JL calmly observed the process of extracting blood from his vein to the syringe tube. He stared at the ceiling manifesting that the process will remain confidential until it is proven that he owns the babies Naomi is carrying. She, on the other hand, is touching her chest to make herself calm down. She is feeling nervousness and excitement at the same time. They both waited for this time to come to finally gain an acknowledgement for the little innocent lives inside her womb.
JL went outside the room with a medical plaster in his arm. He faced the mirror in his office and thought, “Once I prove that this is mine, I will surely destroy you, Luke Fuerte”. He always lived as if something is missing in his life. He can’t find the feeling and the treatment he used to get from Naomi. Every girl introduced to him seems bland and if he just sticked to confirmation, he will still say that no one compares to Naomi and that she, herself, completes the yearning of JL.
He saw Naomi exited from the blood - drawing room; her eyes are looking on him. He went near her and assisted her to his car to drive her back home. “It will take about three weeks to get the result. As usual, you have to be more careful on how you will hide these things from the public” he said while buckling up his seatbelt.
Naomi removed her cloth mask, “And what if it is yours? What will you do?” she asked while glancing at JL from the rearview mirror of the car. “I will introduce you to my family. Once I revealed you to them, I will let them decide on legalizing things” he answered as he starts the car’s engine. Naomi is a hundred percent sure that she is carrying JL’s blood but JL is still not fully convinced on Naomi’s conceived children.
He knows that it is impossible for Naomi and Luke to not have an intimate and sexual interaction because of the years they spent with each other and so he is doubting that maybe Naomi has not moved on yet and it is only her tactic to get back to him. He speculates that Naomi convinces him to acknowledge the unborn babies since Luke cheated on her.
Now JL is using the kids to get back to Luke who once made his life uneasy. He felt trampled for almost half of his life. His longing for Naomi lasted for numerous years and it made him cold and unsatisfied with other girls.
Luke waited for Naomi in their house in the subdivision with JL’s home in the neighborhood. Lately, he has been observing JL’s actions but JL seldomly goes back to the house where he used to live. Luke tightened up his shoelaces and plugged his Bluetooth earphones on. He started jogging around the subdivision and suspiciously peeps through JL’s residence. He saw a housekeeper sweeping the house’s front yard.
He confidently walked near JL’s house’s area and approached the housekeeper. “Good morning, miss… Is Doc JL around?” Luke asked while removing the earphones in his ears. The housekeeper stopped what she is doing and attended to Luke’s query. “Oh, Sir Luke Fuerte? You live in this subdivision also?” she asked back. Luke smiled while slowly nodding, “Yes, actually the first house from the subdivision gate is owned by my fiancé”.
The housekeeper faked a smile; she knows that Naomi ran away from him in their wedding. The housekeeper was about to answer Luke’s question when someone interrupted them. Caleigh went outside with a plush toy in her hand. Luke’s eyebrows furrowed upon seeing the little girl who resembles JL a lot. “Why are you looking for my brother?” Caleigh asked while looking at Luke who is standing outside their house.
“JL is my friend. I haven’t seen him in a long time so I want to catch up. By the way, you look so cute” Luke answered while admiring Caleigh’s simple looks. Caleigh’s arm was held by Lorenzia who looks like she just came back from work as seen in her attire. “Caleigh, go back to your room and never talk to this guy again. He is not your brother’s friend” Lorenzia said with arms crossed.
Caleigh immediately followed her older cousin’s command and went inside. Lorenzia went near Luke and answered, “If you want to mess up with my cousin, I am sorry to disappoint you but he does not live here anymore”. Luke tsked, “I can see him going back in this house” he contradicted Lorenzia’s statement. Lorenzia smirked, “How can you be more knowledgeable than me? I am already telling you; JL is not here and he is not residing regularly here anymore” she uttered and went back inside.
Luke plugged back his earphones and went to run another lap again. He feels like he is being challenged by JL. If JL is smart enough to hide and prepare his revenge, Luke on the other hand will dare to find Naomi whom he is speculating to be staying with JL. Naomi’s cards and bank accounts are frozen, her contact numbers are changed, and her locations are blocked.
Luke is powerful but he became powerless in terms of finding Naomi. All because of Fonsi’s doing that Luke is empty in resources to track where Naomi is residing. If he knows, there will be a tragic interaction between him, JL, and Naomi.
Three weeks passed like three days; JL kept continuing their usual routines in the morning until nighttime. Luke still kept spending his money just to find Naomi in every place of the country. It is this day that JL and Naomi will know the result of the paternity DNA testing they conducted three weeks ago.

JL ordered a take - out meal online and shared it with Naomi who is still having the weird cravings near almost her second trimester of pregnancy. They kept quiet but their insides are getting deaf of the loud heartbeat in their chests. She is in front of him but he acts as if he is only alone in that unit. Their silence broke when a doorbell rang. They looked at each other and JL volunteered to open the door.
Naomi kept playing with the food; she barely ate a spoonful. JL greeted the mailman and immediately signed the delivery papers to open the envelope containing the paternity DNA test results. He opened the white envelope with the printed hospital logo. His hands are trembling upon unfolding the pieces of papers inside the envelope from the hospital.
Naomi just watched his reaction while reading the papers. He went closer and presented the papers in front of Naomi. Without words, he grabbed his towel and went to the bathroom for a shower before attending to work. Naomi can’t push herself to read what the result contains. She breathed heavily and grabbed the paper to read the results. She went from one page to the other one.
The test stated, “Paternity test index: 533,475; Probability of Paternity: 99.9998%”. Suddenly, the world became silent; it is JL who impregnated Naomi and her timelining was accurate to begin with. She gasped with her tears continuously falling from her eyes to her cheeks. She caressed her growing belly and whispered, “I am sure about who you will call ‘Dad’ now”.

JL opened the cold shower with thoughts running in his mind. It feels surreal that he will be a parent in five to six months from now. How he wished their relationship should be free from any hurdle including Luke who is making a big effort in searching for Naomi.
JL immediately dialed Lorenzia’s phone while driving. “I am the father of Naomi’s kids” he surprisingly said without any introduction. Lorenzia gasped on the other line, “Wait, what do you mean ‘kids’?” she asked to confirm. JL exhaled, “Naomi is carrying two babies. She will have twins” he answered. “S-so you will have two kids already? That quick?” she asked again because even she, is surprised with JL’s status.
“I will take her tomorrow in our home” he suggested but Lorenzia contradicted, “No, you can’t bring her here… Luke is residing here at Naomi’s parents’ house”. The perfect timing Lorenzia is saying will be planned now and that means, JL will take Naomi and the unborn babies to be legal for him to acknowledge.
“The angioplasty will be performed on a fifty - year - old woman suffering from atherosclerosis for quite a long time now” the cardiologist explained in the conference where JL is present. He is looking outside the conference room’s glass window with thoughts floating in his mind. In the weekends he will go to introduce Naomi to his family.
“Doctor JL Tiueco, what can you say about performing another surgery right after the angioplasty?” the cardiothoracic surgeon asked but he failed to notice because of his mind’s absence. His co - surgeon snapped at him and it made him bring back to his senses. He aced the question presented by the professor but it still did not change the fact that he is internally disturbed of his issue with Naomi.
Amber, who is also in the conference room, looked at him from afar. He looks tired and problematic and it is her first time to see him in that condition. She approached him as soon as the conference ended, “Are you feeling down lately, Doc JL?” she asked casually as if she was not rejected. JL simply shook his head and returned back to Naomi in Lorenzia’s condo unit after a five - hour long surgery plan and conference for a critical case.
He laid to the sofa to rest up until sleep invited him. Naomi opened the fridge with a berry jar spread in her hand. She grabbed a spoonful and licked it like a dessert. She was about to sit in the sofa to watch tv when she noticed JL sleeping soundly with his uniform on. She knelt to the carpet floor and watched him peacefully sleeping.
“You actually don’t look grumpy at all. It does not suit you” she whispered while trying to caress JL’s cheek. It has been a while since she got a close physical contact with him and it feels so magical to be there, close to him, in a situation where she can call it ‘family’. She comfortably touched JL’s hand and placed it on her cheek.
“Your hands are still soft. So soft like how it felt the first time we held hands” she complimented. His long eyelashes and thick brows are the ones she always adored. He never changed; time did not change him for the better, but it changed him to a more mature one where he learned how to value what he feels.
“Now that it is already confirmed that these babies are yours, can you fall in love with me again? Or let me change that… love my babies because I am desperate for them to have a complete family. Forget loving me, just learn how to accept them” she monologued while still staring at JL’s angelic sleeping face.
She never got tired of how JL looks like. Back in high school, she is already used to and fond of JL’s looks. Him looking more mature and manly strong now made her question her feelings for one more time. There is no denying, she still loves him and it never faded. They say two destined hearts will always find a way to reunite with each other against all odds.
She placed JL’s hand in her baby bump and whispered again, “How I wish this hand will always be placed in this growing belly”. JL’s little snore conveyed the tiredness from the productivity he had the whole day. Naomi is clueless on how JL felt the moment he read the paternal results from the DNA testing they conducted. She is much relieved that after the long wait, all the things she prayed for came into reality.
Luke annoyingly threw his phone on the police table. “D*mn my plans are all ruined!” he screamed while talking to Yilmaz and Blake who are currently inside the jail, smoking. Yilmaz held the jail’s railings and scoffed, “I guess you will end up like us also, Lukas Fuerte” he uttered. Luke glanced at them with disgust in his face, “Don’t you dare put my situation to you two”.
Yilmaz got in jail because of fraud while Blake is jailed because of excessive gambling and abuse in women; they both failed college and chose to live with simple crimes. Blake chuckled, “So, what do you need us for?” he asked. Luke faced them, “I talked to my lawyer and found a way that you two can be bailed out. We have an unfinished business to accomplish. Honestly, I can’t do it alone so I need your dirty hands” he answered.
“And what unfinished business is that?” Yilmaz asked with arms crossed. Luke smirked evilly, “A loser we once judged; he dares to fight back now. I am suspecting that Naomi went to him to hide and so they both hid themselves. We need to find them before things will get locked by… JL Tiueco” he answered with eyes full of rage.
Payback time is coming and now that both sides are planning for it, who will gain the right spot now?