the house.
I turned around and saw Keifer standing there, bowing slightly. "Good morning-
He couldn't finish his sentence before Aunt Gema slapped him hard across the face.
I covered my mouth in shock.
"You have the nerve!" She slapped him again. "What did you do to my nephew?!"
I immediately stepped forward to stop her, but she had already grabbed Keifer by the collar.
"Auntie...H-he didn't do anything," I stammered, but she didn't seem to hear me.
"What did you do to Jay-jay?! Huh?!" she screamed, hitting him again. "You're just like your father! Shameless! Just like him! An animal!"
"Aunt!" I yelled, trying to push her away.
I could see the fury in her eyes as tears streamed down her face.
Keifer didn't fight back or say a word. He simply bowed his head, silently accepting the blows. Seeing him like that made my heart ache.
"Auntie! That's enough!" I shouted while hugging her and trying to pull her away.
"You shameless people! Ruining my life and my niece wasn't enough for you? You will regret this!"
"MA!" Kuya's voice thundered from behind Keifer.
I let go of Auntie and turned to look at Kuya, who was speaking,
Aunt Gema pulled away and faced Kuya. "Call the police! Arrest this animal"
Tears continued to stream down Tita's face. Kuya quickly embraced her.
"Sshh..Nothing happened. Jay-Jay is okay," Kuya Angelo said in a soothing voice,
I looked at Keifer, who was wiping the blood from Tita's strong slap. I wanted to approach him and apologize, but I feared Auntie would lash out again, and Kuya would get angry.
"No! Put him in jail!" Auntie insisted.,
"Ma, Keifer is not the one. Please.." Kuya pleaded, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Tm calling-"
"MOM! STOP!" Big Brother's voice boomed, making Auntie freeze.
"Jay" his voice startled me slightly, "tell him to stay"
I wanted to go to Aunt but chose not to disturb her. I laid down on my bed and quickly drifted asleep.
I was hungry so I cooked food myself because dinner had already passed. Aries saw me and asked
"Where were you?"
"On an island"
"Did you talk to Percy"
"I already know Aries"
He coughed and asked with guilt,
"Know what"
"You're meeting with my father, don't worry I won't tell anyone"
"Wait how? And you're not mad?"
"A father of mine is a father of yours, of course I'm not mad. I just thought you trusted me enough to tell me" I replied disappointed, "and of course did you forget? I have my ways"
"Keifer is really starting to affect you huh"
I shot him a glare and he went back upstairs. After I ate, I messaged Percy.
From Jay:
What's up bbg?
My phone buzzed quickly.
From Percing:
My pretty-pretty sistah I'm outside your freaking house right now.
I quietly went outside and slipped into his car.
"Wazzup baby sistah?"
"Why are you dressed like that, ugly?"
He feigned offense and put his hand on his heart making an O shape with his mouth.
"I wanted to go out on a date with Freya, but I was too handsome for them to let me in"
"Are you drunk? That joke sucked"
"My beauty is no joke"
I went back after we joked around for a bit.
______________________________________________________________________
I woke up early and got ready. No, my socks were not mismatched.
Tita told me to apologize to Keifer for her. I quickly went to Aries's car before he would jump me for being late.
"Sit in the back we are picking up Ella"
"Does she not have legs to walk with?"
His eyebrows furrowed.
"I can buy her a private driver"
"Tss. I forgot you were rich, it doesn't, after get in the back"
I did what he said, giving up.
When Ella saw me she immediately greeted me, trying to be friendly
"Good morning Jay"
"Good morning"
"Why was your entire section absent yesterday?"
"Why do you care?"
Aries glared at me through the rearview mirror practically screaming at me not to start a fight.
I arrived at my classroom, where Sir Alvin had just walked in. Of course he reprimanded us for not coming.
"Your finals are coming, now all the faculties are monitoring attendance. You can't miss anymore classes"
We spent the morning studying and our teachers rushed through our classes. I didn't pay attention since I already knew everything. I'm just amazing like that.
Lunch came and passed, and so did our afternoon classes but someone was missing. That manipulative b*stard. I figured he was with Freya and chose not to get involved. I need to be careful, there is less than 2 months now till the banquet. I can't mess this up.
When I was going back home I saw Denzel. He was on the phone with Grave and looked visibly stressed. It looked like she hung up on him.
I approached him,
"What happened?"
"Oh? You're still here? It's Grace, I promised to go out with her but can't. I have a job and the tip is big for me. I don't know what to do. It's not safe out there either-"
"We'll go," someone said from behind. It startled me but it was just Keifer. Weirdo.
"Yeah we can go with her"
"But Jay-"
"I'm with them, if you still don't want that, then just accept my money and don't go to work" Keifer cut in, reaching for his wallet.
"Oh no don't!"
"It's fine, just be careful with Grace. And thank you Jay"
"Of course, that's what friends are for"
"Thank you so much Jay" He said pulling me into a hug but Keifer stepped in and hugged him instead and said,
"No problem"
I laughed at his response.
"Just text me when you're done" Denzel said walking away.
The king looked at me smiling.
I took out my phone and messaged Kuya and Aries
From Jay:
I'm not going anywhere dangerous, I have a safeguard and a pregnant.
From Horoscope:
I don't understand your words. Fix them.
From Kuya Angelo:
I understand nothing.
That works, at least I told them.
"Keifer let's go, Grace already told me the all she is at"
We got in the car and started driving.
______________________________________________________________________
"How many months again?" I asked looking for clothes
"7"
Grace continued browsing through the baby clothes. Once she had chosen what she wanted, we headed to the cashier still with the so-called King of Serpents trailing behind us.
I did a double take when I saw Keifer holding two pairs of baby shoes-one for a boy and one for a girl.
"What are you gonna do with those? A gift for the baby?" I asked.
He shook his head. "For Caretaker and Watcher," he said with a silly grin.
He's seriously insane.
I immediately punched him in the arm, catching him off guard. A few people in the boutique turned to look at us.
"Owww, what was that for?" he asked.
"What do you mean, what? Put them back!" I hissed, my eyes wide with irritation.
"No way. These are for our future baby."
I nearly smacked him right then and there. He was really planning to buy those shoes?
"Those will get old by the time you actually have a baby" I shot back.
"Then let's have one soon," he said casually.
I froze.
Laughter erupted around us. Even Grace, who was busy paying at the counter, chuckled without even looking at us.
"Put them back or you won't be able to have children anymore" I warned, making him put them back.
Keifer carried our shopping bags as we made our way through the mall. It was only one store, but we were already planning to head home. Grace looked exhausted--her face had gone pale, I asked if she was okay several times, but she kept insisting that she was fine.
As we neared the mall exit, I finally spotted the baby store Grace had been looking for. I wanted to complain to the mall owner -why on earth was the baby store so far away?
Were they trying to torture pregnant people?
"Can I drop these off in the car first?" Keifer asked, clearly struggling with all the bags he was carrying.
Grace turned to him. "'Go ahead."
Keifer glanced at me and winked before walking off.
I rolled my eyes, already planning to get back at him later. But before I could say anything, Grace smirked.
"You're blushing," she teased.
I frowned. "What are you talking about?"
We continued walking. She kept scolding me about my supposed affair with Keifer. I always denied it and was firm with her. She seemed to enjoy trying to trip me up.
"Keep it up. Next time, you'll be the one going with me to buy Baby's clothes," she teased.
"How confident are you that I'll even get pregnant?" I asked, annoyed.
She laughed but suddenly stopped, clutching her stomach in pain. I could see her tightly gripping her abdomen and grimacing. I immediately supported her and looked around for a place to sit.
"Are you ok?!"
She didn't move for a few minutes until she finally took a deep breath.
"Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?" I asked, worried.
She shook her head. "I'm fine. Just contractions."
We continued walking while I supported her, but because I was focused on her condition, I didn't notice the person walking in front of us, and I accidentally bumped into a person.
"Sorr-"
It was Freya. Unfortunately, we started fighting. Really badly.
Grace pulled us by our hair to stop us,
"Shame on you fighting in public like this!"
She said marching us away from the crowd, her grip still tight.
That's when I noticed water dripping down her leg.
Her water broke.
Freya followed my eyes and cursed under her breath. We quickly escaped from her grip to support her.
"There's no time! I'll get my car" Freya said leaving.
"Call an ambulance" an older woman shouted, creating a commotion again.
A few security guards came carrying Grace to Freya's car and I hopped in.
Me and Freya started fighting again.
"Stop! You two are the reason for this! If anything happens to my baby, I will kill you!" Grace shouted with all her strength, then suddenly cursed.
"That kid's head!"
Freya immediately hit the brakes and looked at Grace. She was clearly panicking but tried to think of a solution. "We won't make it," she muttered before restarting the car to find a place to stop.
She pulled over quickly, parked properly, and rushed to open the door next to Grace. She carefully adjusted her position and slightly leaned her against me.
"Wait.. what are you going to do?" I asked.
"Deliver the baby," she answered firmly.
I was about to protest when my phone rang inside my bag. I hurriedly searched for it, pulling out some of the extra clothes I had brought. Freya took them to use for Grace, but I let it slide and answered the call
"H-hello?"
"Hey, where are you?" Keifer's voice came through.
"W-what. We're on the way to the hospital. Grace is about to give birth!" I blurted out, my voice shaky.
"What? Which hospital? I'll follow. I'll call Denzel too."
"We're still on the road!"
"What?"
"Just meet us at Peralta Hospital!" I answered before hanging up.
I turned back to Grace, who was still crying. Freya was at her feet, preparing to deliver the baby.
I was going to help but she didn't ask. I wanted to deliver it! She stole my delivery chance!
Grace's grip on my hand tightened, and when she screamed again, it felt like she crushed a bone in my hand. I screamed too, probably even louder than her.
"Oh my.." I whispered, but my pain quickly disappeared when I heard the baby cry.
When I looked at Freya, she was already holding the newborn, wrapping it in the clothes she had taken earlier. I saw a sweet smile on her face as she gazed at the baby, but it quickly vanished when she looked at Grace.
"Grace. Grace!" she called, patting her gently.
She struggled to stay awake. I took the baby from Freya as she sped through the roads faster than flash. Before I knew it, we were at Peralta hospital.
Me and Freya rushed towards the nurses and the doctors explaining the situation. The doctor praised her for her delivery.
After Freya left I sat around waiting for the room to allow visitors. I saw a man standing across the hallway,
"Keifer"
He ran toward me and hugged me before I could say anything.
"Thank God you're fine" he said sighing, "I thought you got kidnapped"
His words comforted me. I nuzzled my face in his chest, his scent was intoxicating.
"Jay, why are you sniffing me?"
"You smell good"
The doctor came and told us we could come in. The first thing I saw was Denzel putting a blanket on Grace. Cuteeee.
"Thank you Jay!" He rushed towards me when he noticed me. He tried to hug me again but Keifer didn't let him.
We turned toward the door when we heard a knock. A moment later, it opened, and two nurses entered--one pushing a hospital crib with a built-in lamp, the other holding a chart.
"The baby is here," one of the nurses said.
She adjusted the crib and turned on the lamp. I squinted against the brightness and the warm glow of the light.
"The baby needs to stay warm, and his temperature can't drop. That's why he has to be under the lamp," the nurse explained.
Meanwhile, the other nurse checked on Grace with a medical device before leaving.
Denzel didn't waste a moment, He gently lifted his baby from the crib and brought her closer to Grace.
"Hello, Grazel Jay."
"What? Jay?"
"Remember we told you we would name her after you"
"I thought you were joking!"
"Do you wanna hold her?" Grace offered
I took him and started rocking him. Keifer stared at me the entire time. I gave her back to her after a short while.
"What are you looking at?"
"Just noting my wifey would become a good mother"
I blushed and hit him. Grace and Denzel chuckled.