Stella was still mired in confusion when she got home later that day. She was still holding the document s Weston gave her in her hands when she opened the door to her house.
Elias and Emma flew into her arms, laughing in glee as they hugged her tightâ¦
âMommy, youâre home!â
Stella tried her best to put on a smile for them. Then she noticed some colorful marks on Emmaâs face
and asked her, âWhat are these?â
âI was playing with Miguel and Elias!â Emma replied.
The girl spoke a lot more fluently and clearly when she was around people she was familiar with.
âMiguel was teaching us to play cards,â Elias added, expanding upon Emmaâs points as he always did,
âand the loser has to have a line drawn on their face!â
Stella paused. She reached out her hand to wipe the marks on Emmaâs face.
âYou can play as much as you like,â she told them. âBut you have to be careful not to get the marks on
your eyes, okay?â
Miguel languidly got up from the couch, still holding a deck of cards in his hands. As he slowly shuffled t he cards while walking up to her, he noticed that she did not look very pleased, so he explained, âWe were just h aving fun, thatâs all. Itâs only a simple game. Itâs not going to get them addicted or anything like that, so donât worry.â
He assumed that Stella was unhappy about him teaching the children to play cards.
Stella said nothing. She slipped the documents into her handbag and silently picked Emma up in her arms.
âLetâs go take a bath. Itâs getting late now. Both of your should go to bed early.â
Miguel was a little disconcerted when he noticed that Stella was ignoring him. Once the mother and da ughter pair had disappeared into the bathroom, he leaned down towards Elias and asked him, âIs your mommy angry?â
Elias had no clue, so he shook his head, confusion written all over his face.
Miguel pouted and patted the boyâs head before saying, Come on, letâs give you a bath too!â
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Stella had just placed Emma in the bathtub.
Emma was playing with her rubber ducky when she noticed Stella looking worried. Perceptively, she to ok her motherâs hand and asked, âWhatâs wrong, Mommy? Are you sadâ¦?â
Stella glanced at her and smiled, telling her, âNo, baby, Iâm just thinking about something.â
She then took Emmaâs arm and cleaned it thoroughly.
Seeing this, Emma thought nothing more of it and went back to playing with the bubbles in the bathtub.
Because Emma refused to sit still, Stella found herself unable to continue her thoughts. She sighed and just focused on giving her daughter a bath.
It did not take them long before they were done. Stella wrapped Emma up in a thick towel and carried h er out of the bathroom.
Just as she walked out, she bumped into Miguel, who had Elias in his arms. Their eyes met, but for som away.
Miguel frowned, sensing that there was definitely something wrong. He wanted to say something, but he twins.
Once they were both done coaxing the children to sleep, Stella turned and wanted to leave right away, b acting weirdâ¦â
Stella brushed his hand off without any hesitation and withdrew herself away from him.
Her cold gesture stumped Miguel. Panic flashed in his eyes.
âHave I done something wrong?â he asked.
Stella said nothing. She took a step away from him and stared at him steadily. After a while, she took a d before asking, âDo you have anything to tell me?â
Miguelâs Adamâs apple moved as he gulped. Evidently, he was feeling a little nervous. No matter how ha âNo,â he shook his head. âCan you just say exactly what you want to say? Donât make me guess. I really