Refusing to ask anything after what Father Kim just said, Hannah knew that Samantha was trying to hold herself back as if asking would make her weak. "He looked nice. Still unmistakably attractive. I know it's still early to say but I'm pretty sure that Ash got his nose from Daniel."

Samantha chuckled at the thought. "I thought so too…" She s.h.i.+fted in her position. "They said the baby will change a lot of times while growing up… like when I was a few months old, they said I look like my dad but as I grew later until one year, I looked more like my mother. Do you think that will happen to Ash too?"

"Who knows? Let's see… Who would you like him to look like?" Hannah asked, stroking Samantha's hair as they chatted.

There was a sparkle in Samantha's eyes as she imagined her little boy growing up. "I want Ash to look like him."

"Of course you do. You know…" Hannah continued to talk about random things as they stayed on the sofa until Samantha fell asleep. Hannah did not move a muscle and just stayed in the same position while she browsed on her phone and let her friend sleep on her lap.

After just thirty minutes, a cry was heard from the baby monitor that was on top of Samantha's tummy. Hannah got startled when Samantha suddenly shot up and in mere two seconds, she was already on her feet.

"I'm up," Samantha said, das.h.i.+ng towards the nursery.

Hannah shook her head and followed her friend to help her.

…

Several months later, Hannah continued to stay in Country A to help Samantha.

The two friends were in the nursery room playing with Ash.

"Look at the size of his foot, S!" Hannah held one of Ash's foot in her hand and gushed. "This boy will grow so popular with the ladies just like his father. What do you think baby Ash? Aunt Hannah's right huh? Huh?" She placed his foot on her cheek and smelled it, rubbing her nose on his little sole. Ashton's feet were so soft that she couldn't help herself from playing with it.

Ashton giggled when it tickled, making Samantha smile. "He won't have any ladies until I'm 80! He'll be my baby forever and I'll be his only woman. Isn't that right, sweetie?" She wiggled the hand that was holding her finger up and down.

"Gosh… then you'll become the hated mother-in-law in town if you do that. Do you want that to happen?"

"I don't care as long as I have my little potato with me. I would not mind what others will say." Samantha singsonged as she played with her baby's hand.

Hannah shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I would never want a mother-in-law like you if you're like that. That will be such a turn-off."

Turning to Hannah, Samantha teased, "Good thing my mother isn't like me, huh?"

Hannah averted her gaze and cleared her throat, scoffing to wash off the embarra.s.sment. Hannah and Joon had been talking about the future and she felt that he was going to propose to her soon.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the ringing sound of her phone. She looked around and found it under a bag of diapers. Staring at the screen, she saw an unknown number. Tilting her head, she thought of possibilities on who would be calling her but she had no idea.

"Why aren't you picking it up?" Samantha asked, shaking the rattle in front of Ashton. The little potato smiled whenever he heard the sound that it made.

"I don't know who it is. It's not registered."

"How would you know if you don't pick it up?"

Nodding, Hannah pressed the green b.u.t.ton and placed the phone on her ear. "h.e.l.lo?~ Who is this?"

It took a while before a voice responded. "Hannah… it's Daniel." The man from the other line spoke in a clear voice, making Hannah sit straight up. Her eyes widened and she looked at Samantha while her heart raced.

"Yes…" Hannah answered, not knowing what else she should say. Daniel's voice startled the heck out of her.

Daniel sighed and closed his eyes. He was already regretting the call as he thought that it would probably be harder for him after. "Are you with Samantha right now?" He probed.

"Y-yes…" Hannah's one-word answers caught Samantha's attention and made her look at her friend. Samantha raised a brow as though she was asking 'Who is it or what's wrong?'

Hannah swallowed when she met her friend's questioning stare. She did not know what to do at that moment until the man from the other line asked, "Can I… possibly… speak to her?"

Hannah hated the situation at that moment. She wanted the two of them to get together but their circ.u.mstance is just too complex. And she did not want to complicate things between Samantha and her father, knowing that the two of them had an agreement. But at that time, Hannah wanted her friend to have some hope and see her happy — she bit her lip as she thought things through.

"What?" Samantha questioned when she saw the anxious look that Hannah had on her face.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Samantha chuckled and turned back to baby Ash. "Ashton… Hannah looks so weird right now, don't look at her. You can't look at negative things." She spewed as she continued to play with her son.

Hearing Samantha's voice through the phone, Daniel's heart thumped. "Is that her?" He asked even though he already knew the answer. "Hannah…"

Hearing the distress in Daniel's voice, she pa.s.sed the phone to her friend, "Sam, it's for you."

With a smile on her face, Samantha turned her head, "Huh? Who is it? Is it Joon?" She gingerly accepted the phone in her hand and placed it on her ear casually.

She held Ashton's little hand in hers and gently ma.s.saged it. "h.e.l.lo? Joon? Ash is-"

"It's me," Daniel spoke, stopping Samantha's words.

The moment that she heard his voice, Samantha felt like she was lifted off the ground. She knew the voice too well… she would know it even in her sleep. "Daniel…" she muttered in her soft voice.

Daniel's heart softened when he heard her call his name. It was like a medicine to his throbbing headache that he instantly felt better just hearing her voice — he missed her so much.

"Sam… you don't have to talk... I know that your father must have prevented you and I don't want to cause you two to drift so I just… I want you to listen to me. Will that be okay?" He asked and Samantha's lips trembled as she nodded without saying anything, she only tapped the phone near the microphone twice as if she was telling him she understood.

Closing his eyes, Daniel smiled as he imagined her at the end of the line. "Have you been doing well?"

'I am but I miss you...' she spoke in her mind.

"You're not skipping meals, are you? I hope not… I'm sorry it took a long time for me to contact you... It's been too long and I wished I could have done this sooner. But I made a promise to your father that I could never contact you unless…" He sighed.

"...and I just broke that promise today, I just... I just want to talk to you. You won't tell on me to your father, right?" He chuckled softly, making Samantha smile — she tapped the phone twice again.

Samantha bit her lip, 'I understand and it's okay, Daniel.'

"G.o.d I miss you, Sam… terribly." He whispered but his voice was so clear for her.

Samantha's gaze fell on Ashton's smile. Her son smiled so brightly as if the little boy knew that his father was just there.

"I've been doing the best that I can for us and I feel so helpless that it's taking so long but I can't give up. No matter what... I will come back to you, Sam.

'I will wait for you... I'll continue to hold on to that.' Samantha smiled.

"I love you... I promise you… I'll come back to you soon."

Samantha wanted to tell Daniel so bad that she loved him too. She also wanted to tell him about their son and so she opened her mouth and was ready to speak.

"There you are, I thought you guys are going to the park?" Her father suddenly entered the nursery, surprising Samantha that she placed the phone away in a hurry. "Dad… we were just…"

"We're going soon. Are you coming, Uncle?" Hannah quickly answered to cover Samantha's quivering voice.

Daniel heard Father Kim through the speaker and though he wanted to talk more, he ended the call instead. Looking at the sky, Daniel seemed to find a new light and was more resolved to hasten their search — he promised himself. The faith that he had doubled his determination.

"Boss, your friend Lucas is calling. There's been an update." a.s.sistant Ahn spoke from behind him, disturbing his reverie.