Array
(
[text] =>

Chapter 24

Angelo's P.O.V

I was woken up early in the morning by the sound of a child sobbing on Daniel's side. I was snuggled comfortably  under the warm comforter while Daniel was still deep in sleep. I got up and glanced up to where the sobbing was coming from.

The surrounding was still dim but I was sure that it was Jared who's crying softly. "Jared?" I stood up quickly and trotted to Jared' side. I stooped down and hugged him. He hugged me back in return. "What's wrong sweetie?" I asked, wiping his tears from his eyes.

"I...(sob) I...(sob) I wet my bed again." He answered between sobs.

I hushed him and said, "It's okay sweetie." I stood up and held my hand to him. "Come, let's clean you up and change your bed sheet, okay?" He nodded and held my hand as we walked out from the room to his.

I changed his pj's into a new one and found his new Thomas the Tank Engine bed sheet. He stayed on the side of his wardrobe and hugging his teddy bear, while I was fixing his bed and changing the bed sheet into a new one.

After everything was fixed, I called him up and tucked him in to the bed. It was still dark outside and I was guessing that it was probably 4 o'clock in the morning. It was still early for a kid to wake up. I decided to stay with him until we both fell asleep together on his tiny bed. He was snuggling at me while I was embracing him softly.

We slept for another 2 hours before Sonia woke us up. Turns out that it was Sunday and everyone is obliged to go to the church. I never thought Daniel would be a religious guy but for me, that is a big plus. Well, my aunties raised me with fear in God.

Jared and I walked downstairs after brushing our teeth (Sonia gave me a toothbrush when she woke us up) . We found Daniel pigging out the breakfast while his mum was making a pancake.

Daniel greeted us with 'Goffmoofum sunuhms' with the biggest grin in the world. He was probably trying to say 'Good morning sunshine" but the pancakes inside his mouth blocked his words out.

Sonia playfully slapped Daniel's shoulder. "Don't talk when your mouth is full." Daniel played along and pouted like a child. Sonia just shook her head and went on making pancakes.

"Good morning Daddy." Jared ran along to Daniel's side and kissed his dad. Daniel kissed his cheek back and he stood up walking towards me after a big gulped of orange juice.

"So where's my good morning kiss?" he whispered to me as he grabbed my hips towards him. I didn't have time to respond as Daniel's lips met mine three times while he's smiling. I couldn't see myself but I know I was blushing like a tomato. "I woke up without you in my side and I missed you. Jared stole you from me huh?" he pouted.

"Daddy kissed Kuya!" Jared's voice boomed from behind. I gulped and stood shocked while Daniel's arm where still on my hips. As for Daniel, he just smiled and kissed me in the forehead. He let go off me but his hands still holding mine as we walked to the table, his mum was seated with a big grin.

He went back to his seat, me sitting next to his right side while Jared on his left. He faced Jared, who by then looking at us excitingly and smiling wide, showing us his tooth decays. "Jared..." Daniel started. "How do you like to have another dad?"

I froze. What did he mean by another dad? Me? Daddy? Aren't we just boyfriends? What's going on?

I looked at Sonia with a confused look but she just shrugged and held my hand across the table, smiling.

Jared's smile disappeared and was replaced by confusion as he scratched his head. "Another daddy? You mean I will have one more daddy?" he asked.

Daniel nodded.

"Sure daddy. Who is my new daddy?" he asked Daniel, completely innocent to what's going on.

"How would you like your guardian angel to be your another daddy?" Jared's face turned into a big grin, showing off his teeth and gums and all. He was so cute I wanted to hug him right there.

He jumped from his seat and quickly went on my side, giving me his hugs. "I love you to be my another daddy." he whispered. I hugged him back. He broke from the hug and looked at me. "I love you."

I felt a warm and satisfying feeling inside me, as if all my dreams had come true over night. I always wanted a son, and now here was Jared. The kid just accepted me to be his daddy. I felt complete.

I looked over at Daniel with teary eyes. He brushed my back to comfort me as I looked back at Jared. "And I love you too, sweetheart." I kissed him on his forehead.

We continued with our breakfast while Jared was busy thinking on what to call me. He realised that he doesn't want to call me daddy because it will confuse him between me and Daniel. So I decided that he could call me Papa instead. He seemed to like it a lot.

Sonia decided not to attend the morning mass. She said that she would just attend the evening mass instead. She wanted me to go but I didn't have clothes to change. I only got my clothes from yesterday and it smells like dolphin. I actually had to sleep in Daniel's massive shirt because there was no shirt of him that fits on me. Another reason was our breakfast took quite longer than the usual, making us late for the mass.

After the breakfast, Daniel drove me back to my apartment. He didn't stay long though because he has to help Sonia with the groceries. I on the other hand, had to do my laundry and prepare for my shift at the bar later that night.

I received a text from Daniel an hour after to tell me that he met the couple Alex and Dianne at the grocery. He told me that he told the couple about us already. he also asked if i'm fine with him doing that.  He said he couldn't wait to tell the whole world that I am his now.

I replied to him that it was alright at all. He then replied back to tell me that the group wanted to see me and hangout sometime. I agreed to catch up with them during my day off.  Max has been telling me that the customers were looking for me every time I wasn't around, and I promised him that I won't skip a shift soon again.

After Daniel said his 'bye for now', I dialed Veronica's number. When I was about to hit the call button, my phone rang; it was Veronica. Speak of the devil. "Hi Nica." I greeted.

"Someone's in a good mood today." He snickered from the other line.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

She huffed. "Don't play dumb with me Grande." I could feel the roll of her eyes on the other line. "Dianne told me!"

"Oh. That thing." I scratched my head. I'm still getting used to the fact that Daniel and I are together. "Yes. Just last night."

"You'll tell me the details when I'm back there! As of now, I need to go. I'm in Paris right now and..." I heard her screamed from the other line before talking back to me again. "Gonna go Angie. See you soon." She hanged up.

I then dialed my mother's number right away. On the third ring, she answered. "Angelo? Oh my gosh son! I want to meet this man as soon as possible! I was about to call you. Is he a gentleman? Is he treating you well? Are you sure about him? Do you love him? Does he love you more than his life?" she fired the questions like an armalite to me.

My mouth was hanging from what just happened. After a while, I spoke. "How did you..." I didn't even get to finish my question; she cut me off by saying one name. VERONICA.

"Why can't I have some privacy or some decency to tell you people about my status?" I sighed, massaging my left temple with my left hand.

She then insisted on meeting Daniel as soon as possible. And by that, she meant next Saturday right away. I didn't even argue with her cause there's no point doing it, I mean, she's always busy and it's a good thing that she wanted to know something about my other half.

She asked me to tell Daniel that we'll travel to Sydney to meet her at the manner. Even though I was worried about my father's reaction on this matter, I still agreed to meet her with Daniel at the mansion. She promised  methat she'll take care of my father. I told her about Jared and she insisted that the kid should come; she said she wanted to meet her grandson. She then told me that she'll send us a plane ticket to Sydney; I tried to decline it but she won in the end.

Daniel picked me up at my apartment and gave me a lift to work. On our way to the bar, I told him my mother's invitation. Though a little bit reluctant and nervous, he accepted the invitation.

The week had passed with same old routine. Daniel has work at the office during the day while I was at their house looking after Jared. Then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday came and we both had uni. He still hasn't beaten me in debate. We had lunch together with Alex, who wouldn't stop teasing us to kiss in front of him. He stopped when Daniel asked him if seeing two guys kissing was his guilty pleasure. I still had my KFC gravy while Daniel keeps on pestering me about eating fruits instead of coloured flour.

The most awaited day came- Saturday. I spent the Friday night at Daniel's so his mum could drop us off at the airport. Friday morning, Sebastian told me that he'll be watching over us. In fact, he's doing a good job in making himself discreet. I haven't  told Daniel about him, at least not yet.

My mum bought us a ticket with 3 night stay at the luxury hotel. She said that  if I decided not to stay at the manner; we could always spend the rest of our short holiday in the hotel.

The three of us packed our clothes for a week. Jared was pretty excited as it was his first time airplane ride, while his dad was fidgeting his fingers and chewing his nails from being anxious. In fact, I didn't think he got a good sleep the night before. He kept on turning sideways until 3 o'clock in the morning. I had to I hug him tight and reassured him that everything would be alright. He fell asleep right away in my arms, considering that he was bigger than me.

We arrived at the Sydney airport at around 11 o'clock in the morning. We were escorted by airport staffs. They were holding a big sign with "Master Grande" written on it. Daniel thought it was funny, I thought it was annoying. We were taken to a black Lamborghini and drove away straight to the mansion

It took us an hour before we came to manner. The place was still the same- bush was surrounding the area, the massive gold painted gate, the gargoyles on the roof , and the garden maze. Daniel was quiet all the way the drive. Actually he didn't say a word aside from usual yes and no whenever Jared asked him something. On the other hand, our boy Jared was fascinated and was in pure awe ever since we boarded the plane. He was seated in the window seat and was amazed by the clouds and how tiny the cars and trees and buildings were in the air.

We were escorted to the manner after the long drive. The servants welcomed us and the butler Alfred (yes, his name was Alfred) stirred us to the living room. The room was still the same since I last visited, the chimney was glistening on side and the grand piano was still sitting on the other corner, waiting for someone to play it.

Alfred told us that my mum was talking to someone on her office for a while and the lunch would be ready soon. Jared saw the garden maze and asked us if he could play in there. Though Daniel was a bit hesitant when I told the kid that he could, he still let the boy go. The whole manner was safe and secure and Jared won't get lost or anything, beside, the garden maze was my favourite part of the manner as well.

Daniel was anxious about the idea of meeting my mother; I was hoping my dad wouldn't show up to make some drama again. His fingers won't stop fidgeting with each other, and every now and then I had to hold his hand to calm him.

I look around the room and got an idea. I stood up from my seat. Daniel looked at me, confuse. "Come." I offered my hand to him and pulled him gently to where the grand piano was sitting.

I opened the piano cover and checked whether it was plugged in. After turning it on and pressing random keys on the keyboard, I started to play intro of the music in my head.

"I know that song." Daniel chimed in while I was playing the intro. I looked at him and nodded.

And then I started singing the first verse.

[text_hash] => 750010f0
)