[Fifty-Eight]

|Chapter 58|

🤍🍳

𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲

𝖠𝗇 𝗂𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖾𝗑𝗍𝗋𝖾𝗆𝖾 𝗅𝗎𝗑𝗎𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾

"Good morning Loana," I say, pulling her into a hug.

"You're squeezing me, Lara," she giggles. "Where's Emmy?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. He went to make a quick trip to the shop. He'll be back soon."

"Kk. You look really pretty today."

"Thank you! So do you, hun. Do you want breakfast?"

"Yes please, I'm starving," she exaggerates while rubbing her belly.

"What do you normally eat?" I ask to make sure I don't give her anything she might not like.

"An omelette, ham, and toast with strawberry jam."

"Yum! We have everything but the ham."

"That's ok, I don't like ham that much. Just an omelette is good. May I watch tv?"

"Mhm. The remote on the couch." I open the fridge and spot Emilian's bacon. "Would you like bacon?"

"Bacon?"

"Yeah. You know fried pork?"

"My mom never used the word bacon but I think that's what it's called. Emmy will tell you," she averts her attention to the tv. "I wanna watch cartoons."

"Sure, which one?" I have my firestick connected to the tv so hopefully, she watches something that's on either Netflix or Disney+.

"Um, I'm not sure. I don't watch cartoons often."

My eyes widen, "Oh, ok. Don't worry, you can watch as many as you want, starting with this one." I select Peppa Pig and she snuggles into a pillow smiling and twirling her ponytail.

"Thanks, Lara."

"No problem! What's your favorite flavor of juice?" I ask so she can have it with her breakfast.

"Um," she thinks for a few seconds. "Peach juice."

I gasp, "Really? Sadly, we only have a little orange juice and some apple juice."

"That's okay. I can drink apple juice."

"Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nope!"

"Alright," I proceed to make three omelettes with tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and onions in them.

As I remove them from the pan, I hear the front door open and slam shut.

"Emilian, why are you slamming the door like that?"

"Sorry baby, I'm just a little frustrated" he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my cheek. "Where's Loana?"

"On the couch watching the television. Also, does she eat bacon? She says she doesn't know what it is."

He chuckles, "Yes, but it's a bit different than American bacon."

"What did you buy from the store?"

"Your feminine products, fish, bread, and most importantly, orange juice."

I smile and kiss his lips, "Thank you so much, baby."

"No problem."

"You know what I've noticed?" I ask as I pull the uncooked bacon out of the fridge.

"What?" he gently pushes me aside and takes it to cook it himself.

"You never buy anything for yourself unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, but you should treat yourself sometimes."

"I could, but I'd rather spend money on you instead," he shrugs.

"You're so stubborn," I roll my eyes. "Since you refuse to treat yourself, I'll be buying you monthly gifts because you work hard and deserve it."

"Trust me, baby, I don't deserve anything. I don't even deserve you."

I furrow my eyebrows and I am about to speak until Leona runs into the kitchen, "Is the food done? I'm super hungry."

"Almost, hunny. You can sit at the table and I'll bring a cup of orange juice."

"May I have ice too please?"

"How many."

"Hmm," she taps her chin. "Three cubes."

"Here you go," Seb gives Leona her plate and kisses her forehead. "Enjoy." Then he walks over to me, kissing me on the lips, "I'm going to take a bath."

"Okay," I respond softly. "Leona, do you want strawberry or raspberry jam for your toast?"

"Strawberry please."

I place the toast on a plate and add two spoons of jam next to it. Sitting next to her with my food, I take her hand and we pray before we begin eating.

We are silently enjoying breakfast and I decide to make conversation with her, "So, how's school?"

"Extremely boring and I'm currently learning mandarin which is very hard."

"Oh! Is that the first language you'll be learning?"

"Nope! My fourth."

"Really?!" I ask surprised.

"Which others did you learn?"

"English, Italian, and Korean."

"Wow, you surprise me every day. That is impressive." Damn, she's doing better thank me. I wish I knew three languages.

"Thanks, I get that a lot. I want to own a business like Emmy one day."

"Ooo maybe he'll pass his company down to you. I think you'll be a good CEO."

"I hope so," she says shyly.

"Baby, do you mind if I run a quick errand, then I'll come back to pick you guys up?" Seb says as he enters the room.

"How long will that be?"

"About two hours."

I roll my eyes, "You can stay out as long as you want. We'll be fine." I take a bite of my omelette.

"Loana can you take your food and go on the couch for me, please? I think the tv is still on."

"Kk," she stands up swiftly and carefully balances the plate in her hands.

He turns to me and says, "Love, I thought we agreed to all spend time together."

"I had planned to go shopping early then come back to do a few activities with Leona before her bedtime."

"Will you let me take you guys shopping because I don't want you guys to be alone?"

"Your mom already offered to let Leona's driver and security take us."

"Yeah, that's not happening. I'm not letting my girls go out without me and out of my safety."

"Okay, but she'll be sad when you leave," I stand up, carrying my plate to the dishwasher. I then turn to see him smirking.

"Are you sure it's not you who will miss me?"

"I'm going to see if she's done," I say trying to avoid him from seeing my smile. I genuinely do not like how I cannot keep a serious face around him.

"Nope, come here," he tells me, pulling me by the waist. "Baby, you are not going to ignore or have an attitude with me today. Yeah?"

"Mhm."

"Lips," he leans down to my face but I feel two small taps on my thigh.

I gently push Seb away and look down to see Leona holding her plate out with a grin on her face.

"I'm done."

"Wow, I did not expect you to eat everything so quickly." Seb takes the dirty dish and places it in the dishwasher.

"Come on," I take her hand. "Let's clean you up a bit so we can leave."

"Where are we going?"

"Shopping. What do you like? Toys? Books?"

"I want a new pocket kn-."

"Leona," Emilian speaks in a firm tone.

"Clothes or stuffed animals are fine," she rolls her eyes at Emilian.

"Watch your attitude little lady. I'll be in the car," he says.

"Lara, can you put my hair in a bun like yours?"

"Sure." I take her to the restroom and wipe her face with a cloth, then grab a brush and scrunchie from the drawer.

"I like your hair and your makeup."

"Thank you," I respond while brushing her hair.

"My mom won't let me wear makeup."

"Maybe because you don't need it. You're beautiful just the way you are."

She blushes, "Thanks."

"What do you do for fun?"

"Read kids' books because it's the closest thing to cartoons I have. Can we watch cartoons when we get back?"

"Of course, hun."

"Yay," she hugs me tightly right after I secure her hair into a bun.

"You're lucky I just finished with your bun," I giggle. "Come on, we don't want to keep your brother waiting too long."

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"Oooo look! Should we get matching onesies to wear when we get back?"

"I love that idea. You like this one?"

"Mhm."

"Alright, come on. You want anything else?"

"Yup! A dinosaur like George." She's so adorable.

We're in the Bucharest mall and Seb is leading us where we want to go but it's mostly Leona tugging my arm. I got a few bags of clothing and Leona had been picky so she didn't get much."

"Lara, will you carry me? I'm tired of walking."

I reach my hands out and she jumps into them. I giggle, "Better?"

"Yup," she snuggles into my neck.

"I can carry her, baby," Seb says.

"It's ok. You're already carrying the bags." We walk for a bit and as I look around, my eyes land on a shop filled with stuffed animals.

"Look, Leona!"

"Oh my gosh," she wiggled out of my arms and run ahead of us.

"Încetini!" Emilian shouts.

"Îmi pare rău Emmy," Leona responds and she slows down.

"She's so full of life and I love it," I say and turn to see Emilian a few feet behind me, giving the grocery bags to two large men.

He whispers something then sends them off. "Something wrong, baby?" He says, pulling me to him.

"Yeah, I was talking to you and you weren't next to me. Who are they?"

"Security."

"For what? We're in a mall."

"To ensure nobody's following us," he smiles and kisses my forehead. "Come on, let's go see what she is up to."

When we walk in, Leona is running towards us and is tugging us to follow her.

"Look at the stuffed puppies. Emmy lift me!" she extends her arms. He picks her up and she reaches for the fluffy brown puppy at the top.

"Is that all you want?" he asks her.

"Yup!" She reaches for me and takes her. Her little body snuggles into me as she holds the puppy. "I'm hungry now."

"Do you want food from here?" I ask her.

"No, I want you to cook." Ugh, I'm hungry too but wanted something quick. I guess it's healthier though.

"Ok, we'll pay for everything and go home."

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"What do you want Leona?"

"Hmmm... a sandwich." she stands up on the couch and begins to jump on it.

"No jumping please."

"No fun," she pouts and plops down on the couch. "I want to watch tv."

"Baby, will you turn the television on for her?" I ask Seb as he exits our bedroom.

"Sure," he switches it on and kisses her on the cheek. So cute.

"Are you leaving before lunch?"

"Yeah, I can't wait. I'll have to get something on the way."

"Alright, I'll see you later." I lean to kiss him on the lips but instead, he kisses my forehead and rushes out the door. Ok then...

After we left for the mall, he's been acting a bit off. He hasn't touched me, no hugs, and no kisses. Something is up.

I'll focus on that later. Right now, I need to be making lunch for me and little Leona. I'm making a simple grilled cheese with gouda toasted mushrooms and onions.

I think she'll love it.

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