Three months.
That's how long they'd had.
Three months of quiet mornings and chaotic dinners. Three months of Keifer learning that Jay's idea of "relaxing" meant reading medical journals, and Jay learning that Keifer's idea of "spontaneity" meant scheduling five minutes of unscheduled time.
Three months of something that felt terrifyingly like a future.
Then reality crashed back in.
It started with a phone call.
Jay was in surgery when her phone buzzed for the seventh time. She ignored it—she always did during procedures. But when she stepped out, still in scrubs, her assistant's face told her everything.
"Dr. Mariano. Your family's been calling. There's been an accident."
Jay's blood turned to ice.
"Who?"
"Your father. He's at Manila Med. They're saying—"
Jay was already running.
The emergency room was chaos.
But Jay didn't see chaos. She saw her mother, pale and silent in a waiting room chair. She saw Percy, uncharacteristically still, staring at nothing. She saw Aries, on his phone, jaw tight.
She didn't see her father.
"Mom." Jay dropped to her knees in front of Reycee. "Mom, look at me. What happened?"
Reycee's eyes focused slowly. "Jay. Anak." Her voice cracked. "Your father... he collapsed. At the office. His heart—they don't know yet—they're running tests—"
Jay stood. Turned to the nearest nurse.
"I'm Dr. Jay Mariano. That's my father in there. I need updates. Now."
The nurse hesitated. "Dr. Mariano, you're family, you can't—"
"I'm not asking as family. I'm asking as a surgeon who needs to know what's happening to her patient." Her voice was steel. "Tell me."
The nurse folded fast.
Keifer got the news from Percy.
A single text: Dad collapsed. Manila Med. Jay's here. She's in surgeon mode. It's bad.
He was in the car before he finished reading.
His driver pushed through traffic like they were fleeing a disaster. Keifer didn't care about the honks, the curses, the near-misses. He just needed to get there.
To her.
When he burst through the ER doors, he found Aries first.
"How bad?"
Aries looked exhausted. "They don't know yet. Possible heart attack. They're running every test. Jay's been talking to the attending for twenty minutes." He paused. "She hasn't cried. Not once."
Keifer's jaw tightened.
"I know where to find her."
She was in a corner of the waiting room. Hidden behind a pillar. Sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, knees pulled up, forehead resting on her arms.
Alone.
Small.
Nothing like the woman who commanded ORs and held hearts in her hands.
Keifer didn't announce himself. He just sat beside her, close enough that their shoulders touched.
For a long moment, she didn't move.
Then, quietly: "They won't let me in the room."
"I know."
"I'm a surgeon. I've saved hundreds of lives. And I can't even be in the room while they save my father."
"You're his daughter. That's more important than being his doctor right now."
She lifted her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed, dry, desperate. "What if he—"
"Don't."
"What if I lose him, Keifer? What if—"
"Jay." He took her face in his hands. "Your father is strong. Your family is strong. You are strong. Whatever happens, you won't face it alone."
She stared at him.
And then—finally—the tears came.
Not loud. Not dramatic. Just silent, desperate tears tracking down her cheeks as she leaned into him.
Keifer held her.
Right there on the cold hospital floor.
He held her.
Three hours later, Jasfer was stable.
Heart attack. Moderate damage. Surgery scheduled for morning.
Jay had read the charts, reviewed the plans, and only argued with the attending surgeon twice before agreeing to step back and let them work.
"I could do it," she said quietly, standing outside his room. "I'm the best."
"I know." Keifer stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. "But you're also his daughter. And you need to be his daughter right now. Not his surgeon."
She leaned back against him. "Since when are you so wise?"
"Since I fell in love with a woman who taught me that control isn't everything."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
The waiting room filled over the next few hours.
Reycee refused to leave. Percy brought coffee no one drank. Aries paced like a caged animal.
Then the Watsons arrived.
All of them.
Keizer walked in first, straight to Jasfer's room—but stopped at the door, looking back at Keifer. "Can I?"
Keifer nodded.
Serina went to Reycee, sat beside her, and just... held her hand. No words. Just presence.
Keigan found Aries and started asking quiet questions about what happened, what they knew, what came next.
And Keiren—little Keiren, clutching Bato—walked straight to Jay.
"Dr. Jay."
She looked down at him.
"You're sad." It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Bato helps when I'm sad." He held out the dinosaur. "You can borrow him again."
Jay's breath caught.
She knelt down, took the toy carefully. "Thank you, Keiren."
"Kuya says you're brave. But brave people get sad too." He patted her arm with his small hand. "It's okay."
Jay looked up at Keifer, standing behind his little brother.
He smiled. Small. Tender.
And for the first time since her father collapsed, Jay felt something other than terror.
Love.
Surrounded by it.
Jasfer's surgery was successful.
Jay waited in the family area, Keifer beside her, Keiren asleep in her lap (Bato clutched in both their hands). When the surgeon finally appeared and gave the news, Reycee cried. Percy whooped. Aries slumped into a chair.
And Jay just... breathed.
For the first time in twenty-four hours, she breathed.
Keifer's hand found hers. Squeezed.
"He's okay."
"He's okay." She looked at him. "You stayed."
"Of course."
"All night."
"Obviously."
"Your family stayed."
"They did."
Jay looked around the room. Her chaotic family. His complicated family. All of them here. All of them waiting. All of them caring.
"I don't know how to thank—"
"Don't." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "That's what family does. Even messy ones."
Jay leaned into him.
Keiren stirred, murmured something, and settled deeper against her.
And for one perfect moment, everything was okay.
The next morning, Jasfer was awake.
Groggy. Tired. But awake.
When Jay walked in, he smiled weakly.
"Anak. You look terrible."
She laughed—a broken, relieved sound. "You almost died and you're criticizing my appearance?"
"Priorities." He reached for her hand. "I hear you didn't sleep."
"I'm fine."
"You're not. But you will be." He squeezed her fingers. "Because you have people who love you. That boy of yours. His family. Your brothers. Your mother." He paused. "Me."
Jay's eyes burned.
"Don't you dare die again," she whispered.
"Wasn't planning on it." He smiled. "Someone has to walk you down the aisle someday."
"Dad—"
"I'm just saying. That Keifer boy. He's got good instincts. And his father owes me money. It's perfect."
Jay laughed again.
And this time, the tears that fell were the good kind.
Percy found Keifer in the hallway an hour later.
Alone for the first time since this started.
"Hey. CEO guy."
Keifer looked up. "Percy."
"You did good. Staying. Being here. Handling Jay." Percy leaned against the wall beside him. "She's not easy. You know that, right?"
"I know."
"She's brilliant and impossible and she forgets to eat and she works too hard and she loves harder than anyone I've ever met." Percy paused. "If you break her, I'll make Aries look gentle."
"Noted."
"Good." Percy was quiet for a moment. "I'm also saying thank you. For being here. For bringing your weird family. For making her cry in a good way for once."
Keifer looked at him.
"She cried?"
"Last night. After Dad woke up. She called me—at 3am—and she was crying. Happy crying. Said you held her on the floor like it was nothing." Percy met his eyes. "She's never had that. Someone who just... holds her. Without needing anything in return."
Keifer absorbed this.
"She has it now," he said quietly.
Percy nodded. "Yeah. I think she does."
Two weeks later, Jasfer came home.
The Mariano house—a sprawling, beautiful estate that Jay rarely talked about—was full of people. Family. Food. Laughter.
And, unexpectedly, Watsons.
Keizer had insisted on coming. "I need to see the old man in his natural habitat." Serina came because Reycee invited her. Keigan came because Jay promised to review his med school application. Keiren came because Bato needed to thank Jasfer for not dying.
Even Percy was behaving. Mostly.
"So," Keizer said, settling into a chair across from Jasfer's recovery couch. "You almost died. Inconvenient. I have deals pending."
"Your deals can wait."
"They cannot. That's why they're deals." Keizer grinned. "But I'll allow a brief recovery period. Out of respect."
"How generous."
"I'm a generous man."
Serina rolled her eyes from across the room. "Keizer, stop bothering the patient."
"The patient is fine. Look at him. He's thriving."
Jasfer chuckled weakly. "I like him. Annoying, but honest."
"That's what I keep telling people."
In the kitchen, Reycee was teaching Serina to make lumpia. Keigan was taking notes—not for the recipe, but because he wanted to document "cultural exchange."
"You're very thorough," Reycee observed.
"I want to be a doctor. Details matter."
"They do. You'll make a good one."
Keigan smiled shyly. "Dr. Jay said she'd write me a recommendation."
"She will. She keeps her promises."
In the garden, Keiren was chasing Percy with a stick.
"I'M A DINOSAUR!"
"THAT'S A STICK!"
"IT'S BATO'S FRIEND!"
"BATO IS A DINOSAUR. HIS FRIEND SHOULD ALSO BE A DINOSAUR."
"BATO HAS MANY FRIENDS!"
Percy tripped over a plant. Keiren pounced. Chaos ensued.
Aries watched from the porch, arms crossed.
"Your brother is... energetic," Keifer said, joining him.
"Your brother is attacking mine with a stick."
"Keiren believes in creative expression."
"That's one word for it."
They stood in comfortable silence.
"He's good for her," Aries said eventually. "You. For Jay."
"I know."
"Don't get cocky."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Aries glanced at him. "I mean it. She's different with you. Softer. But also stronger. Like you give her somewhere to put down the weight."
Keifer considered this. "She does the same for me."
"Yeah." Aries nodded slowly. "I can see that."
Another silence.
Then, quietly: "Welcome to the family, I guess."
Keifer smiled. Small. Real. "Thanks, Aries."
"Don't make me regret it."
"I won't."
Inside, Jay found her father dozing in his chair.
She pulled a blanket over him, kissed his forehead.
"You're a good daughter," he murmured, not quite awake.
"Go back to sleep, Dad."
"Love you, anak."
"Love you too."
She turned to find Keifer in the doorway, watching.
"You're soft," he said quietly.
"I'm not."
"You just kissed your sleeping father and told him you loved him. That's soft."
"That's family."
"That's you." He crossed to her, pulled her close. "Soft. Under all that armor."
She pressed her face into his chest.
"Don't tell anyone."
"Your secret is safe with me."
From the garden: "KEIREN, PUT DOWN THE STICK!"
From the kitchen: "More lumpia, Serina, more!"
From the living room: "I'm telling you, Jasfer, the market will recover—"
From everywhere: Chaos. Love. Family.
Jay smiled against Keifer's chest.
"This is insane," she murmured.
"This is our life now."
"I know." She tilted her head up. "I wouldn't change it."
He kissed her. Soft. Sweet. Promising.
"Neither would I."