Playing For Keeps (Book 2 & 3)

3. Chapter 6.

"Always believe something wonderful is about to happen..."

"Say it again, princess..." Alex said excitedly while he held his phone. "Say it one more time, come on, Zooey Marie, and let Mommy hear it..." Zooey gave out a laugh, while she sat on her baby bouncer seat. "Who you lookin' at, princess? Who you lookin' at?"  

Zooey gave him a toothless grin. "Daddaah... Daddaah..."  

"Okay its official, Zooey's first word... is..." he added.   "Daddaah...Daddaah..." the little girl said on cue, repeating it like she was getting herself used to saying the word. "Daddaah... Daddaaah..."  

"Of course, you're daddy's girl, aren't you princess?" Zooey giggled and babbled. "Okay say bye bye na..." And then she waved her small hand. "Bye, bye, Mommy... see you later... O smile pa..." she did what she was told.  

Alex saved the video on his phone and then he posted it on his Facebook account with a goofy smile on his face. After uploading, he tagged Drei, his friends, his aunts and uncles, his cousins, and his dad.   Zooey's first word, the caption said and in just a matter of a few minutes, he was responding to almost thirty comments. Who would have thought that his little girl would call him first? It went straight to his heart and he felt prouder more than ever. Fatherhood was becoming him and Alex loved every minute of it, every day, especially now that he's been working at home.  

Getting a home-based job suited him well because all he needed to do was finish every task by 8 pm, that's it. Although the demands and pressure are totally different from his call center job, he could handle it with ease and he's enjoying the perks of working at home. With his flexible time, he's able to juggle work and his daily routine – he could still jog four times a week, take Matty to school and Drei to work, attend to Zooey's needs and all the whatnots. In the past four months of working at home, he's already getting pretty good at multi-tasking.  

Today, they were inside his room. Alex was on his desk working on his iMAC while Zooey was busy watching Baby Einstein, still stationed at her baby bouncer seat that was on their bed. The parade of comments was now flooding on his latest Facebook post but Drei didn't comment on it yet. Puzzled, he grabbed his phone and dialed her number, getting up from his seat and placed himself on the bed beside Zooey.  

"Yes, world's greatest daddy?" Hearing Drei say that made his heart flutter a bit and a smile appeared on his face.  

"Hey, pretty baby mama!" he said right back. It's almost lunch time. "How's your day?"  

They've been openly flirting with each other more these days, not just on Text, BBM, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter but most especially when they're together. One thing's for sure, it wasn't part of their little show anymore. It's like a game that the two of them were unconsciously playing, after that second official date they had in 9 Spoons at Bayleaf Hotel.  

To Alex, even if he hasn't told Drei yet about his 'proposal', this is the best for him on how he shows it. This is his version of 'ligaw'... Subtle flirting. He does his thing the best way he knows how and to his surprise, Drei reacts mutually. It's a good sign that he's on the right track and besides this is much fun from his point of view.  

There are days when Alex would just show up in Drei's office thirty minutes before lunch. You could just imagine how a big guy like him, 6'2 in all his Greek god glory, shows up at St. Luke's Global City with packed lunch, an adorable baby on a sling and boy next door smile on his face. And the sight of him by the door, Drei could feel her innards squirm with longing. Who wouldn't? Because every female and female-hearted person in the room has the same reaction.