The Good Life

Chapter 115

Marla used her crisis intervention knowledge to calm everyone down sending them all back to play video games until she saw Bruno walking back with Rosie who was holding ice cream in her hand.

"Are you okay, mama?" Marla asked her touching her head not sure if she would be happy with her mother.

"I'm fine." She told her mother not looking back at her as she walked over to her cousin, Liam, handing him his ice cream to finish.

"What did you say to her?" Marla asked him.

"Not a lot. I just let her cry and throw the rocks by the parking lot until she calmed down. I hugged her and got her ice cream and here we are now." He told her.

"That's not all you did, Bru." Marla told him.

"Mar. Sometime she just needs someone to be there for her. And not because something bad has happened, but because she needs to know they care. She loves you so much, but when you run around doing other things she feels forgotten. Today was the one day when she couldn't be forgotten and the twins took away the attention from her."

"I get it." Marla said to her husband shrugging her shoulders. "I get it. I'm a shitty mother." She told him "I can't give them all attention all the time."

"Oh, Marla. No." he sat her down at the long table taking her hand playing with her wedding ring. "Stop saying that. You are the most amazing mother in the world. You haven't done anything wrong. She's 6. Come on."

She took his hand looking down at his ring. "I guess you're right. I'm just being really emotional. I just...she was just a baby."

"She's still a baby..." he said turning around seeing her dancing around in circles with her younger cousin, Mila.

"You're right." She smiled. "Let's go eat cake...." She stood up taking his hand leading him back toward the cake.

**

After the birthday festivities Marla and Bruno piled all the presents into one car and drove home. Marla turned to see Rosie asleep in the backseat holding onto a doll someone had bought her. The babies sat wide awake looking outside talking to each other about what they saw in their twin language. Marla picked Rosie up while Bruno took the twins in their rooms.

"Bruno...." She whispered opening the door to the house with one hand. "We need to feed them." She told him.

"I'll do it. You take care of her." He told her.

"But...you..." she started to question what he was doing.

"Go." He told her a little inpatient. She watched him go in the kitchen after placing the babies on the floor asleep. "Go! Vayas!" he told her with a smile.

"Okay! I'm going!" she told him keeping her six year old in her arms walking her to the bedroom laying her on the bed.

"Daddy?" Marla heard Rosie ask. "Read me the story. The one about mommy."

"What story, baby?" Marla asked confused.

"It's a secret, Momma. You can't know it." Rosie said squinting her eyes seeing it was her mother in the room and not her father.

"Do you want to tell me the story?" she asked her daughter.

"No. If you're going to...." She jumped up grabbing another book from the shelf. "This one..."

"What is this one?" Marla asked flipping through the pages not recognizing the book.

"Daddy bought it. He buys me books all the time." Rosie told her handing her mother a stack of them. "Mommy. I want to read it to you." She said taking the book she handed her mother.