Jessa’s mouth almost dropped open when Daphne showed her a room adjoining the little girl’s where her collection of dolls is stored. After eating out in a restaurant, Nick brought them home. Laura was not around when they got there. The father and the daughter decided to tour Jessa around the large house, even taking her to Nick’s room where she knew she will be staying for the entire duration of her job. And then, Daphne excitedly takes her to her room where Jessa saw on the bed the four dolls that Nick bought at the toy store when they saw each other. After that, the little girl excitedly pulled her towards the adjoining room where she found the most amazing collection of Barbie dolls she had ever seen, carefully placed on cushioned shelves. Daphne called it her playroom. It is fully carpeted and there were lots of throw pillows on the floor. The kid must have spent a lot of her great time in here. Jessa turned to Nick in wonder. He is smiling in amusement. “So, this is the Barbie doll collection? There’s just…”

“Too many of them? Daphne had names for each one of them.” Nick tells her. Jessa shakes her head in disbelief. She’s still amazed by the things that the little girl already have and this man she calls her father spoiled her a lot.

“Grandma said that while you’re in Italy, you’re also helping out some homeless children by feeding them.” Daphne said. “Mommy, do you think they will like it if I give some of my dolls to them?” the two adults looked at her.

“Oh, baby. That would be wonderful,” Nick exclaimed with a wide smile. “But why? These were given to you.”

“I had too much, Daddy. Besides, what if you and Mommy will have another baby? You can put the baby here.” For a kid in such a young age, this one surely thinks ahead, Jessa thought. “Or you can sleep here while Mommy will sleep beside me on my bed.”

Nick laughed. “I’m hurt. Now that you’re Mommy is here, you don’t want to sleep with me anymore?”

Daphne hugged closer to Jessa’s neck. “I missed Mommy,” she only replied.

“Alright, darling, whatever you want.” Nick said and glanced at his watch. “I have to go to the hospital for now. I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed Daphne on the cheeks and turned away.

“Aren’t you going to kiss Mommy, too?”

Nick turned around. “Right, I’m sorry.” He went back to put a light kiss on her lips. “Goodbye, girls.”

Jessa can only stare at the retreating form of the man as Daphne replied her father with a cheerful goodbye. She should not mix her feelings with her job but that man is charming. She doubt if anyone can resist him. She even wondered if he has a girlfriend and hoped there’s none. It’s not that she would like to have him all by herself. It’s just that the charade will only be complicated if there’s a presence of a girlfriend in his life and it will only confuse Daphne.



~~~



There is silence in Nick’s room as Jessa quietly read the contract again. When she’s done, she found Nick looking at her. It’s already past eleven in the evening. Daphne is already sleeping on the other room and Nick just got home a half hour earlier from the hospital. He requested Jessa to follow him and she never thought that they will talk in his room. He still have not mentioned about the sleeping arrangements as he immediately takes out the contract again.

“This is just ridiculous, you know.” She said.

“You’re telling me.”

Jessa glared at him. “I still feel guilty lying to your innocent daughter, Nick.”

Nick drew a deep breath. “It will only take a while.”

“And what about the people who knew about Daphne’s real mother?”

“Tania was so secretive of her pregnancy because she thought that was her hindrance into being an actress.” Nick’s jaw clenched. Jessa momentarily saw the rage within him. He must have hated Daphne’s mother for abandoning them.

“I didn’t know that you liked shallow women.” Jessa raised an eyebrow. “For a man who seemed smart like you, you should know better than to fell for women like that.”

Nick glared at her. “And I didn’t know that you’re judgmental. For a woman who seemed smarter than I thought, you should know better than to oppose your employer.”

Jessa laughed. “Judgmental? Is it me or do you still have feelings for your ex? Why are you defending her? You’re pathetic, you know that?”

He stood up from his chair and went towards the closet. He doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. And this woman can easily stir his temper but amuses him at the same time. He didn’t know what is it in her that makes him want to see her annoyed and yet, also likes to see her smile. He shakes his head. As he walks towards the closet, he started stripping off his shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m getting dressed.”

“You just can’t do that in front of me.” Jessa retorted and returned back to the paper. Biting her lower lip and sighing deeply, she signed the contract. This is it. There’s no turning back.

Nick glanced at her. “Why? Are you telling me that you’re still a virgin?”

“That’s none of your concern anymore.” Jessa answered. She heard him smirked. “And where will I sleep?”

“On my bed.”

Jessa turned around and almost shrieked when she only found him in his boxers. She quickly turned back around. “And you’re going to sleep on the floor.”

“That’s nonsense. The bed is too big that even two more people can lie on it. Let’s stop this issue and sleep, Jessa. I won’t dare to touch you anyway.” Nick said. He placed his eyeglasses on the table where she is. He even teased her when he intentionally leaned over to close the book he left opened earlier. Then, he walked away with a satisfying grin when he noticed how she tried to turn away from him.

Jessa felt his movements somewhere behind her until there was silence. She slowly turns around and found him already lying on the bed. She stood up and grabbed some pillows beside him. “What are you doing, Jessa?”

“I’m sleeping on the floor.”

Nick groaned. “Don’t do this, Jessa.” He stood up and followed her. She’s starting to set things up at the end of the bed. “Okay, go to the bed and sleep there. I’ll sleep here instead.” They looked at each other. “What?”

“No. This is your room and I won’t let you sleep on the floor. If I will only sleep in the guest room, then we wouldn’t have a problem.”

“But we have a different case here right now. Go ahead and sleep on the bed. I can manage here.” When Jessa didn’t move, he raked his hair through his fingers. “That’s the only option if you don’t want to sleep beside me on the bed, Jessa.” He grabbed the pillows from her and went down to the floor. “I need to sleep because I have an early morning call tomorrow.”



~~~



“Wow!” Daphne looked up to Jessa with a wide and happy smile. She was surprised when the girl suddenly hugged her tight. “I love you, Mommy. I’m so excited that you’re going to take me to school today.”

Jessa suppressed a yawn. She didn’t have much sleep, feeling conscious that a stranger was just on the foot of the bed. She rose up early this morning to beat Nick in the shower then went down to prepare breakfast for them although the maids in the kitchen insisted to leave the work to them. She slowly smoothed her fingers on the child’s hair. “I’m excited too, baby. Mommy missed you a lot.” She kissed Daphne on the forehead. “Now, let’s have breakfast. I’ve prepared something for you and for school.” She winked. Daphne is the picture of a little innocent girl who gets excited even in just simple things. And by the way that she talks and asks a lot, she’s sure to be a smart kid too. It will also hurt Jessa to admit the truth to this child who do not deserved to be fooled by her own father. Jessa watched as the dark blonde kid bounced happily when they reached the dining area. Laura is already at the breakfast nook and greeted both of them with a warm smile. Daphne began showing off her braided hair to her grandmother and telling her about the first day that her ‘mother’ will take her to school.

“That’s great. Let’s have breakfast first. I want to go too.” Laura gestured for her granddaughter to take her seat.

Daphne looked around. “Where’s Daddy?”

As if on cue, Nick arrived at the breakfast nook. He’s wearing a white golf shirt tucked in black slacks. With eyeglasses perched on his nose, he’s ready to go. “Bye, ladies.” He only drinks a glass of water and turned to leave.

“But Daddy, we’re having breakfast.”

“Not now, baby,” Nick glanced to Daphne. “Daddy is needed at the hospital.”

“But it’s our first breakfast with Mommy.”

“Baby, I need to go…” he stopped when he saw Jessa’s look. But he walked away, ignoring her.

“Okay,” Daphne’s face grew sad and she turned away. Jessa couldn’t bear that and stood up. She pulled Nick out of the dining area.

“Your daughter needed you, too. If you don’t want to hurt your daughter, why are you doing this?” Jessa hissed. “You should know that this breakfast is very important to her. It’s her first time to have a complete family and she’s trying hard to experience what she thought would be like in having a father…and a mother.” She frowned. “What makes that hospital duty so important, huh?”

“I have early rounds with my patients…”

“Does the appointed nurses, or whoever they are, also have the information for each patient?”

“Yes, but I’m a hands-on doctor and I...”

“Can you entrust it to somebody else or rather do it later? Just for today?” Jessa retorted before he could finish. A couple of hair strand fell on his forehead and she felt the urge to set it aside but she held back. Did this man know how attractive he can be? Is he seeing somebody? Jessa shakes her head to set aside the thoughts that are not related to Daphne. Focus, Jessa. When Nick didn’t reply, she tried again. “What? Your money will not be enough to mend emotional wounds in the future, Nick.”

Nick stared at her. Without any word, he returned inside and sat beside his daughter. Jessa sat on the other side of the little girl. Daphne excitedly takes the hand of the hand of the two adults and began her prayer. Nick, Jessa and Laura bowed down

“Dear Jesus, thank you for this day and for that we are about to receive. Thank you because Daddy joined us for breakfast but most especially, thank you for bringing Mommy home safe and sound after her long years of studying in Italy. Thank you for making her so nice that she’d cook for the homeless people there. Thank you for making her safe when she was hospitalized after I was born…”

Jessa raised an eyebrow at the words that she’s hearing from Daphne. They told those lies to the little kid? She looked at Nick who is only staring blankly into space, deep in his own thoughts. When Daphne is through with her prayer, Nick blinked a few more times and shook his head. He looked at her and then, turned away.

“Daddy, will you teach me now how to swim? You told me that you’re going to. Can we do it on Saturday?” Daphne said as Jessa pours milk on the kid’s glass.

Nick smiled to his daughter as he placed two hotdogs on her plate. “When I have the available time, baby. I’ll schedule our session. Why did you ask about it now?”

“Because I want to teach Mommy when I already know how to swim,” Daphne replied her father. Jessa blushed at that and saw Nick glanced to her. What is happening to her? Is she having a crush on the doctor? “And when Mommy already knew how to swim, Daddy will teach her how to scuba dive.” The little girl continued. It was as if she just thought about the greatest idea that she had for her parents. She looked up to her father who bites a piece of her hotdog before offering it to her. She smiled. “Is that right, Daddy?”

“Yes, baby. Whatever you want, sweetheart.”