The Good Life

Chapter 112

Marla sat at the kitchen table holding spoons with each of her hands feeding the twins watching Rosie from the corner of her eye playing with her food on the table. She turned to catch her daughter who suddenly put down her spoon.

"I'm sorry, mama..." Rosie told her.

"I didn't see anything. What happened?" Marla asked her daughter.

"Oh. Nothing." Rosie told her mother.

"Mi amor, what do you want to do for your birthday? Do you want to do something different?" Marla asked her daughter hoping and praying that she'll have ideas.

"I want to be a princess, mom." She told her mother. I know exactly what to do. She thought to herself grabbing a piece of paper from the counter writing down a note to herself about princesses as the twins started to cry because she stepped away from them.

"Shhh, you two need to learn to sooth yourselves." Marla joked with the 5 month old twins running back to them watching Angelo's face light up as she sat down next to him. "Mam, go get your stuff so we can go to school..." she turned to see Rosie laying her head on a pillow she had brought out in the kitchen. She narrowed her eyes at her daughter telling her to get up.

"Okay, okaaayyy." She whined getting up as Marla picked up the twins to get them to their car seats. A few minutes later Bruno walked out into the living room stopping in the hallway to see Marla put the babies in a perfect spot on her hip to get them to the car seats. She looked up catching him turn around. He was watching me. She started to laugh seeing Rosie jump into Bruno's arms before he could make it much further. This time she stopped to watch their father daughter embrace. They are just too much. She is a female version of him She watched him whisper something in her ear and then kiss her head letting her go.

"Mommmmm...dad has something to give you!" she said watching Bruno walk toward her.

"Good morning." He said sweetly kissing her on the cheek.

"Was that it?" she asked him.

"Yep. That was it." He smirked going into the kitchen.

"Will you keep the babies so I can take her to school? Please?" she pleaded with him. "I didn't know you were going to get up."

"Yes." He told her taking the car seats from her hands. "Go take your daughter to school."

**

Marla laid her head back on a rocking chair holding Hope in her hands as she tried to get her to fall asleep late in the afternoon. She looked down at the baby's bright brown eyes that mirrored Bruno's face as a baby. She closed her eyes thinking of something to sing to her to get her to fall asleep. She started humming the same song Bruno would sing to Rosie when she was a baby watching Hope's eyes start to close. She waited to hear her daughter's light breathing to stand up to put her in her crib to fall asleep. "Shh, baby..." she said softly seeing Hope open her eyes and close them quickly with a small cry. "You'll be okay, mi Corazon." Marla told her kissing the top of her head covering her with a light blanket grabbing the baby monitor turning off the lights. She walked passed a pile of toys and clothing still in the middle of their small house. As she picked them up she glanced up at a picture of the family that Bruno's sister had taken just a few weeks ago. "We're so perfect." Marla smiled running her fingers along the picture hearing Bruno's footsteps in the front of the house. She quickly dropped her hand to go see him.

"Hey, mama." He said looking up at her with a smile.

"Hi." She yawned sitting next to him. He pulled her toward him squeezing her tightly. "What did you do today?" she asked him glancing at the clock that said 2:30. "Shit...." She jumped up. "I have to go get the baby..."

"Stay there. I'll go get her." He said kissing her head lightly grabbing the keys. "I was going to take her to the studio with me when you came back."

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"It's a secret." He raised his eyebrows holding the keys in his hands.

"I hate you!" she joked throwing a pillow at him.

"I love you, Mar." he smiled leaving the house.

**

Later in the evening Bruno and Rosie came running in the house oblivious to the fact that the twins were asleep.

"Shhh!" Marla snapped sitting on the couch folding laundry. Bruno covered Rosie's mouth making her laugh.

"Shhh, mija. Go get ready for bed." He said pushing her away from him.

He walked back to the living room grabbing clothes to fold holding onto the small baby clothes looking at them. "They're so tiny." He said putting them down in the pile.

"I know. But they'll be her size soon." She smiled at him pushing things over for him to sit down.

"Where were we?" he asked pulling her in to him.

"If I sit here with you too much longer I'm going to fall asleep." She told him.

"I know. You should fall asleep. I've got this." He said to her turning to pick her up making her laugh.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as they neared the bedroom.

"Putting my baby to bed." He said kissing her on the head. "Stay right there..." he ran into the bathroom counting the pills she needed to take coming back in the room with a bottle of water. "Take these and go to sleep."

"But Bru..."

"But nothing. Rosie will take a bath and go to bed. And I'll finish the laundry for you." He explained.

"That's even worse!" she exclaimed.

"Shhhh!" he said turning off the light walking out the door. "Good night, Marley."

"I hate you!" she said turning around to fall asleep.

**

Dear Marla,

I finished the laundry for you. You're probably going to redo it all, but I feel accomplished. I took Rosie to the studio today. She redid the white board on the wall. She's an artist, Mar. She's gonna be famous one day. And don't laugh at that. You know it's true. You are the best mother in the world Marla. You have this amazing relationship with the twins. I tried to get Hope to fall asleep tonight by just holding her and singing to her. But it was so hard. I don't know how you do it. And Angelo, he's such a good baby. He woke up once tonight. And that was it. I love you.

Bru