Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

"I love Daddy."

Mia: "...Well, you can sleep with your dad tonight."

When they got home that evening, it was time for bed, and little Henry was a mess of tears and snot, clinging to his mom like his life depended on it.

"Who do you love?"

"I love Mommy!"

Only then did Mia lift the blanket and snuggle her son in to sleep.

Leo had just received his acceptance letter from the National University, and he proudly took it to show his dad at the office. Everyone knew Bruce had a son, but no one had actually met him until now, especially not with such impressive news in hand.

Bruce was beaming with pride, the kind that makes your chest puff up a bit, as his colleagues showered him with congratulations. "If your mom saw this acceptance letter, she'd probably frame it and hang it in the shop."

People assumed Leo was just lucky, breezing his way into a graduate program at National University. But Anya was quick to set the record straight: "No way! Chad's been prepping for this forever. He spent his undergrad weekends buried in books at the library."

Later that night, after her shower, Mia was drying her hair and talking to her husband. "Leo's made it into grad school at National University. Isn't it about time you patched things up with him?"

"Just grad school, huh? Millions of people are grad students. What's the big deal?" Andre, sitting on the bedroom couch with their son nestled between his legs, was busy flipping cards on the coffee table, teaching the kid about animals.noveldrama

Mia tossed her towel onto the coffee table, clearly unimpressed.

Both Andre and Henry paused, looking up at Mia's unamused expression.

"So, what does that make me? I didn't even get into college," Mia challenged, crossing her arms.

Henry, ever the sharp little cookie, realized this wasn't on him-it was Dad's turn to be in the hot seat. He turned to his dad, Andre: "... You and him, you're not the same."

"How so?" Mia pressed.

Andre hesitated, "... Your challenges."

"Getting into grad school isn't a walk in the park," Mia countered, picking up her towel again and hanging it out to dry. As she walked past her husband, she added, "Honey, you clearly have a problem with Leo."

Andre lowered his gaze, continuing to help his son with the animal cards.

Henry, the cheeky little rebel, decided he was done with learning. "Daddy, choo- choo!"

Andre replied, "The excavator worked hard today; it needs its rest. You, on the other hand, need to study."

By nine o'clock, Mia was lying on the bed, going over Denny's notes, while Henry was reluctantly learning to recognize pictures. Andre pointed to a cute kitten photo and asked, "What's this?"

Henry sucked his lip, "Mom!"

"That's right, this is Mia." Andre pointed at Mia on the bed, whispering to Henry,

"Is your mom a little firecracker?"

"Yeth!" Henry replied, struggling with "Yes."

Father and son carried on their "study" session in perfect sync.

At ten, when Mia was ready for bed, Andre and Henry had no choice but to call it

a night as well.

Chad was bursting with joy during the day at the station-he was a new dad. When he got home that night, the happiness lingered; he had a son.

Meanwhile, Molly was at home, scrutinizing her son's sleeping face, puzzled. "It's odd; I didn't mix up the babies, but he doesn't look a bit like me."

Molly compared a photo of herself as a newborn with her son, and Coleen

suggested, "Why don't you check against his dad's picture?"

Molly grabbed her wedding photo with her husband and compared it to their son. "Still doesn't look like either of us."

Coleen was exasperated, "...Kids, huh?"