Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 91 - チャプター 100

“No,” Rafael said with a quiet chuckle.“Sounded like something.” I wrinkled my nose.“I’m just impressed he managed to get exactly what he wanted in two sentences.”I looked down at the little boy who had now started stealing popcorn from my bowl without permission while still maintaining his position as the victim.“He’s a professional.”“I was lost,” Al reminded me.“You were lost for five minutes.”“It was long.”“True,” I said, kissing his hair. “Mami almost became a wanted criminal.”Al nodded like that made perfect sense.The glass door to the terrace opened, and Kendra walked in with her phone raised, taking a picture of the vineyard from what was probably angle number forty-seven of the morning.After we got back from the rose garden, she had nearly cried while apologizing for the third time until I told her to stop before I started crying too and the day became far too emotional for the standards of our household.Now the guilt had eased a little, and the Gen Z in her had tak

About an hour later, I found my two children trying to kill each other in the yard. Legally, that might have been a little dramatic.Maternally, I stood by my statement.It had started with them just running around the lawn behind the private wing because apparently four-year-old energy could not be destroyed by emotional trauma, Lego, two bowls of popcorn, and half a plate of cookies.Kendra was relaxing under the big umbrella near the terrace with her sunglasses on top of her head, one foot propped on an empty chair, iced coffee in hand, and her phone occasionally raised toward the vineyard like she was on a sponsored trip and someone had forgotten to send her the contract.I had just stepped outside with my sunglasses and cardigan when Gabby tore past me screaming.“GIVE IT BACK!”Al was two steps ahead of her, laughing like a tiny criminal, something pink was clutched in his hand.I narrowed my eyes. Hair clip. “Alvaro,” I called.Al looked back without slowing down, which turned

Thirty-seven minutes later, the driveway outside the private wing looked like we were evacuating from a very stylish natural disaster.Two medium suitcases, one overnight bag for Kendra, the kids’ bags, Gabby’s little backpack that apparently contained three crowns because “mountain has different dress code,” Al’s backpack with a dinosaur, his whale shark, a flashlight he’d once taken apart and that now only worked if you smacked it, plus one cooler bag full of food I’d packed myself because five hours in a car with twins and no snacks was a form of self-harm the law had somehow failed to regulate.Rafael’s black SUV was already parked near the side entrance, huge and far too clean for a vehicle that was about to contain two four-year-olds, cracker crumbs, and probably one emotional crisis.The interior was cream and black in a very Rafael way, expensive, neat, slightly intimidating, but what made me stop were the two car seats now perfectly installed in the second row.I stared at th

Apparently, a person could survive saying the word DNA in front of her kids biological father without immediately being arrested by the stupidity police.I knew because the next two hours passed without Rafael pulling over, him shoving a paternity test in my face, or asking why his twins had the exact same face he did whenever he decided someone in the room was too stupid to deserve a response.So technically, I won.Emotionally, I spent about the first twenty minutes studying Rafael’s profile from behind my sunglasses, trying to figure out whether that quick look he’d given me meant : I heard that, you’re incredibly weird, or simply why is my wife drinking water like she just got lost in the Sahara.No luck.He was too calm. Lucky me.After a while, the road began to change. Napa was long behind us, vineyards and low rolling hills giving way to longer stretches of highway, the trees growing denser, the air beyond the windows somehow looking colder, and Gabby’s playlist finally lost i

At 9:47 P.M the house finally went quiet.Gabby held out the longest because, according to her, sleeping was “a waste of mountain vacation,” until five minutes after getting into bed, she passed out with her crown on the nightstand and one hand still gripping the edge of the blanket.Al finally fell asleep with his whale shark tucked under his chin after successfully calling me back twice. The first time because he heard a noise that turned out to be the heater, and the second because he had suddenly decided a bear could open his bedroom door.Kendra disappeared into her room with, “If nobody’s bleeding, text me tomorrow.”I took a quick shower, changed into a thin cream sweater and black lounge pants, and left my hair down because even I had limits on how long a scalp could survive a sleek bun before filing for divorce.I tried to sleep, and didn’t work.Maybe because I’d slept in the car, or maybe because this place was too quiet.Or maybe because I was staying at a mountain lodge o