044

Erica:

“Dante, I…”

Ring! Ring! Ring!

I was stopped mid-sentence by my phone ringing loudly on the bedside table. I stretched over and picked it up and saw that it was the landline number from my house.

I gasped silently. My kids were calling me! I couldn't believe that I had been so engrossed with Dante that I forgot that I had left them home alone and given Clarissa an entire week off of work.

I looked at Dante skeptically and my mind was kicked into motion. I couldn't let him know that my kids were calling me. I couldn't let him put two and two together and figure out that the triplets were his children. I didn't even want him to know that he had children.

I grabbed my phone grabbed my shirt and held it against my chest.

“I need to take this call privately. It's something important about work.”

I scurried into the bathroom and closed the door but I was careful to look through the keyhole to make sure that Dante wasn't eavesdropping on my conversation.

“Hello?”

“Mom!”

The sound of my