Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 97
"We still have a 700,000-peso balance to pay the construction company."
"Around April or May, we will settle the remaining balance and have our own house."
Both of them were happy. Even though they would get taxed in April, it didn't matter because they had already prepared themselves mentally... They couldn't do anything about it anyway. Being honest citizens, they had to abide by the law, although the 30% tax was truly a nightmare.
Once they were done calculating their money, the couple watched the Telenovela that Maya followed every weekday.
Maya sat in Karlos's lap, feeling his warmth, hugging his neck as the two spent their alone time in silence, treasuring the quiet after the kids went to sleep.
Once the Telenovela ended, Maya turned off the TV and returned to Karlos's embrace, wanting to savor a few more minutes of intimacy.
She gently caressed his face with her thumbs, looking at him lovingly, as if memorizing his features all over again.
"You're growing a beard." She brushed the short, growing hair on his chin with a playful smile.
"Hm," Karlos responded.
"Should we shave your beard?"
"What do you prefer? Do you want your husband with a beard or clean-shaven? Your opinion matters most."
"I already saw you with a beard."
"I'm handsome, right?"
Maya playfully slapped his shoulder. She admitted that Karlos was attractive when he had a beard. At that time, Karlos was still living at the fish port and rarely had the chance to shave. He looked mature and charismatic, and there were even moments when old women flirted with him...
However, Maya preferred him clean-shaven. He looked neat and handsome, the version she personally adored.
"Let's shave them tomorrow. It's already late," she answered while still sitting in his lap, feeling comfortable.
"I'll let you shave me, but I'll also shave you." He winked at her, making Maya roll her eyes.
"No funny business. Besides, I'm hairless and smooth. You know it better than me, so stop pretending otherwise."
"I'm just teasing you." Karlos chuckled and enjoyed her reaction.
The two giggled, staring into each other's eyes.
"Your deep blue eyes, they are like the ocean..." Maya weakly sighed. "I wish the twins inherited your eyes, or at least one of them, because your eyes are truly special."
"You're still sad about it? It's been a year."
"Of course, your eyes are truly beautiful. I'm sad that none of the kids inherited the color of your eyes."
The twins' eye color didn't really matter, Maya would love them regardless.
"For me, I prefer your crimson eyes. I'm happy that Arabella and Iñigo got your eyes. They are like rubies."
Arabella and Iñigo had black hair, which they got from Karlos, while their crimson eyes were from Maya.
Maya was sad because her red eyes sometimes appeared as red as blood. It reminded her of the color of blood. Of course, she didn't hate her eyes, she just preferred Karlos's blue ocean eyes because they gave her peace.
"Well, if you have a problem with it. How about we make another baby, perhaps he or she will inherit my blue eyes? What do you think, just consider the possibility?"
Karlos pulled her closer, his hands on her ass, squeezing gently. Maya smirked at his boldness.
"Not so fast, Papi. Let's wait till the twins are 5 years old. You don't want your lovely wife to get stressed taking care of three babies, do you?"
"As you wish, my love."
Even though the idea of having another child was adorable, both of them understood that taking care of a new baby right now would be a disaster. Even Arabella's naughtiness was already a headache.
As for Maya's dream of having a child with blue ocean eyes like Karlos, that could wait until life became easier.
The couple stared at each other. Maya started with a short kiss that soon turned into a full-blown passionate kiss filled with tenderness and longing.
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Three days later, on January 5, 2001, Karlos returned to the Bay Harbor. It had been three days since he and Brandon agreed to continue their partnership, a decision they both felt confident about.
So far, their profit had never dropped below 20,000 pesos, which was a welcome surprise, proving that their business was stable.
'20,000 pesos is already a monthly salary to many people. In this era, earning 20,000 pesos per month is already categorized as a middle-class worker.' Karlos thought.
The fact that he could earn over 20,000 pesos for three days straight was a blessing.
'Does that mean that my family and I are about middle-class then, at least based on income?' Karlos wondered.
Well, the fact that they had the money to build an L-shaped house for about 2 million pesos was a testament to their status... He might be in the upper bracket of middle class.
Boat owners in the Timog-Kanluran province had it better compared to many other fishermen.
As he gradually reached the bay harbor, Karlos was stunned as he saw a huge yacht docked in the harbor. It was 50 meters long, a giant up close, towering over every other vessel.
"Isn't this the yacht that I sold my catch to last year?" Karlos didn't expect to see the huge expensive yacht today, especially in the middle of the day.
Karlos had no idea that the owner of this yacht was Roman Alejandro. He didn't have the chance to look at the yacht owner because he had only focused on selling his catch at that time.
He curiously passed the yacht to reach the usual wooden docking station.
The bay was not originally deep, but the governor, a few decades ago, constructed a harbor and extended it into deeper water so that bigger boats could dock better, an investment that paid off in the long run. The ground that Karlos was currently stepping on was part of the sea a few decades ago.
Karlos carried his belongings and passed by many people who were curiously staring at the yacht as if seeing a mythical creature.
"That yacht is really big. I heard it's owned by a rich young guy. I saw that yacht docked in our harbor last year and it looked just as intimidating back then."
"That yacht is probably expensive. Maybe 5 million pesos?"
"5 million pesos, heh, you have no idea. That's not a yacht. With that size, it's improper to categorize it as a yacht because it's far too massive."
"So what is it then if not a yacht?"
"That's a superyacht. It costs about a billion pesos, or around $30 million if converted to dollars."
"Holy Goddess of the Ocean! That's expensive as fuck! One billion pesos? You can feed a whole city for years with that amount! And these rich people just spend it on a fucking yacht for luxury?"
"I heard the owner is a businessman. If he earned that money through honest business, then I see nothing wrong with it. But if a politician bragged about his yacht, then that's a different story and we all know why."
Karlos listened to their conversation but didn't stop walking to marvel at the beauty of the yacht because he had more important things to do.
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