"Take it easy, Dane."
"I will, mom."
Aunt Em rubbed Ash's back three more times, I don't know why I even counted it.
"So, let's go back to our topic. I'm sorry to ask this and I don't mean to be rude or anything, Gill." Aunt Em said to me seriously and hesitantly.
We looked at each other and I also caught sight of uncle Phil and Gian eating happily, it was good to see that Gian had a grandfather he would be recognized when he grow up.
"Okay, aunt. What is it?"
"About baby Gian, wasn't there a problem, Jake?" Aunt Em asked calmly.
I immediately looked at Jake, even though I knew that Gian was okay with him before and that he accepted Gian, I still wanted to see his reaction and hear what he had to say. He also turned to me so our eyes met, he smiled before answering Aunt Em's question.
"To be honest, right from the beginning when I made it clear to myself that I love Gill, that's when I accepted Gian. So, none. There was no problem. I accepted Gill and Gian completely."
Jake gave a long answer as he just stared into my eyes with a wide smile on his face. Even I couldn't help but smile broadly at his answer.
I heard Diane start teasing us, just early they act as if we were not here and they had their own world and now they are teasing us.
"Gill is so thrilled max to her bone!"
"I also want a Ja-- Ouch! Love, why did you pinch me?"
"What did you say you want?"
"An Ero I said, I want an Ero to my life."
"That's right, Ero. I'll pinch you again if you said a different name."
"I'm scared now!" Diane said jokingly.
Jake and I looked at each other again and just laughed at what our friends were doing. His hand also came up to touch my cheek and gently caressed it with his thumb.
"There's a sauce on the side of your lips, love."
"Oh! Please, wipe it for me." I said in fondness.
His thumb that he used to wipe away the sauce that was on the side of my lips, he put it directly in his mouth and sucked it. The edge of his lips lifted when he did that and I couldn't help but widen my eyes. He's really absorbed, he can just wipe it with a handkerchief.
I lost my gaze on Jake when I heard a person cough loudly. Who else do you think is it? It's Diane's twin brother, Ash. Last Christmas, Diane was the one who cough a few times, now it's Ash. What's wrong with these siblings that always cough on occasions?
"Excuse me." He stood up and walked straight out of my unit.
"Love, wait here." I said to Jake and left my dishes on my chair.
I'm the host so I have to take care of my guest, I'll just ask Ash what was problem with the food and he's been couging for a while. It's okay if they choked and cough once because of the food but if it is followed, it should not be ignored. Right?
He was in the opposite of the fire exit stairs while his hands were on his waist. I could also hear him coughing and clearing his throat from the door of my unit.
"Hey..."
He wasn't surprised that he heard me, he also slowly turned to my place and little by little the frown on his forehead disappeared when he saw me. I also noticed that his previously well buttoned shirt now had two buttons open and his sleeves were rolled up.
"What?" He asked in a bored tone.
"Are you okay?"
He raised an eyebrow at my question. Why? Is there something wrong with my question? I also raised an eyebrow, two eyebrows to be exact. I'm competitive.
"Yeah, go back in there." He told me while his hands were still on the side of his waist.
"Okay, good. You should head back, too."
He didn't answer and just looked straight to my eyes, I didn't blink from his deep gaze cause I was used to it. He always look at me like that, sometimes I'm tempted to poke his eyes when he does that.
I was about to head back to my unit when I remembered something so I faced him again and he didn't even take his eyes off of me.
I want to roll my eyes on him but I forced myself not to, he has this habit of pinching my cheeks whenever he catches me rolling my eyes on him. His pinch is painful, it feels like your skin is going to pull off.
I swallowed my own saliva and licked my bottom lip before speaking to him. I can also see his small Adams apple movied which is a sign that he also swallowed his own saliva.
"It's okay if I introduce Jake to you, right?"
He answered me like he always do, he just raised an eyebrow. Even though Ash and I are not in a good terms, I still want to introduce Jake to him, that's also a sign of my respect. I already introduced Jake to Diane, aunt and uncle, I can't skip Ash, what if he gets even more angry with me because I bypassed him. And remember? Ash is Gian's real father, and Jake is the one who's helping me to take care of Ash's son, so it's only right that I introduce them to each other, right? Right?
"Then?" He answered in a bored tone, again.
"I'll just introduce you, that's all. If you want, you two can be buddies, too?" I said with a smile.
His eyebrows furrowed again at what I said. He doesn't like to be buddies with Jake?
I approached him without saying a word, my index finger poked his forehead to straighten his frowning forehead.
"You've been frowning for a while now! What's wrong with you?"
He held my finger I used to poke his forehead and didn't let it go, he just raised it to our side.
"Who told you to poke my forehead?"
"Me! Why? Do you have a complaint?" I said while looking straight at him and the way I said that you would thought I'm challenging Ash for a fight. Sometimes you're really a jerk, Gillianna.
"Oh, I have a complaint! Why would you do that?"
"It's because your frowning forehead has been bothering me for a while."
"Why? Have you been watching me?" He asked while raising one of his eyebrows.
He's a very straightforward person, he tends to raise his well-shaped eyebrows.
"Hey! I'm not watching you, you're being assuming! You were beside aunt Em so I can also see you when I moved my gaze a little. Do you think you're invisible?"
"I didn't say I'm invisible. I just asked you if you were watching me, you don't have to sound defensive."
"It's because I'm explaining! Where do you see a person use only one or two words when they explain thing, huh?"
"You don't have to explain yourself, a simple yes or no will suffice." He said and gently let go of my finger that he was holding and I can't help it but follow his hand put it in the pockets of his light brown trousers.
"Hey! My eyes are up here." He said again, he seemed to notice that I followed his movements.
"Oh? I explained cause you might misunderstood me." I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"Why would I? I don't assume things easily." He said and he was about to pinch my cheek but I immediately moved away and crossed my arms over my chest while both backs of my palms covered both of my cheeks.
"Don't even think about it! You're about to squeeze my cheeks again, right?"
His serious face earlier slowly began to show a smile on his lips and he laughed softly. His hand that he was going to use to pinch me earlier was combing his hair which caused it to be a little messy, earlier his hair was finely slicked back but now its messed up when he brush his finger on it. He looked away when he did that, he return his gaze at me again when he put his hand again in his trouser's pocket.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked him while my hands were still covering my cheeks.
I remember Diane told me then that whenever she talks to Ero and he combs his own hair with his own fingers, it means that he is nervous.
Is it the same with Ash? Is he nervous? Why is he nervous? What makes him nervous?
"Nothing, go back there and they might be looking for you." He said in a serious tone and commanded me.
"I'm not your employee so don't order me around."
That was the last thing I said before I turned my back on him and started walking back to my unit. I even heard him make a tongue sound like 'tsk'.
When I returned to my unit, I found Aunt Em and Uncle Phil with Jake in the middle of my small sofa. It looks like they are roasting him with questions, but Jake just keeps on smiling at whatever Aunt Em tells him.
Gian is with his godmothers who are still playing. They all finished eating so they had their own things to do.
I also smiled when I saw the joy on their faces. I also felt great that there are so many people here in my unit, especially now as we celebrate a new year.
Mama, papa. I hope you are here, with us. Happy new year! I love you all very much. That's what I said in my mind while happily looking at their faces.
"You look really crazy, smiling by yourself."
My smile immediately disappeared because of that and I looked up on the person next to me. I told you, he has a really bad attitude towards me.
"You--"
"Don't talk."
I couldn't really say anything after he touched my lips with his finger to stop me from talking and I noticed the side of his lip rose a little while raising an eyebrow.
He's so annoying!