After they have dinner and dessert, the family moved to the living room. Mr. Diaz brought the wine to the room and offered it to everyone. The chat continued. Ava and Phillip started talking about their plans for February.
"How's are project for Kleia?" asked Alex as she listened to her family chatting.
Daniel who was silently listening to the conversation didn't immediately respond to Alex. And when he did, he coughed a little at first, then continuously coughed.
"Are you okay, Dan?" Alex asked. Concern wrote in her face.
"I'm fine," Daniel answered though he was trying not to cough. "I'm still making up the mechanics and dynamics for the game. One of my artists is making music for the game."
He restarted coughing again.
Alex moved closer beside him on the big white sofa and coaxed him by the back. She made gentle massages along his back.
"You don't seem okay," Alex said. "Was it the rain, Daniel?"
Daniel put his closed right fist before his mouth as he tried to control his coughing.
"I guess," he mumbled, coughing.
Mrs. Diaz seemed to have caught their attention though the happy couple happily chatting their plans.
"Are you okay, Daniel?" Mrs. Diaz asked looking at his bent back with his fist covering his mouth.
"I am, Agnes." Daniel said immediately though a cough behind his throat escaped. And he tried to swallowed it to control himself but another fit burst forth his mouth.
"Daniel…?" Mrs. Diaz asked back looking at him, concerned.
Even Ava and Phillip stopped chatting and looked at him.
"Maybe it's the rain earlier." Ava said.
"The slight rain hit us on our way here," Phillip added.
"No, really. I'm okay." He said. "Please, go on."
But another cough escaped his mouth.
"Sweetheart, I don't think you're okay." Mrs. Diaz finally said and stood up. "I'll make you some tea."
She disappeared in the kitchen.
"You forgot to bring an umbrella, didn't you?" Ava asked smartly.
"I guess, I forgot about that." Daniel said as he tried to control himself from coughing. "It was a fine weather, actually. Earlier. The sky was okay."
"But the weather turned gloomy and rain drizzled and poured," Ava added. "Mom mentioned about you earlier when the rain pelted on the ground. She said you might have forgotten to bring an umbrella."
Daniel would have answered her but instead a continuous cough freed out of his chest blocking him from talking.
"Would you like to go home, Daniel?" asked Alex as they waited for her mom.
"After I have some tea, Alex." Daniel said when his coughing stopped.
Mrs. Diaz returned to the room after ten minutes bringing a cup of tea with her. She placed it in front of Daniel.
"Thanks, Agnes."
Daniel said as he took the cup and made a sip. His coughing fit stopped and he felt better.
"It's delicious," he said as he continued sipping the amber content.
"It's jasmine tea, Dan," Mrs. Diaz explained. "I added lemon to it."
Ava and Phillip continued planning their wedding.
"Of course, you're the maid-of-honor, Alex," said Ava looking at Alex. Her right hand was comfortably clasped with Phillip.
"Of course," Alex answered.
"And Daniel is the best man," Phillip said to them.
"This is our second time being a best man and you, Alex, a maid-of-honor," said Daniel through the conversation.
"Yes, you're right, Dan," Alex agreed. "Everybody loves us as their best wedding ushers."
"Would you prefer I ask your best friend, Sabina, Alex?" asked Ava dryly, eyeing her sister.
Alex laughed mildly at Ava's joke.
"I'm not complaining, sister," she said. "But you can always ask her if you want to," Alex added.
Mrs. Diaz looked at her two children while Mr. Diaz just silently observed them from his seat.
"Girls…" she said in warning.
"She implied it, mom," said Ava in defense.
"Well, you said it," Alex countered.
"I might as well call her and ask her now," said Ava on her seat.
"Children," Mr. Diaz spoke from his silence. "Stop fighting."
"We're not."
Both Ava and Alex swung their attention to their dad in unison.
Phillip and Daniel observed them in silent humor. Each man had a twirk smile on his face.
"I can't believe, you two girls are spatting at each other," said Mrs. Diaz in an exasperated voice. "Right in front of your boyfriends."
Ava and Alex might have felt slight shame over their actions and were silent for the next minute.
"Would you like zinfadel served on your engagement?" Alex asked her sister.
"Would I love that, Alex." Ava agreed to her sister. "Let's serve it before the holidays."
"Then, I'll buy it for you for Christmas."
And just with that, Ava and Alex reconciled at once. At the silent surprise of everyone in the room.
Ava looked at everybody.
"Phillip and I are announcing our engagement before Christmas Eve. But I'm only inviting very few intimate friends to join us." She informed them.
They continued to talk and chat about the wedding.
Later, Daniel stood up from his seat and bid good night to Alex and her family.
"I'll go home now, Agnes, Robert," he said to Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. "I'm not feeling very well."
Phillip looked at him, appearing to stand up.
"No, don't go yet, Phil." Daniel said to his cousin. "Our house is just across the street. Your not yet done with your wedding plans with Ava."
Daniel set for the door. Alex followed him out. They went out of the house and walked down the patio.
"Why are you joining me, Alex?" asked Daniel as they crossed the yard to the street. "You should have stayed and continued planning with Ava."
"It's their wedding, Dan. Not mine."
She said as they walked on the road to Daniel's house.
"I'm not sick, Alex. You don't need to worry about me."
"You're not sick. You just don't feel very well." She said tongue-in-cheek.
"Smartmouth, " he said and looked sideways at her. "Well, I don't feel very well."
"Define the word, sick, then." Alex said and laughed along the way.
"Okay. Alright." Daniel said smiling. "I'm not arguing with you."
He coughed a little.
Alex looked back at him.
"I'm okay. Just an itch down my throat. Your mom's tea really helped."
They reached his house. Daniel opened the door. He stopped by the doorway. Alex stood in front of him.
"Something like a good sleep can heal over night."
He said but another fit of cough escaped him.
"Would you like me to tuck you to bed?" Alex asked, concern traced in her voice.
Daniel looked at her.
"I just want to be sure, you're okay, Dan."
He smiled at her. His eyes twinkled.
"If my girlfriend wants to pamper me before I go to bed, why not?"
They went inside his house.
"I'll just change into my pajamas." He told her.
"Then, I'll find you a paracetamol in your kitchen while you change."
Alex went to the kitchen while Daniel went upstairs to change his clothes. She made a glass of milk for him and found a paracetamol in the medical cupboard in the kitchen toilet.
Daniel went down to the kitchen and found Alex sitting on the stool by the table.
"You made a milk for me." He said joining her on the table.
Alex looked up.
"To ease up your sleep."
Daniel took the medicine and opened it. He popped the medicine into his mouth and drank the milk. Then, set the glass down.
"Thanks for the milk and the medicine, Alex."
He said looking at her.
Alex had her elbows braced on the table.
"Sure, no problem." She rose from her seat and looked back at him. "Well, then…"
"Good night."
He said while controlling to smile at her.
"You're smiling." Alex said observing him.
"I'm not." Daniel said denying and hiding his mirth from Alex who was showing her awkward way of caring for him.
"But you are." She said and scowled at him. "Your lips are stretched across your face."
He just smiled at her.
"I must be sick really often to see this side of you." He said looking at her.
"Just go to bed." She said dismissing him.
Daniel rose and walked closed towards her. Almost too close, she had to step back.
Daniel put another step towards Alex. Alex looked up to him up close. She could almost trace his jaw down.
He held his hands at the back of her head and gently pulled her close to him. They stayed that way for a minute. Then, he kissed the top of her head.
"Good night, Alex. Dream of me."
He said whispering above her head.
He walked silently out of the kitchen and climbed up to his bedroom.
Alex stood unmoving for a minute inside the kitchen. She was surprised by his action. She knew that Daniel could be sweet to her but he rarely and more than on less occasion showed that gentle sweet side of him.
Maybe it's his cold, she thought inwardly. Rarely does the guy showed sweetness to her. He was usually silent and not touchy feely with her. She was really surprised by his action. He would rather be at a distance from her most of the time.
Alex shook her head.
She walked to the door of the house and opened it, stepping out of his house.
But with a smile on her face as she crossed the road back to her home.
Alex woke up the next day and joined her mom and dad in the kitchen for breakfast. Ava who wasn't a morning riser was still aslept in her room.
"Phillip is with her in the bedroom."
Mrs. Diaz told her as they were having breakfast.
"Are you going to visit Daniel before going to work, Alex?" Mrs. Diaz asked her.
Alex looked up at her mom as she put scrambled eggs and ham on her toast. She nodded.
"I'm making him some corn soup. Bring it to him before you go to work."
"Okay, I'll bring it to him." Alex said while chewing her sandwich.
"And don't talk with your mouth full."
Mrs. Diaz said admonishing her daughter.
Alex looked at her.
"You can only nod, sweetie. Like what you did earlier when I asked you." Then, she added. "I hope he likes the soup."
"He likes everything you make, mom." Alex said and took a large bite of the sandwich. Then, an idea popped in her mind while chewing.
"You can also make him pancakes, mom." Alex said sputtering while chewing.
"I said, not with your mouth full, Alex."
Mrs. Diaz said rather sharply.
Mrs. Diaz continued eating her breakfast.
"But didn't you say, Daniel likes your pancakes?" she asked.
Alex would have answered with her mouth full but Mrs. Diaz gave her bad look. Swallowing her food down which was a bit painful, Alex reached for her glass of orange juice to wash it down her throat.
"But he likes your pancakes better, mom."
Alex said before biting to her sandwich.
After breakfast, Alex went to shower and change into her work clothes. She went back to the kitchen and found her dad reading the newspaper. Smarty was lying below his feet. The cats, Nimbus and Stratus we're playing by the corner and Pecko was perched inside his cage.
She took the soup pot and a cellophane covered plates of pancakes to Daniel's house. He was still asleep when she went to his bedroom so she just left a note for him on his bedside table to heat up the soup, her mom made for him. And put the covered pancakes on the kitchen table.
Alex went to work and drove back to Avery Hills after her work.
She went to Daniel's house again to check up on him. She was climbing to his bedroom when she heard a loud clanging of a pan dropping on the floor in the kitchen.
Alex dashed to the kitchen to see if a stray cat got in.
It was a cat alright.
But it wasn't any cat.
It was a white Maine cat that she seemed to have seen before.
And as Alex walked over to see it, a body bent on the floor was picking the fallen pan.
It was a female.
"Reina—?"