The Mafia's Babies by Kaycee Romano (little readers TXT) 📕

"So, how are you?" Alessia asked as she combed her luscious brown waves, walking into her room from the bathroom.

"I am good." River shrugged, leaning back on the headrest of her bed.

It was some eleven in the night and while Adam and Mateo were still working, Alessia and she had decided to spend some time on our own. The twins were asleep and hence would have to wait till the morning to meet their aunt.

River knew that staying up was a bad idea considering she didn't get much sleep the last night as well but she had decided that she really didn't want to get used to comfortable and long sleep because though she didn't know when, she had to go back to being an underpaid overworking surgeon someday and it would be agonizing switching to her totally unhealthy sleep pattern again.

"Jeez woman, you are so calm." Alessia said, looking at her through the mirror. "It's like you were born into this world or something."

River gave her a half smile. She didn't think she would be okay with the Mafia and any of this even if she was. She was a mother and her little squirrels were involved in whatever was happening and that scared her. But she tried her best not to let it show because that wasn't helping in anyway and it got in the way of her logical thinking.

"Not really. Just trying to keep a poker face." She flipped through the channels on the TV. "Because the kids catch up on my mood very quickly."

"Hey.." Alessia climbed on to the bed and scooted close to her, taking her hand between hers, squeezing it. "It's going to be just fine."

River nodded and gave her a grateful smile. "Yeah."

"So why don't the kids know that Mateo is their Papa yet?" Alessia asked, snatching the remote control from River.

River sighed again. She was doing that a lot these days. Sighing and worrying and over-thinking.

"I keep telling myself it's because I want them to be familiar with him before I do so." River told her.

"But that's not true?" Alessia prodded.

River pursed her lips and turned to face her. "I don't know Alessia."

"One, call me Sia. And two, why?"

'I don't know.' River thought miserably. Why didn't she want Mateo to know?

The more she thought about it, her resolve to keep it from the kids wavered but even still, she was reluctant to tell them... just because, she really didn't think it was the right time. Waiting for the kids to get over their fear and familiarize with him was a factor but that was not the only reason, and what was ridiculous was that – even she couldn't pinpoint what the main reason was.

"I don't know. Honestly." River sighed lying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. "I just feel that it's not time yet."

"And what if it's too late by the time you do?"

River turned to her, feeling the lump in her throat.

"That's what you are scared of, isn't it?" Alessia looked at the surgeon she had started to respect, a sympathetic look on her flawless face.

Her words rung in her ears.

It was not about her being too late to let them know. It was about how her kids will handle it if something happened to Mateo after they learn that he was indeed their Papa.

And all of a sudden it was clear.

"I am scared that something will happen to Mateo and m- our kids won't be able to take it." River admitted to herself and Alessia. "I don't want them to know because they have spent five years of their lives without their father and I don't want him to appear in their lives and become such an important part only to be snatched away from them yet again."

Alessia sighed and prodded her to sit up. She had expected the Mafia woman to be at least miffed, but she looked like she understood.

"Well, I guess you can't be too fearless when it comes to your kids." She smiled sadly, giving the surgeon a hug as she sat up. She held my head on her shoulder and whispered. "And I won't force you or get angry at you. But I will say this, and think about it; don't let your fear get in the way of the precious time you four could spend together. You all already lost five years of it."

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.
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River lay on the couch in her own room; her babies were so comfortable on the bed, hugging pillows and their limbs all spread out that she didn't want to move them to make space for herself. And the couch was a mini bed in itself so it was all well.

She lay awake, staring at the ceiling and occasionally sighing.

Alessia was right. She was wasting time.

Now that she had realized why she was deterring from telling the kids, she also realized that she was being selfish. She was denying the three of them the chance to be a family.

She was a hypocrite. She had always wanted their father in their life but now that he was here, she still was keeping them apart.

River got up from the couch and stared at her little ones.

'Mommy's sorry babies. Mommy's just more scared than she thought she was. And so she wasn't thinking properly. Mommy will fix it all. By tonight.'

It was still way early, some five in the morning. But she was wide awake.

Was she an insomniac by any chance?

And she was very hungry.

So she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, flipping the light on.

"Why are you up so early?" River stopped in her tracks and turned around.

Mateo walked towards her, shirtless, with a pair of black track-pants and shoes on, sweat glistening on his scarred chest.

River strained her eyes as she stared intently at the scars, guessing which all could be from surgeries and bullet wounds.

"It's a hideous sight, isn't it?" He chuckled darkly as he approached her and then made his way towards the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of ice cold water.

"I remember them." She said. "Though I think you gathered more in the last one year."