"It's okay, Aiden. Sansa’s not going to do anything to you,” Eva explained as she tried to get him off her back.
“What's that?” He asked without leaving his place, although following us out of the elevator.
"That's a dog, and her name is Sansa,” I answered seeing that Milena looked at my pet with curiosity, so I bent down for her to get a better look.
At least the girl was curious.
“Get her away from that!” Aiden exclaimed taking the baby out of my arms and making her start crying and Sansa barking again thinking they were playing with her.
Yes. I recognized my dog's barks.
I looked at Eva not knowing what the hell was going on with the boy and shut the dog down with a signal, leaving us only with Milena crying and Aiden breathing hard as he walked back to the elevator without taking his eyes off Sansa.
<
“What is it, darling?” Eva asked, her eyes inquisitive as we turned to him."Nothing,” he murmured solemn before stretching his arms towards the baby, "I’ll bathe her, that's my job."“Your work?” Eva asked confused. "Aiden, your job is to do well in class and keep your room clean, children are adults’ job, darling."Aiden looked away swallowing hard before lowering his arms."Elisa always made it clear that my job was to take care of my sister,” he muttered uncomfortably."Well, you don't have to take care of anything but yourself, boy,” I replied patting him on the shoulder, trying to take the weight off the issue. "What do you think if we go to the bathroom and you explain how you do it, okay?"He nodded swallowing hard and followed us into the bathroom.As we entered the bathroom t
God... it felt like the numbers on the spreadsheet would never make any sense. How many hours had I been working on the same columns and how many times had they given me different results? How many cups of coffee could my body take before I hit the floor from a caffeine overdose? How many days had it been since I could sleep more than two hours in a row in the same night? Ah, I did have an answer to that question; Five fucking days had passed since I had last slept well. Five days since my life had become totally chaotic when I got two dependent people. I mean, I’d thought the previous weeks had been rough with the whole adoption process and the move and the realization that not only had my life turned 180 degrees the day Elisa died, but I also needed to put on my big girl’s panty and face the fact that I had to pretend that everything was fine for Aiden's peace of mind, since Milena was barely a baby and everything would be more adapt
“What's up, doc?” Alex asked ten minutes later. "His pupils are responding well and the bleeding has stopped,” replied the doctor Alex had called when he’d seen what was happening in the room when he arrived. True to his word, Alex had arrived a few minutes later as he lived one floor above us. The surprise of finding myself next to a very pale Louis and holding a towel to the wound on his head had vanished after a few seconds and then he proceeded to call the doctor who was now carefully evaluating said wound. I was grateful I had reacted to dressing and fixing Louis's underwear before anyone else arrived, although Aiden hadn't had the same luck since he had seen every part of both Louis and me. “So what, doc? Why isn’t him reacting?” Alex asked looking carefully at the unconscious man on the bed. "Because, although the blow was not strong enough
Hmm... something smelled amazing. I took a deep breath and my lungs filled again with the same rich, seductive scent. As I moved a little, my body made contact with another and then I remembered my wife. At some point in the night, we had switched positions and I had ended up with my face buried in her neck and her arms hugging me. I didn’t want to move; I was in paradise. "My secret is buttermilk,” said a voice, breaking my dream moment. “Really? Louis never uses that.” "And chocolate chips. The best pancakes have chocolate chips, otherwise they aren’t pancakes.” “Then I don't know what Louis has fed me these days.” I was going to kill Alex Hardy. What the hell was that bastard doing in my house poisoning Aiden's mind? I started to get up when a sharp pang in my head left me frozen in place, reminding me of what happened the night before. Shit, the boy had tried to kill me with a tennis
So what can I say except you're welcomeFor the islands I pulled from the seaThere's no need to pray, it's okayYou're welcomeHa, I guess it's just my way of being meYou're welcomeYou're welcome. What I least expected when the elevator doors opened, was to find Louis still in his chef's uniform, singing and dancing throughout the room, Sansa following him everywhere and Milena wearing her Hawaiian costume clapping happily with the show my ridiculous husband was giving to her. Hey, it's your day to say, "You're welcome" 'Cause I'm gonna need that boatI'm sailing away, away, you're welcome'Cause Maui can do anything but float. I met the bright gaze of Aiden, dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt, sitting on the couch next to his little sister, amused by the ridiculousness of the situation. It amused me to see Milena dressed in that way, when yesterday she didn’t even want to see the skirt of her costu
“Did you pack everything?” “Yeah, baby.” “You’re sure?” “Eva...” "Okay, I'll go change Mile and we're off." I sighed without taking my eyes off my wife as she went to the baby's room to take off her pajamas so we could go to the party. We'll talk about that in a moment, but for now, let's talk about the following: I had lied to my wife. And I almost choked when I did. But what could I do? I had panicked when I saw her own panic creep over her features. I don't want your love, baby. Of course I wanted it, I wanted all from her. I really wanted my wife to love me. Because, you know the funniest part? At some point since we met, I had started to fall in love with her. I had fallen in love with those children. I had fallen in love with the family we had become, the family I never had and I never even thought I would have. That's why I would hate when the day t
“What the hell is this?” "Hmm... Pizza?" “Pizza?” I repeated looking with horror at the plate before me, "Explain to me when I said that the dough should be like rubber. What flour did you use?" "Hmm, well...” “What?” "Gluten-free flour,” he murmured. "But, what the fuck?” I snapped, taking the plate out of my sight, "Didn't you take notes yesterday when we went through the fermentation process? I think you signed up to be a gastronomic pro, who knows the correct process to produce the dishes your customers ask for. Do you think I would order this in a Michelin restaurant?” “No, chef, but―” “What is this?” I interrupted him again, detailing more closely what I had ingested. “Vegan cheese, chef...” Chef Mauro next to me made a sound of horror. “What was wrong with the mozzarella at your station?” He said with his accent even more pronounced than before. "I don't like to touch animal produc
I was screwed. Really screwed. I knew the man was dangerous when I met him, but what did I do? I invited him to my office to fuck my brain out. And now look at me: married, with children and even with a damned pet that made us look like the typical happy family. Although we didn’t have to pretend much because we were really happy. Aiden had been improving a lot around Louis, now they were talking and joking and just yesterday, he’d surprised Louis with a hug as soon as he came home from school because he had gotten a ten in biology. And Milena as long as she had something to eat was always happy. The girl seemed to have a bottomless pit as a stomach lately and seemed addicted to the cookies Louis brought her from the supermarket. Sansa? She had decided to move into the baby's room and now they shared a bed every night, which we greatly appreciated as it allowed us to sleep the whole night, because apparently, Milena wou
New York, 10 years after the previous epilogue. “And that's when I decided to trust him and tell him about the things those people had made me live, and boy, was it not the best decision I made in life, little one, because he sought the help I needed, and when I faced Daley? Incredible, there I felt like the strongest superhero in the world. "Do you realize she's asleep, right?" I looked away from my daughter, who was born a few hours ago, and fixed it on my wife, my lover, and my best friend. And who just now was looking at me amused from the hospital bed. No matter how tired she looked, Amanda would always stop my breath when she laid those green eyes on me. Even when I met her at thirteen and she posed her sad and regretful look because of the amount of harassment she received for being red-haired and shy. Harassment that I had ended up by defending her, and that fact, had helped develop our friendship. Frie
New York, three years later. My son's blue eyes were watching me intently. As if it weren't three in the morning and I wasn't dying of sleep. “Why don’t you sleep?” I mumbled regretfully, noticing that his eyes shone with joy at my misery. "No, Jake, it's not time to play, it's time to sleep." "Maybe if you didn't let him nap so late, this would stop happening." The air caught in my lungs when I saw my splendid wife leaning against the doorframe. My goddess. "I’ll start doing it tomorrow, babe. I promise you.” But she just laughed in amusement before coming into our youngest son's room and taking him in her arms. “You've been promising the same for months, sweetheart. By now it would be a miracle if you did.” I marveled once more at how incredible my wife looked with a baby in her arms. Maybe that's why we kept having more and more. Oh, right you don't know what I'm talki
Who would have thought a thirteen-year-old girl scared with life would end up making her dreams come true. Definitely not me, and now I wanted to cry when I saw one of my biggest dreams come true. I didn't know how to handle the emotions that gripped my entire being. I heard everyone around me toasting and celebrating the restaurant's opening, but I couldn't take my eyes off the name before me. Lucie was written in italics, neat and clean on the front of the building. My writing. Scripture I wouldn’t know I had if the owner of that name hadn’t welcomed me twenty-four years ago. If she hadn't taught me to write and add or subtract, if she hadn't taught me to fight for what I wanted in life. One night while in Hawaii, I commented to Louis about my desire to honor her at the restaurant, and that my initial idea had been the counter in the bar, which ended up in shreds thanks to the idiotic workers; so he was the o
“You see? My son is smarter than your daughter.” “I just saw your son putting his finger in his mouth after holding it up his nose, Alex. You really think that?” Alex sighed heavily. "Nothing’s perfect, Louis." And I should know. I settled into my chair and continued to watch the children playing with Sansa and Erick. This had been my life for the last two days because now I was a guest at the Hardy house since, although I had left the apartment, I hadn’t been able to leave the building. My plan had been to return to the boat, but it was impossible for me to go to that place when everything reminded me of my wife and the times we had there the two of us or with the rest of the family and friends. And alone? Much less. Before, I had Sansa to distract me, but now the dog was no longer mine, but Milena's. How could I take her teddy bear away from my daughter? I just didn't. Therefore, I had
My God, I was going crazy. Louis was driving me crazy! Shouldn’t I supposed to be writing his name with hearts? Or daydreaming about how we'll look together twenty years from now? Well, no. Actually, I had started a list on how to kill my husband without raising suspicions and end up in jail. It had been three days since we declared our eternal love and that he didn’t leave me due to the fact that I walked through life without a uterus, and since then, he’d dedicated himself to showing me every video on IVF that he found, or the most prominent specialists money could buy, or every surrogacy program that appeared on G****e.” And I wanted to kill him. Don't take me the wrong way, I was pleased and flattered that the man wanted to have a child with me, but honestly? I felt like he was going too fast. Just a few days ago we said our first I love you, a fact that I had loved and hated at the same time because my surprise had
My wife loved me. Damn, I felt invincible in life thanks to that woman. I was Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, and Babe Ruth in one body. Actually, Eva hadn’t declared her love to me, but she saying she didn’t want to separate from me? That was enough declaration of love for me. What's even better… I couldn't help but smile like an idiot. My wife was preparing a surprise for me, and I couldn't wait to see what it was all about. I dropped the keys on the kitchen counter, and headed into the living room to take advantage of the incredible silence in the apartment today. Aiden had asked permission to go visit his red-haired friend to tell her about our trip to Hawaii and Eva had taken Mile with her to the bar since I had to go at some important meetings in the morning. And Sansa? Sansa was being walked by Alice at this precise moment; I noticed the dog had gained weight in the time we weren’t her
Well, this wasn’t the way I expected to end my first day back in New York. Five minutes ago? I’d felt in the clouds. I couldn't believe the man I loved had given me the most beautiful experience of my life. Oh, yeah. It was getting easier and easier for me to think of Louis in that way. Spending two amazing weeks in Hawaii with your friends and family would be a tough thing to beat. Days of sunbathing by a beautiful beach or by the pool, biking through history-filled roads, driving the Hana Road, and exploring every waterfall we saw. Diving, paddle boarding, visiting museums or, in Louis's case, swimming with sharks (only he dared to do it) while the rest of us watched him from the boat. And when everyone found out about Gena and Pierre's engagement? Yeah, things got out of control. My body was still recovering from the amount of alcohol I ingested those days. But the memories I will treasure the most, will be A
“Look, aunt! I'm swimming!” “Excellent, darling! But don't go too deep!” I yelled in amusement when I saw he dipped his head back into the pool and began to swim hard. It was reassuring to know that Louis, Alex and Mark were in the pool with the kids and that nothing would happen to them. I was in a chaise longue with Abbie, Olivia and Elizabeth, while the rest of the group was in other activities. Never in my life did I think I would be living this experience. To find myself drinking a piña colada by the edge of a pool in an exquisite resort and unable to take my eyes off my husband's beautiful tattooed body. Son of a bitch. I had a husband. "Oh, I want to know more about that sigh,” Olivia said, turning to her side to look at me. “I didn't sigh.” "You definitely sighed,” Abbie agreed, sitting at the foot of my lounger, "And you did it while making puppy eyes at Louis." I saw the two women with
“Did you tell her you have the children’s parental rights?” I growled in annoyance when Matt sat down next to me, so I couldn't help the sarcastic comment that escaped me. “Do you see her professing the unconditional love she feels for me?” "I'm just saying it's not fair for you to put her through this process unnecessarily...” "Oh, because I highly enjoy having one of my ex-lovers offering me sex in exchange of the kids’ custody in my wife's office." He turned to look at me suspiciously. “What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked. “Our caseworker is on leave due to family problems, so they sent a substitute I met last year instead.” He cursed. “Did you sleep with her?” I couldn't help but look at him bored. “What do you think I used to do with women in the past, Matt? Play Uno cards? Scrabble? Of course I fucked them, why else if not?” "I swear you’re all beasts,” he growled in resp