Mariana was sat outside with Makayla, playing checkers on the tiled floor. They were beside the sparkling swimming pool, with its gentle tides rippling away the sunlight. Before this, she was just sitting at home bored out of her mind. Hence, she thought that spending some time in the sun will help ease her thoughts, so here she was.

"When are you gonna make your move Mari?" Makayla asked. Her head rested against her knuckles as she started smirking. She had forced Mariana into a tight position.

"I'm gonna make it...in a minute," Mariana said, but she was still uncertain of her actions. Her teeth clattered as any move she made will result in Makayla capturing either of her pieces.

"Well hurry up cuñadita." (dear sister-in-law).

"Um, okay," Mariana said and jumped over one of the pieces. She took it and placed it to her side. Makayla then made her move, but instead of her taking one piece like Mariana thought she would, she double jumped over two.

"Wait, how did that happen?" Mariana exclaimed and looked over the board. She examined the pieces and realized how hers was laid out. She hadn barely noticed until the deed was done.

"Oh..."

"Yeah." Makayla smirked and patted her cheek. "Don't worry Mariana, you still might end up winning."

Mariana pouted and made her next move, slowly making her way to the other side. Makayla just teased her with a chuckle and took her turn while sipping on a cocktail.

In the background, Mason and Aidan were out move some stuff out into the backyard along with Makayla's fiancé.

"Thanks for helping out guys," Makayla said as they overheard the men grunting under their breaths. They carried a white piano and placed it under a cherry blossom tree. It's leaves scattered the sunlight into golden columns across the shiny keys.

"You have a piano now?" Mariana glanced towards it. It sparkled in her eyes as if it was tempting her to touch the keys.

"Yeah, do you wanna play it? You can if you want," Makayla said.

"Mm, maybe later. I don't feel comfortable playing with all these people around," Mariana said, her eyes roaming around the gardeners that were working. They mowed the lawn, spraying the air with the smell of freshly cut grass, and the sprinklers trickled water like a mini fountain.

Mariana looked again at the grand piano with a reminiscing smile. She hadn't played the piano in a long time due to other things taking up her schedule. But she does remember one evening when she and baby Elisa were alone and she had nothing to do. So she decided to play a song for Elisa. It was one of the few times she had seen her baby smile up at her.

It was only a little grin, but it made her heart swell to know her baby enjoyed her playing and her voice. She was still a new mom at that time learning, but that gesture gave her a boost of confidence that she was doing something right with her new baby.

Mariana sighed and flattened her hands. She placed her head and closed her eyes. She also remembered when baby Elisa laid on her baby bump that was beginning to show. For the first time, it felt like her two babies were connected but in separate worlds.

Once she gets them back, she will hopefully play more songs for them. But for now, she had to hold on to that little flame of hope that they will be found.

When the men were done, they all sat round a table with a plate of mini pizza. Mason brought out a cooler with some cold drinks. Mariana took a cold can of coke cola. She flicked it open and quickly guzzled it down, and it fizzled in her to the jiggles.

"Mm, that feels good." She smiled like a clown and drank some more. The sun's rays felt like they were licking her skin and it felt like she was snuggled under a blanket.

When she put her drink down, she noticed Aidan was staring at the wall. His chin propped on his hand and seemed to be zoned out.

"Hey, what's up with him?" She nudged Makayla and jerked her head towards Aidan.

"Hm I'm not sure," Makayla muttered, "hey dad, what are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" He jerked his head as if someone had pulled him out of a trance.

"You were just staring into space. We're you thinking about something?"

"N—No..." he stumbled on his words like he just got caught.

"You sure?" Mason raised his eyes from his food. "Were you not thinking of what Micah said to you the other day?"

Aidan didn't answer but silently ate on his pizza while bearing his eyes to the floor.

"I remember when he asked me to give you your address, so he can come talk to Micah again," Mason said while briefly looking at Mariana, which surprised her.

"I didn't want to say because I'm trying to get on good terms with my brother," Mason said.

"Yeah, and if Micah sees his dad at our front door, he's gonna throw a fit." Mariana chuckled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought was gonna happen. I mean, he already didn't want me in the house by the way he kept his close eye on me."

"Yeah that was funny to watch," Makayla said.

Aidan also chuckled a bit but returned to his solemn expression. "It's just what he said to me the other day really got me thinking about things. Was I really so harsh on him?"

"I would say yeah. It wasn't bad at first, but over time it did get worse... I now realized that," Mason said awkwardly and struggled to maintain eye contact.

Aidan looked up at him and glanced to the side. He didn't say anything until he stood up and pushed into his seat.

"I'm going to now but if it's possible, I would like to speak to Micah sometime next week."

"Alright, I'll see if that's possible," Mariana said and then he went on his way.

Mariana then went back to the pizza, but she was surprised to see the changes in attitude between Mason and Aidan. It was almost unbelievable.

"Things have really changed in these four years," she mumbled to herself and continued eating.

When Mariana went home, she was tapping on her phone while jiggling her keys. She was about to go in, but then a message appeared on top of the screen. She didn't know where it was from like last time, but figured it once more came from Mona.

She didn't like getting these sort of messages because she didn't know what to expect from them. But when it was opened, it was another horrifying experience.

Her little muffins were laid on the floor. Their eyes pouring out tears that were painted crimson. They coughed up spots of blood as she heard Electra roaring at them to stand up. They stood up while struggling, but a rope got snatched away under them, causing them to trip and bang their knees on the floor.

They rolled over while screaming which made Mariana shake, as she boiled over with steaming sweat down her temples. Her hand convulsed violently and she squeezed the phone till her palm turned red. She almost smashed the phone to the ground, but just placed it inside her pocket because she didn't want to destroy any evidence. But the fact that she had to see her babies suffering and being unable to do anything about it, made her enraged like a volcano.

She stuffed her phone inside her pocket and sank down on her porch. From there, she started sobbing out of hopelessness.

"It's not fair!" She shrieked and broke her voice.

She was getting tired of everything and didn't know much longer it will take. Every minute she endured this felt like they were running out of time, and it became unbearable.

How long will she have to go without them? It was tearing her heart apart, watching them cry in an unknown place and not being there for them. She wanted to rip her body as punishment because she couldn't keep them safe from this.

She sat there for a few minutes and took some deep breaths. She needed to keep herself in control. Then once she found her kids, she could go on an uncontrolled rampage on Electra.

With this last thought in her mind, she calmed down and then got up. She smiled for a bit and went inside and closed the door.

"Hi Rio." She bent down and started stroking him. He came and went past her legs, meowing affectionately.

"Do you know where daddy is?" She asked and picked him up. He just purred inside her arms as she went looking for Micah.

"Micah! Are you here?" She called out as she walked passed all the rooms. The silent sound of snoring then tickled her ears. She heard it coming from the bedroom, so she went and saw Micah laid on the bed, snoozing away.

Aw, my fluffy teddy bear...

She crept inside quietly, taking baby steps so she wouldn't wake up her baby. He wiggled in his sleep, and she caressed his cheek before crawling in beside. She bunched right next to him and pulled his arm over her. His body was radiating with warmth, and she immediately fell asleep, locked in his safe embrace.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

All I think of was once Mariana gets her hands on Electra, she's gonna be sooooo dead.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂