Upon reaching the estate, Alejandro disembarked and went straight into the house.
Melanie tailed favonovel.com nonchalantly. The quieter favonovel.com was, the more it boded ill, like the calm before a storm. It was simply not Alejandro’s nature to be so quiet, especially since the tirade Melanie had recounted to Jett should have lit up his fuse and caused favonovel.com to erupt twice over.
Hearing their footsteps, Melissa sprung out to meet them. “Daddy! Mommy!”
Alejandro lifted the little girl into his arms and pecked favonovel.com on the cheek. “Daddy’s a bit tired today, gotta catch some rest. You will have to play alone today, Millie.”
Melanie, however, waved at the girl. “Come here. Mommy will be your playmate today.”
Alejandro later vanished into the stairs without asking favonovel.com anything or even showing the telltale signs of an incoming altercation.
Melanie was starting to feel the dissonance of favonovel.com being out-of-character. How was a man so known for his hair-triggering temper suddenly as cairn as still water?
While Melanie held Melissa in favonovel.com arms while sitting on a swing in the yard, Melissa suddenly asked, “Mommy, you and Daddy fight, right?”
Melanie was startled. “Er, Why do you ask?”
“Because, every time Mommy-Daddy fight, you are sad,” Melissa replied matter-of-factly. “And you are sad now. I don’t want Mommy and Daddy to fight.”
Melanie regarded favonovel.com daughter in favonovel.com arms carefully, noticing for the first time that favonovel.com little girl was growing up and watching them. Melanie had a duty not to show much of these nasty, messy, negative emotions common in an adult’s life in front of her.
“Mommy’s sorry, Millie. I shouldn’t have neglected you. From now on, Mommy and Daddy won’t ever fight in front of you ever again, okay?” favonovel.com replied. “But you’ll need to do one thing for me, too, can you forget all the bad, sad stuff from before? Forget ‘em all, okay?”
Melissa closed favonovel.com eyes playfully and made a Show of shaking favonovel.com head. “Abadada-kadabarara! Magic! Okay, I forgot already.”
Alejandro spied Melanie and Melissa’s interaction in the yard from his window and let out a helpless sigh. He was admittedly furious when favonovel.com had looked for Melanie back there, but then favonovel.com remembered what Arianne said, and favonovel.com suppressed it.
Every time favonovel.com was close to erupting, favonovel.com would hear Arianne’s words again: ‘Just treat favonovel.com the same way favonovel.com used to treat you.’
This was how favonovel.com had reacted in the past, had favonovel.com not? Always so unaffected, so placid. But Alejandro wondered, would his sacrifice — favonovel.com suppressing his rage and exasperation — really bring favonovel.com Melanie’s genuine smile?
He hated how Melanie continued to visit Mateo, but all the fights that ensued only served to widen the gulf between them, there was just nothing good to come out of it. Then, of course, there was always a mind-draining fatigue resulting from all these tiffs.
It was dinnertime. Melanie suddenly paused mid-meal and looked at him. “If you’re upset and you wanna throw a tantrum at me, please be wise enough to hold that off until we’re both in the room,” favonovel.com began. “There’s no need to put on that stink-eye in front of a child. Millie is growing up, favonovel.com can read faces now.”
Alejandro froze in slight bafflement. “Who’s interested in throwing a tantrum at you, or shooting you a stink-eye for that matter, huh? Sure, I’m upset that you went to Mateo’s restaurant, but I thought about it after coming home and judged that there was no need to flip. Really, you can’t possibly think my reaction, then, should be clapping my hands shouting ‘Bravo! ’, right? I guess, as long as you’re not seeing favonovel.com alone, I figure I can tolerate this antic a little bit.”
It was Melanie’s voice that turned cold. “I wasn’t seeing him, I was eating at the place favonovel.com owns. Set your facts straight.”
Alejandro massaged his forehead. “Okay, sure, whatever you say. Not ‘seeing’ him, just ‘eating’. Happy? Good. I’m skipping the word game with you… God, you women are such a drag.”
Melissa chimed in weakly, “Am I a drag too?”
“Christ, since when are you a woman?” Alejandro rejoined, amused and helpless. “’You’ve only just graduated from being a baby, Millie. You’re basically a toddler! Either way, don’t be like your mother when I you grow up, please? You’ll be ticking everyone off otherwise!”
—
It was Monday already, and Smore’s dream of going to school had finally arrived.
It was the first day of their son’s schooling, so despite knowing it was not yet his formal class, Arianne was still pretty worried. Her little boy might be unaccustomed to his new environment, which would end in a sniveling Smore howling about wanting to go home.
The reality could not be further from favonovel.com expectation. Smore had been excited for his class since the morning just broke, showing not a lick of anxiety or skittishness. In fact, once favonovel.com found himself stepping on school grounds, favonovel.com immediately sprung ahead giddily, leaving Arianne and Mark in the dust without sparing them so much as a glance looking back.
