When We Were Young

Chapter 39

"Cause when the thermometer gets all reddish, the temperature goes up. And when the temperature goes up, I start to melt! And when I start to melt, I get all wishy-washy."

Nina laughed at the funny faces, Rafael made as he read her a bedtime story from frosty,the snowman.

Rafael stole small glances at Paula as he read the bed story. She was leaning against the door frame,silently watching them.

He bet she was waiting to talk to him because he had ignored her for an entire day following that incident at the hotel room.

He took his sweet time reading Nina her lullaby. He was pretending to be angry with her.

He knew that she had done it with good intentions but he couldn't forget that she had gone behind his back.

Rafael hated anything done in secrecy. It brought back many painful memories to the surface. His silent treatment of her was to remind her how he hated secrets.

He was actually angry at Valeria for using Paula to get to him.

"Another story please!," Nina cried out when Rafael finished reading frosty, the snowman for her.

He glanced at Paula from beneath his lashes and his lips trembled on the brink of a smile. She looked like she was about to march into the room and grab the book from him.

A few minutes into Cinderella story, Nina gave out a big yawn.He immediately closed the book.

"Okay, little princesa. It's time for bed."

He got off the bed and started tucking her in.

"But l want to hear the rest of the story!" his daughter whined.

"But you have school tomorrow."

"Please Dad."

His heart melted at that word. Everytime she called him "dad", he couldn't resist her anything. He was about to sit back on her small bed and pick up from where he left when Paula intervened.

"No more bedtime stories. Time to sleep," Paula told her ,moving away from the door.

"But mum...," Nina began to protest.

"Now!," Paula told her in a stern voice and with a grumble, she laid back in bed sulking.

"Goodnight, mia tesoro (my treasure). Have sweet dreams," Rafael bid her goodnight as he leaned down to brush a small kiss on her forehead.

Nina was too angry to respond. She turned the other way still sulking. If he was not feigning his anger, he could have told her there how he admired how well she handled Nina. She was not spoiled and she listened to her parents.

Paula turned off the lights and followed him out

"For how long are you going to ignore me?," she finally asked.

He gave her a small stern glance and then continued to his room. A smile flickered on his face as he heard her urgent footsteps following behind him. He could feel anger vibes radiating from her.

Well, he was going to let her sulk for a little bit.

She wasn't supposed to go behind his back!

He dropped down on his king sized bed as soon as he reached his room. She heard her small gasp when he began to remove his T-shirt. His hands stilled at the waist band of his sweatpants and he glanced back at her with raised eyebrow.