When Mariana finished her shift, she brought some cupcakes to give Crystal as a thank you gift. Sometimes would make a cake herself and give it to Micah, but if she didn't have time, then she would buy something.

She put in the trunk of her car and then jumped in. As the car vibrated to life, Mariana hummed to herself and turned the radio up.

When she got to the mansion, she was led inside by one of the maids that took her to the playroom. She gently opened the door, and Crystal and the kids were all on the floor, playing with some toys.

"Hey!" Mariana said with glee. She was so thrilled to see her kids again as they had been on her mind. Even though they were in good hands, she occasionally worried about their well-being.

"Hi Mariana, how was work?" Crystal asked while stacking some blocks with Axel.

"It was okay, how are you?" She sat down on the floor next to Elisa, who played with wooden animals.

"We're good, I took them to the park to stretch their legs and then we came back here and had a little play around in the pool."

"Aw, that's good. I brought you something to say thank you for your time." Mariana got out the cupcakes from the bag and passed them onto her.

"Thank you Mariana, these look delicious." Crystal placed them in her lap and opened the lid. There was a mix of vanilla and chocolate; some had frosting swirled into flowers of pink and blue.

"Why don't we eat these downstairs since Aidan still isn't home?" Crystal suggested. If he was in the house, then she would take them out. But if he was away, then they would stay and play games since Micah didn't want his dad anywhere near his grandchildren.

"Okay!" Mariana gathered her kids, and they all went downstairs to the living room.

Mylah was comfortably seated on the plush couch, watching some random channel and eating toffee apples. She had grown tremendously and was taller than her teenage self. Her glossy hair was straightened and in a high ponytail.

"Hi, Mylah!" Mariana waved to her as she sat down next to Crystal.

"Hi!" Mylah turned to her with a beaming smile. Her pink lip gloss glistened along her plump lips.

"Is Makayla visiting today?" Mariana asked.

"Um, I don't know, maybe. She hasn't come yet though," Crystal said. Since Makayla was head of her mother's company, she had recently moved out and only came to visit at unpredictable moments.

"Oh... okay," Mariana mumbled with an undertone of sadness. She didn't get to see Makayla that much anymore, and that caused her to feel sad as she dearly missed her.

"Anyway, how have you and Micah been getting on? Wasn't he supposed to come today?" Crystal asked as she took a cupcake and started eating.

"Good! He was actually, but I think he got caught up in some business I think."

"Ah okay, yeah, he's working on his restaurant isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," Mariana mumbled proudly.

"Aw, I can't wait to see it completed. He worked so hard, I'm so proud of him." Crystal leaned back while taking more bites.

"Me too!"

"So." Crystal then leaned against her arm while facing her. "Did you two do anything yesterday?"

"Well, we enjoyed a picnic yesterday,"Mariana exclaimed joyfully and bounced in her seat.

"Oh yeah, yesterday the weather was extremely nice, we even went out ourselves to have a little walk."

"Aw, that's nice, how are you and Aidan?"

"We're good. Since he's also retired, we've been spending more time together. He even asks of Micah sometimes and how he is doing, and if I know what happened to him."

"Oh did you say anything?"

"I merely shrug. I mean, it's not my business to say if Micah wants to cut him off."

"Yeah, that is true." Mariana nodded in agreement. Ever since she and Micah got married, he has never been happier.

"So where is he now?"

"I think he went to the shops." Crystal then glanced up at the clock. "In fact, he should be coming home soon."

"Oh okay, we better go." Mariana got up and went over to Crystal. "Bye Mom, see you later." She bent down and hugged her.

"Bye, sweetie!" Crystal hugged her back.

"Come on Elisa and Axel; it's time to go. Say bye to Ita and Tià."

"Bye!" Elisa and Axel ran frantically and gave them a big hug.

"Bye my babies see you tomorrow," Crystal gave them each a big kiss on the cheek.

"See you!" Mylah exclaimed.

Her kids followed Mariana out of the building to her car. She strapped Elisa and Axel as they fidgeted about. Then she got in and twisted the key into the ignition.

"Ready to go guys?" Mariana asked as she started pulling out of the parking lot.

"Yeah!" Elisa exclaimed joyfully and stretched out her arms.

Mariana chuckled and then turned the mirror to face Axel. He was busy playing with some Legos that were stuck together and a squishy ball. She smiled as he was already entertained.

"So tell me everything that you did at Ita's house," she said, her eyes facing the road. She made a habit of asking this question so if they were entrusted in someone's else care or if they were far away from her. She wanted to encourage good communication so that in the future they may be able to tell her anything that happens to them.

"Good! Ita got ice cream and we shopping and swimming!" Elisa started giggling.

"Aw sounds like you had a fun time. Are you hungry?"

"Ita made chicken nooles that were yummy."

"Nooles? Do you mean chicken noodles?"

"Yeah," Elisa merely said, glancing keenly at the window. She put her feet up while fiddling with her hoodie.

"So your full up then? You don't want any food?"

"Yeah, but Axel want more."

"True." Mariana started laughing because Axel did eat a lot and devoured all his meals, which she was happy with.

Mariana continued driving and looked at the restaurants that had their doors opened and people dining inside, having a good time. She imagined that to be her Micah, having his own place and his own staff, his own food and people eating there. It would be a dream come true for him.

She then passed a local playground where young children were playing together. Since the day was still young, she wanted them to have a little play before they went home.

"Do you two want to go to that playground for a little bit?" She asked, turning to them.

"Okay!" Elisa exclaimed. She pasted her face to the window, staring longingly at the other kids. And their delighted giggles flowed through the open window.

Mariana parked the car somewhere and then took them out. She held onto Axel's hand as Elisa ran in front, her flawless skin gleamed brightly in the sun. She yelled excitedly as her little twists shook around.

"Be careful! Don't run too fast!" Mariana called out.

She reached the park before them, and by the time Mariana got there, Elisa was already at the little jungle gym.

"Be careful up there!" Mariana sat down on a bench and let Axel play in the sandbox. There were two other kids, with buckets who constructed castles.

She went on her phone while keeping a close eye on Elisa, who seemed to enjoy herself. She rushed over the little bridge and slid down the slide. Next, she ran and started climbing up the little rope ladder with someone beside her.

Mariana watched her closely. Seeing her climb so well reminded me that her little girl was growing up fast right in front of her eyes. It seemed like just yesterday she was born. After all the excruciating and agonizing pain of labor and thinking it will never end, she delivered her baby wrapped up in her arms, all safe and sound.

Mariana wiped away a tear as Elisa looked over the whole park. It wasn't that long ago that she was around Axel's age. But now she was confident in her steps and could even run and play with other kids. Sometimes she wished she could slow time down just so she could enjoy her babies a little more while they were still small.

"Hi, Mommy!" Elisa waved at her from the tower.

"Hi, my baby!" Mariana blew her a kiss while waving back.

Mariana heard her giggle as she disappeared through the wormhole and emerged from the other end. She slithered down a smaller slide, but some bigger boys approached and started cackling as they pushed her onto the ground.

Elisa cried out loud as she rolled onto the floor. This caught Mariana's attention as she jumped out of her seat and rushed to her aid.

"My bambina!" She exclaimed and picked her up. Tears built up within her eyes which smoked a fire of rage inside Mariana as she glared at the boys who were still laughing.

"What is wrong with you boys? Don't you have any respect?"

They stuck their tongues out and Mariana felt fire flaming inside of her that was fueled by their gasoline of laughter. Her arm twitched. Even though she wouldn't do it, she wanted to slap them for picking on a defenseless child.

They pulled faces as if they didn't care and soon a woman came behind them.

"What's going on? Why are you shouting at my sons?" She asked accusingly and blew her bangs out of the way.

"You need to teach your sons some respect because I just caught them pushing my daughter around."

"Oh I'm sure they're sorry," the lady said, but there wasn't a hint of kindness upon her. Instead, her lips upturned into a smirk like she found this slightly amusing.

"Well? Aren't they going to say sorry then?" Mariana tapped her foot fast and impatiently. She tightly gripped onto Elisa's hand, whose lips trembled.

"Well..." She shrugged and tugged at her leather jacket, "I don't really think they have to, I mean..." She looked down at Elisa with a grimace, like she was an abomination. "It looked like she had it coming for her."

"Huh?" Mariana pulled at her ear like she dared the woman to repeat what she had said. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. That little mutt deserved it."She punctuated her sentence with a smack of her ripped lips.

For a while, Mariana tried not to lose her cool because of her surroundings. But that sentence, that one sentence, of saying her baby girl deserved that was like someone had a lighter inside her chest, igniting it into full blaze.

And even worse, she even compared her girl to a dog, which is what made her lunge at the woman, giving her proud face a taste of its own medicine by a heavy slap. It painted her face bright red and produced a print of revenge.

"Don't you ever call my child a mutt again!" Mariana screamed.

The lady stumbled back like she wasn't expecting such an attack. Mariana huffed and looked down the rude woman. She wanted to spit at her but instead her mouth slowly sneered in disgust. She then muttered, "Lei è una coglione." (She's an idiot.)

Mariana looked down at Elisa who smiled up at her and a giggled hiccuped out.

"You think that's funny?" Mariana smirked. Elisa just shrugged and Mariana pulled her along. "*Come on," she said in Italian.

They were walking towards the bench, and Mariana began to worry about the wrong impression she may have imposed on Elisa. But her little angel was happily hopping along, holding her hand like her life depended on it.

"Elisa." She stopped and crouched down to her level.

"*I'm sorry if I scared you for the way I acted earlier. Mommy just got really angry, and I shouldn't have acted out of that." Her cheeks burned as she found it really embarrassing having to apologize to a toddler when she did something as a parent. But it was a great way to show that everyone makes mistakes and there was nothing wrong to owning up to them.

Elisa sucked her thumb and slowly nodded but wasn't really paying attention.

"*I don't want you to copy my actions Elisa. So please don't go slapping people just because your angry. If somebody hurts you like those boys then you can call mommy or daddy for help. Or if we aren't there, then you can push them away and tell them to leave you alone."

"*Okay Mommy!" Elisa cheered, showing her bright teeth.

"*Okay good, now go play with your brother."

Elisa started playing in the sandbox with Axel, a girl came towards them. She had golden spirals that twirled down her cheeks, rosy lips, and green eyes. She had some dolls with her and sat on the sand next to Elisa, who was occupied with the spring. She didn't notice the girl until her dolls walked in front of her.

"Hey, would you like to play with me?" the girl asked.

"Um...o—okay," Elisa frowned and faced her. She took one, and they started having a conversation and talking in high-pitch girly voices.

Mariana watched them, and she was delighted that Elisa had found someone to play with.

A boy later joined them who had brown, curly hair and brown eyes. He jumped into the sandbox, getting his blue shirt dirty, and started messing around with the girl who Mariana assumed were siblings.

"Excuse me."

Mariana jumped in alarm. Her heart palpitated, making her breathe quickly as she turned around. Her chest burned and she felt spikes prickle upon her arms, but when she saw it was just a woman, she placed her hand over her heart and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Oh sorry, you scared me."

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering if that little girl is yours?" The woman asked softly and stood beside the bench. She possessed bouncy brunette hair, spongy peach lips, and olive skin; with her finger on Elisa.

"Yeah, and are those two yours?"

"Yeah they are."

"Aw, well your daughter made mine very happy." Mariana smiled with gratitude.

"Aw I'm so happy to hear that. What's your daughter's name?"

"Elisa, and her younger brother over there is Axel." Mariana pointed to where the kids were playing. The girls were now being chased around the sandbox by the boy. They all laughed wildly.

"Wow they are really cute. Those are just my twins, Raidan and Rina."

"Aw those are sweet names," Mariana gave her a friendly smile, but shuffled away uncomfortably.

"Thank you! Their father chose those names when I was pregnant."

"Well he has good taste." Mariana chuckled.

"Yeah," she agreed with a whole heartily chuckle, "by the way what's your name? Maybe we can arrange a play date sometime."

"Um... Mariana, but I don't feel comfortable arranging anything right now."

"Oh okay, that's fine, I'm Mona by the way."

"Mona? Sounds like Mona Lisa," Mariana chuckled.

"Heh thanks, that's what most people tell me the first time they hear my name." She smiled, revealing a small gap between her front teeth, and small silver balls that laid on top.

"Okay well, it was nice talking to you Mona, but it's getting late and I should be getting home by now."

"Okay I'll see you later Mariana." Mona then sat down where her place formerly was.

"Bye!" Mariana got her kids and then went back to her.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I remember in the previous book where Mariana was nervous about talking to Electra for the first time, now in this she doesn't mind slapping a stranger in public 🤣❤️.

Writing this made me feel like I'm a mum myself 😭😭.