The Billionaire's Contracted Wife [English]

Meanwhile, back in Houston, it was a few days before the twins would be three months old, and Ashley and Tanaga decided to have them christened. A Christmas party was going to be held for the THJ Group’s Marine Division. It was agreed that they’d hold the christening and Christmas party on the same day as well.

The Gusman’s motto was practically ’the more, the merrier,’ so Jessie had suggested that instead of holding the party at a hotel, they’d have it at one of their clubhouses in their subdivisions.

Jessie and Fely had already met many homeowners in their subdivisions and wanted to show them their hospitality. Tanaga and Ashley agreed, and they met up with the president of the homeowners’ associations and informed them of their true intentions.

The subdivision associations’ president was ecstatic - to say the least - after learning that the Jones’ were throwing a party for the whole community, together with their employees.

Usually, the associations’ head would be the one in charge of throwing parties, but their volunteering took a considerable heap of her burden away.

Each year they would raise money to help with the hefty cost, but for this year, since Ashley and Tanaga had offered, they were more than glad to accept it all.

A large part of the community RSVPd, informing the rest that they’d be joining, which caused Ashley to be in a frenzy, wanting to make sure everything would be perfect for the party.

Celia was in charge of clubhouse arrangements, while Fumika and Ashley were busy shopping for presents and gifts to give children of their employees and the rest of the neighborhood.

On the other hand, Tanaga, Arnel, and Arnold tagged along to carry whatever they bought, and by the time they had finished shopping, Tanaga was exhausted. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

This was the first time he had shopped like there was no tomorrow, and he never wanted to do it again.

That’d be their very first Christmas with the twins, so Ashley and Tanaga wanted to make it a special one for their kids to be able to watch when they grow up. They had planned on doing the christening in the afternoon, which was to be celebrated at the same time as the Christmas party.

Tanaga invited his best friend, Jeff, to come, as he wanted him to be one of his children’s godfather. Ashley had done the same thing, inviting Ann to be the godmother of one of her children as well. Since Ann had a job, she could not attend, although she had agreed to use a proxy and be the godmother of one of Ashley’s children.

Ashley had also invited Mrs. Garcia to be the godmother of one of her children as well, while Sato would be her partner as godfather.

Tanaga let his wife decide. Although, when Ashley informed him that she wanted Sato to be the godfather, he was extremely close to saying no.

However, Ashley opposed him, and he knew he couldn’t possibly win.

"Think about it, with Sato; the boys would have godparents. Don’t you think so?" She reasoned argumentatively, just so that Tanaga would approve of it. Which he did, after he heard her constant bantering, only being able to accept the fact and let it go.

***

The day came and went, and the christening and Christmas party was the next day. Everything was set; Celia hired one of the best Filipino catering companies. They’d work with another catering company to have a variety of dishes to choose from.

A surprise was waiting for the Gusman family since they had absolutely no idea that Tanaga had arranged for his best friend, CEO Jeff Go, to come along and bring Arman Gusman, Ashley’s older brother, with him. It was to be a surprise Christmas present for his in-laws.

He already contacted his manning agency in the Philippines to send Captain Arthur Gusman’s replacement when they docked at Houston port. Once the vessel had docked, he’d send one of his superintendents to pick him up and take him to the party.

No one from the Gusman family knew the surprise that was on its way.

"What do you think? How do I look?" Fely asked, directing the question to her husband.

Jessie turned around to get a good look at his wife.

He squinted his eyes.

"Hmm, let’s see, why don’t you come closer? My eyes aren’t too good anymore," he said, his eyes squinted as he tried to see.

Fely walked towards him, a shy smile on her old face.

"What do you think? I need to make sure that we don’t embarrass our in-laws, so I have to look my best," said Fely as Jessie looked at her, wanting to make sure she looked presentable and as beautiful as always.

"You’re fine! You look amazing! What about me?" He asked, fixing his shirt’s collar.

Fely looked at him over and circled him. After coming to a full stop right in front of him, she nodded before giving him a thumbs up.

"Looks good to me!"

The two looped hands as they walked towards the main house, wanting to check on everyone else’s progress.

***

Ashley and Tanaga were in the living room playing with the twins, accompanied by grandma Hanada and Harumi when the two arrived. Grandma Hanada was sitting beside Ashley while Harumi was standing behind the sofa, watching.

Everyone looked up when they heard the door open, seeing a couple dressed to the nines when they did.

To put it frankly, Ashley was beaming with pride. Words couldn’t describe how proud she was for her parents.

"Dad! Mom! You look amazing, picture-perfect," she praised.

Tanaga pitched in, praising his in-laws.

"Yes, father-in-law, mother-in-law, you look perfectly dressed for the occasion," Tanaga pitched in.

"Thank you! We wanted to make sure that we’re dressed properly for the occasion," Jessie answered, speaking for the both of them.

"We don’t want to embarrass the family, and we’re only doing our part," interjected Fely, who had her hand looped with her husband’s arm.

Tanaga stood up, holding one of the twins.

"Should we head to the church? We’ve only got an hour before the mass starts."

He then held out his free hand, helping his wife get up.

Ashley accepted Tanaga’s hand, getting up. Harumi went to help granda Hanada, and everyone was ready to leave for the church just like that.

***

The church was filled to the brim when they arrived. Ashley’s eyes widened with what she saw. She couldn’t believe how many people were there to attend their sons’ christening.

It was unbelievable, and she had to cover her mouth before she’d let out a loud gasp from surprise.

The reason for this all was mainly because of the president of the homeowner’s association. When he found out that the couple was planning to hold the christening during the day of the Christmas party, he took it upon himself to invite all the residents that had previously RSVP.

His thinking was identical to that of the Gusman’s.

The more, the merrier. He didn’t make a mistake, that being clear since the whole church shined with wealthy homeowners, decked to the nines with the finest of jewelry and clothing.

Harumi helped Grandma Hanada to the right side of the front aisle, explicitly reserved for their family.

Simultaneously, the left side was reserved for all the godmothers and godfathers of the twins.

Jessie and Fely followed, with Tanaga and Ashley right behind them, carrying each one of the twins.

Inday and Juanita were right behind them, ready to take care of the twins if their parents got tired.

Once everyone was seated, Tanaga asked Inday to take over and hold the baby so that he could make a call.

"Sweetheart, I will be right back. I need to make a quick call, alright," he said before he gave her a quick peck on the cheek before going to a free spot to call Jeff.

"Hey! Are you guys close? We’re about to start," said Tanaga, irritated. One thing he hated doing was waiting. No matter who it was, he waited for, he wasn’t too afraid to let them know.

"Well, hello to you too, Tan. Just hold your horses; we’re already outside the church, we’ll be there in a few," Jeff said before he quickly hung up, descending the vehicle.

It was a joyful occasion for the Gusman family. They couldn’t believe that Tanaga had asked Jeff to bring Arman along from the Philippines, and if that wasn’t enough, Arthur and Ariel were relieved from their duties so they could be with them on such a joyous occasion like this.

A moment later, Mrs. Garcia arrived, Sato in tow. Ashley was elated to introduce Mrs. Garcia to everyone else while Sato chatted with Fumika and Celia, telling them what he had been doing over at the Spaniard Kingdom.

Once they finished a session of hugging and crying, it was time for the christening to start, and the respective godparents lined up right before the christening finally began.