Ethan was happy to hear Ilona was willing to give him a chance to talk. He wasn't sure what to say to her yet, other than he knew he needed to apologize. As much as he wanted to let her know why he has been behaving the way he has, he didn't feel it was any of her business to explain what his feelings are with Grace, and being they're not in a committed relationship, he didn't feel it was necessary.

While trying to take his focus off Grace, he wanted to try and give Ilona his full attention. Maybe she is the one for him, maybe she isn't. All he knew was he needed to find out, and figure everything out on his own. He found Ilona quite sexy, and so far, a good person. He liked she could handle his type of humor, his comments, and thought that was a bonus for him since Melissa couldn't handle him being that way. What he knew now was, he needed to find someone that could handle him, and to put him in his place when needed to be.

While Ilona was arranging the flowers in the vase, Sadie came home. She talked to Antonio, and was all for Ethan taking her out. She knew Ilona's situation, and thought it might be good for her to get to know Ethan. She knew what happened between the two of them the other day, and wasn't about to bring it up. "Those are beautiful!" Sadie said to Ilona, as she walked up to her, admiring the flowers.

"They are." Ilona smiled "Although, they came from my least favorite person right now." she sighed, looking over at Ethan.

"I think they're beautiful, and I know they came from a very special person." Sadie smiled, looking at Ethan, and nodding her head for him to acknowledge Ilona.

"Oh, he's special all right." Ilona deadpanned.

Sadie helped Ilona finish arranging the flowers, and looked at her "Just so you know, Antonio and I are giving you the rest of the day off."

She quickly turned her head, and looked at Sadie, worried she did something wrong "Why?"

"Ethan would like to take you out for the day, and we thought it would be a good thing for you. You've been doing a lot around here, and we both know you could use the day off."

"But you gave me the night off the other night?" she said, surprised.

"Yes, we know. But you couldn't go out, and enjoy yourself, now you can." Sadie winked at her, and walked over to Ethan giving him a shove "Go, you two have fun."

Ilona promised she would talk to Ethan, even though she could care less that he wanted to spend the day with her, after what he did the other day. She was still feeling hurt, and used by him. Although, she was somewhat curious to see what he had to say. Sadie gathered the kids, and brought them into the playroom so Ilona, and Ethan could have some alone time.

Ilona looked at Ethan, and wasn't thrilled he got Antonio, and Sadie to give her a day off, just so she could spend time with him. He was the last person she wanted to spend her day off with. "Well you want to talk, so what would you like to do?" Ilona asked, as she sat down at the table, rubbing her thighs, sighing.

"Let's go for a walk, and we'll talk at the same time." he smiled, as he walked over her, and reached his hand out to help her stand. When she stood, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her "I'm sorry." he whispered, running his fingers down her long brown hair.

"Yep." she whispered, not holding him back.

He grabbed a hold of her hand, and started walking her to the door. "Come on..."

They left, and went out for a walk. She was quiet, and looked down at the ground as they walked. He moved closer to her, and gradually placed his hand into hers. "At least it's nice out." he smiled, giving her a nudge.

She smiled a little, and looked up at him "It is, so are you going to talk to me, and let me know what happened the other day, or are we just going to walk and not talk at all?"

"Well, which day are you referring to?" He knew about the other day when she wanted to hang out, and was more interested in wanting to be with Grace. He then lowered his head, thinking about Grace again, then looked over at her. "You mean the other night, when they gave you the night off, and I couldn't take you out?"

"Yes, and no..." she said quietly "The night you came over looking for Antonio, I could tell something was bothering you, the next morning after we had sex, you stayed downstairs for a while, and when you came upstairs, you were quiet, and very distant. Since I became their nanny you have always been funny, making sexual comments to me, etcetera. But lately, you've been quiet, and just different, you're not the same Ethan that I got to know the past few weeks, and have learned to love."

Ethan sighed, he didn't know how to tell her that he's been fighting his feelings for Grace, and is also torn about his feelings for her. "Well... I'm just trying to figure myself out. I was engaged five years ago, and four years ago I was about to be married to the person who I thought I was in love with, and was looking forward to starting a family with... until she left me at the altar. I ran into her about a month, or so ago, and found out why. For years, I've been afraid to be in another relationship, and wasn't really looking for love. I just don't want to be making any bad decisions, and do something that I might regret... do you understand what I mean?"

"I do understand, and I'm sorry you went through that, obviously you two weren't meant to be."

"I thought we were, I was extremely in love with her, and was hurt for years because of it. As a matter of fact, I was still in love with her, until I ran into her." he sighed.

Ilona felt bad and started opening to him a little more, explained her situation to Ethan about her ex, and how she found the nanny job at the right time. They were coming up to a park, headed in, and began walking the trails. They noticed all the wildlife that were around, and stopped to look at them, admiring the beauty of wild animals.

She looked at him, and felt like having a little fun with him, and began teasing him he wouldn't be able to catch her, and took off running. He laughed, and gave her a little more time before he took off after her. After giving her the extra time, he took off running and caught up to her, picking her up, and spinning her around, while throwing her over his shoulder.

She laughed, and begged for him to put her down, telling him that she was getting dizzy. He set her down, and held onto her hips, making sure she wouldn't fall over. She raised her arms up, cupping her hands behind his neck and leaned forward to kiss him. He picked her up, and pressed her up against a tree that they were standing next to, and gave her a long, deep kiss.

A passerby started whistling at them, and he pulled away, smiling. He looked at her, and grabbed a hold of her hand "Come on let's go to a movie, or something."

******

Sadie was making dinner, when Isabella, and Gabriella walked into the kitchen to have a talk to her, they were nervous, and were feeling shy about what they wanted to talk to her about, but knew that they had to get it over with.

"Mom... can we talk to you?" Gabriella asked nervously.

"Sure, what's up?" she asked, while stirring the spaghetti sauce. When she looked over at them, she could see they had something on their minds.

Gabriella, and Isabella leaned against the counter, and twisted their lips, trying to figure out how to talk to her. "Well... we were kind of wondering if you could take us shopping." Gabriella asked, looking over at Isabella "We were asked to go to a dance that's this coming Friday, and we have nothing to wear."

"Well sure I can!" she excitedly said, grinning "But why did you wait so long to ask me? You know, that's in a couple days."

The girls both looked at each other feeling embarrassed about it, and were embarrassed they were asked to go to the dance. They were also afraid of what their dad would say. "We've known for a while, but were scared to ask if it was OK to go. Please don't tell dad, but that day when we had Ethan pick us up that time, we had him take us to go see mom" Isabella said quietly, looking behind her, and over at the door, hoping their dad wasn't walking in.

"Why don't you want him to know?"

"Well, because he hadn't taken us to see her in a long time, and no offense to you... but we had to talk to her about this dance coming up, and.."

"And our new boyfriends." Gabriella said quietly, interrupting Isabella.

Sadie raised her eyebrows when she heard they had new boyfriends, she smiled at them, and could tell they were being shy about it. She knew what it was like to have her first boyfriend when she was their age, and remembered how scared she was to say anything to her grandma about it. She then remembered Harlow had written them letters, and remembered seeing one that she wrote for when they had their first boyfriend. "You know, I might have to tell your dad about your new boyfriends." she said, twisting her lips.

"What? Why?" Isabella asked, freaking out, burying her face in her hands.

"Because we have something for the both of you, a letter for each of you that your mom had written, for when you get your first boyfriend." she smiled "And your dad has them locked in his safe." Sadie ran her fingers through Isabella's hair, and smiled "It's not the end of the world, it's a part of life, and he'll get over it."

"How embarrassing." Gabriella sighed.

"You know, both of you could have come to me a while ago about this, right?" she curiously asked, hoping they knew they could talk to her about anything.

"We do know, but we wanted mom to know first." Gabriella smiled nervously "And we already know how dad is going to react."

"Well that's because he cares, and he's a man. He knows how boys can be. When your dad gets home, I'll bring you over to the mall. I would take you right now, but we gave Ilona the night off, and she's out with Ethan."

The girls were excited, yet nervous. Nervous as to what their dad will say, do, or react. They helped Sadie finish making dinner, and set the table for her. They then helped the younger kids get all washed up, and had them sit at the table. Antonio finally got home, looking drained, and walked over to Sadie, giving her a kiss.

"I have to talk to you." she whispered, pulling away from his kiss.

Antonio thought he was in trouble, thinking that Ethan, or Grace might have told her what happened between them, and instantly gave off a guilty look.

"Why do you look guilty all of a sudden?" she asked, squinting her eyes.

"Because it's the way you said you had to talk to me."

Sadie called for Luca, and Lilliana to come into the kitchen, when they walked over to her, she asked for them to keep an eye on the food, and for them to strain the noodles in a couple minutes. "I have to talk to your dad for a minute."

She walked Antonio into his office, and shut the door "Am I in trouble for something?"

"No, silly. Unless, there's something you need to tell me, something you may be hiding from me?"

"No." He shook his head, and leaned against the desk.

"The girls told me that they now have a boyfriend." She stopped talking when Antonio started kneeling to the ground, and saw that his face turned ghostly.

Sadie giggled "Oh, knock it off you big baby... they came to me asking that I take them shopping, they have a dance to go to this Friday, and need a dress. I need you to watch the kids, so I can bring them." she explained. She had to laugh at Antonio's expression, how pale his face was, and how he kept rubbing his face.

"You had to know this day was coming."

"I know... but so soon?" he asked, sounding sad.

"And you behave about this, the girls have been scared to tell us, more so worried to tell you. The girls even admitted the main reason Ethan picked them up that day, was so he could take them to see Harlow."

Antonio's head quickly popped up, and looked at her confused. "When did Ethan bring them?"

"That day they spent the day with him. They told me that you hadn't brought them to see her in a while, and that they wanted her to be the first to know about this."

Antonio looked away, thinking about one of the talks he had with Ethan, and how he said he went to have a talk with Harlow, but never mentioned bringing the girls. He then felt bad the girls never asked him to bring them over to see Harlow, but then understood why they asked Ethan.

"I can't believe my babies have boyfriends. Wow..." His eyes widened, and sadly sighed.

"Another reason why I brought you in here, is that I remembered Harlow writing a letter to the girls, and labeling them for first boyfriend. So, if you could pull those letters out for them, that would be great. I think maybe you need to hand those letters to them, yourself. And please, don't be a jerk about it either... maybe give the letters to them after we get back from shopping?"

"Yeah, I suppose I can do that." he sighed.

The girls quickly ate their dinner, and ran up the stairs to clean up, wanting to hurry and go to the store. Sadie gave Antonio the look when he kept sweating, and wiping his forehead. If he feels this way now, how is he going to react on Friday, when the boys pick them up? She thought, then laughed It'll be good for him. She mumbled.

Sadie took the girls out shopping for their dresses, while Antonio stayed home with the kids. Luca, and Lilliana cleared the table off, and put the food away while Antonio was digging in the safe, looking for the letters that were labeled first boyfriend. He was curious as to what Harlow wrote them about having one, but knew if the girls wanted him to see what she wrote, they would show him the letters.

Sadie, and the girls walked around the mall for a couple hours, and were getting worried they couldn't find the right dress. After trying on many dresses, they both finally found the perfect dress at their last stop, and came out of their dressing rooms, showing Sadie. "What do you think?" Isabella asked, happily, and posing for her, with Gabriella doing the same thing.

Sadie had a feeling Antonio wouldn't approve of the dresses, but also knew he wouldn't approve, if they had worn a Little House on the Prairie dress. "I like them both a lot." she grinned "Come on, let's purchase those and get home."

The girls were excited about the dresses they found, and carried them over to the counter. After leaving the store, the girls recognized Melissa with a child.

"Mom look, is that Melissa?" Isabella asked, pointing across from her.

Sadie looked in the direction Isabella was pointing, and when Melissa locked eyes with her, she took the child's hand, and started walking fast the other way. Sadie tilted her head, curious as to whose child that was, and looked at the girls "Come on girls, let's go say hello to her." All walking fast, trying to catch up to her.

"Melissa?" Sadie asked, tapping on her shoulder.

She turned around, and smiled "Hi Sadie." She looked at Sadie, then down at the child that was holding her hand.

"Cute little girl, is she yours?" Sadie asked curiously.

"Yes, she's mine, her name is Faith." Melissa began acting nervous, and kept looking at everyone, which Sadie thought was odd.

Sadie looked at the little girl, and smiled "That's a pretty name."

"I'm four." She tells Sadie, holding her fingers out to her, showing she was four.

"You are! You know, I have kids around your age too." Sadie smiled, and then it hit her four years old? Sadie stood up, and was about to ask her a question, but was interrupted by a man who began talking to Melissa, and kissed her on the cheek. "Are you ready to go?" he asked Melissa.

"Yes, let's get out of here." she tells him. She looked at Sadie, and waved "See ya." she says, walking away in a hurry.

Sadie watched them walk away, and was curious about the little girl. "Girls? Did that little girl resemble anyone to you?"

Hmmm... Ethan may be trying to move on, but is he willingly or doing it because he thinks he has to, or does he want to?🤔🤔

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. 🤞🤞🤞🤞 not really too much going on in this chapter. But maybe some interesting things 😁😁😁😁😁😁

Will Antonio come to terms that his daughters are growing up?

Don't forget to leave me comments and please don't be rude to my readers with their opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own.😍😍❤❤

I love seeing your votes too.. means a lot to me❤❤❤❤❤