When Ria woke up the next morning, it was because her babies were cooing. Someone was playing with them. She opened her eyes to see Antonio leaning over both babies, a smile on his face as he lightly tickled their bellies. He made a face when he touched one of them, and whispered. "Someone's wet. Let's get you changed."As he picked the baby out of the crib and turned to the changing table, the other baby made a noise of protest, and he laughed quietly. "Don't worry, I'll change you too," he whispered, like the babies could understand him. As he placed the one in his arms on the changing table, his eyes caught hers and held. "Hey." He stopped whispering. "I didn't mean to wake you."The smile on Ria's face grew. He was just so cute. She also noticed that he was already dressed in what passed for casual wear for him. A dark button down, and dark slacks. Damn. Her husband was attractive. "You didn't," Ria said, stretching and getting out of bed. She was wearing a thin nightgown, an
The sound and sight of Antonio laughing was not a sight Molly was used to. As she stepped into the house, just returning from work, she took a moment to stand by the doorway and take in the scene before her. Ria and Antonio sat sprawled on the floor of the sitting room, the babies lying in their bassinets on the floor. Ria was pink-cheeked from laughing at something Antonio had told her, and Antonio was leaning towards her, a smile on his face. As Molly watched, he flicked Ria's nose, making her snort with laughter, and the air between them quickly became charged with tension as their eyes fell on each other's lips. Feeling like she was intruding, Molly began to back away, but Antonio must have seen her movement from the corner of his eye, because he looked up. Ria turned too, to see what Antonio was looking at, and when she saw Molly there, she yelped and blushed, scrambling to her feet. Both Molly and Antonio chuckled. "Hello, Mother," he greeted, his hand curling around Ria's
Lucy glared at her phone in fury as Antonio declined her call. She stared at the back of the retreating vehicle that carried both Antonio and that woman he was with. And babies! Who the hell were they, and why would Antonio be with them?Fuming, Lucy tried to call Antonio again, but she was shocked to realize that he had switched off his phone. He hadn't even told her he was back in town. She smelled foul play. Deciding to deal with him later, she grabbed her designer purse, and stepped out of the car. Years of being a supermodel made her movements graceful and elegant, and she pasted a soft, fake smile on her lips as she entered Molly's fashion house. Even if Antonio wouldn't give her the answers she needed, his mother would. After all, Molly liked her. As Lucy entered the fashion house, most of the staff in the area hurried to greet her, smiling in her direction.Lucy, who loved to feel important, smiled back at them, though she was still inwardly fuming. Without waiting for on
"Where are we going?" Ria asked, as Antonio got into the car. He grinned at her, and she was struck again by how attractive he was. "Anywhere," he replied. "Where do you want to go?""I get to choose?" Ria asked, checking in on the quiet babies.Antonio nodded. "We can go anywhere and do anything you want.""But..." She glanced up at him. "Are you sure I'm not interrupting your day?" Antonio reached over, squeezed her hand, and pulled back. "Of course not. I sought you out, remember?" "Mm." Ria gave him a small smile. "And you brought me cupcakes.""Am I forgiven now?" He asked. So he did realize her slight coldness towards him, Ria thought. Shyly, she nodded. She couldn't remain angry at Antonio, not when he was so sweet. "Can I ask what happened?" He asked. "Why were you displeased?" Ria shrugged, suddenly feeling slightly silly. Here she was, angry at him because of a series of calls, and he didn't even understand why she was angry. Right at that moment, Antonio's phone r
After breakfast, Ria hurried back up to her bedroom to bathe and dress up, while Molly watched the kids. When she was done, she breastfed them, giving Molly time to go upstairs to her own bedroom and freshen up. When Molly came back down, she looked like she was attending a fashion show. Ria glanced down at her own casual shirt and pants. Molly saw her expression and laughed. "Don't mind me, dear. I just like to wow my staff from time to time." "Your... staff?" Ria asked. Molly nodded. "Did I fail to mention? I have a fashion house not too far from here.""Is that where we'll be shopping?" Ria asked. Molly shrugged. "If you want. We can pick up a few things for ourselves, and then we can go somewhere else for the babies stuff."Just at that moment, Ria remembered something. She had no money. Or rather, she couldn't remember if she had money. "Oh, and Antonio asked me to give you this." Molly extended a shiny black card to her, and Ria stared at it dumbly. "Not that you'd need
The babies were screaming. That was the first thing Ria heard that morning as she groggily blinked sleep from her eyes. She staggered out of bed and towards their cribs, only to find Antonio’s mother already there, trying to shush the other baby while at the same time changing the other’s wet diaper. Ria blinked. She hadn’t realized someone was in her bedroom with her. She reached for the baby still in the crib. Molly smiled at her apologetically. “I’m sorry. I came to get you for breakfast, but you were still asleep. I was just about to leave when that little one here woke up and began to cry. I didn’t want them to wake you, but it seems I didn’t do a very good job calming him down.”Ria nodded tiredly and yawned. “Thank you.”She hadn’t gotten much sleep during the night because her babies woke up and fussed every hour. Molly gave her a look as she rocked the baby who was now rooting in her nightdress. “You look like you need some help,” she said. Ria shook her head. She didn’