REYNA

"Look, momma!" Adelina exclaimed. She was on my laptop, typing away just like she would witness me doing countless times. The baby had fallen asleep in my arms, and as I laid him down in his crib, I could hear his little coo.

"That's good! Please try to be quiet, though, Manuele is sleeping," I whispered. Taking the laptop from her, and placing it on a nearby chair, she allowed me to grasp her hand and lead her out of the nursery where I shut the door.

Adelina was only six years old, and from what I could see so far, she was going to end up looking just like her father. His dark hair, blue eyes, strong features, bushy brows were already so apparent in her. Saint told

me that our firstborn would be a mere copy of him, and he wasn't lying.

"Come on. I'm pretty sure daddy made you something to eat," I told her.

As we walked, Adelina touched my stomach. Her small fingers spread out across my swollen belly with pure curiosity.

"Is it going to be a girl or a boy, momma?" she asked.

"What do you want the baby to be?" I questioned.

"A boy! I want another baby brother," she told me.

I smiled. "And I want to be the only girl so daddy can only spoil me," she said smugly.

My smile fell.

"Yes, he's a boy," I answered.

Her smile grew as she practically jumped up and down in joy. Together, we walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

When I got pregnant for the third time, we decided to move into a new home—a home more equipped for family rather than mafia business. We still dealt with what was necessary, but we made sure to keep our business life far away from our personal life. It had been going very good, and we hoped it would always be.

Once we entered the kitchen, Saint was placing food on plates and getting them ready for the three of us.

"Allow me to help you," I said, gathering two dishes and walking them over to the dining room table. He was quick to join me and sat the smaller plate down for Adelina.

"Thank you, baby," he told me, walking over to me and planting a kiss on the inside of my neck. I smiled affectionately just as Adelina pretended to throw up.

"Ew!" she called.

"Don't say ew because you're about to get one too," Saint said, walking over to her with a smirk on his lips. Her eyes widened and she began to go into a stance as if she were ready to take off running, but before she could blast off, Saint grabbed ahold of her and picked her up. She let out a course of giggles as he brought her up and planted a thousand kisses all over her face.

"Stop, daddy!" she laughed. "Momma,help me!"

I could only smile as I watched them. Saint was a great father. He would do anything for Adelina, Manuele, and even our unborn child. It made his world to see them smile and it was so amazing. My days were always filled with joy because of the family we created together. Who would have known our story would end up being this way?

He placed Adelina down, and she took off running behind me so I could shield her from her own father.

"Don't let daddy get me!" she exclaimed.

Saint chuckled and pulled out a chair for me just before doing the same for Adelina. Once I sat down, our daughter quickly joined me just before Saint did as well.

We said our prayers and began to dive into the pasta.

"This is delicious," I complimented.

"Thank you, Angel." Saint smiled.

"When are we going back to work?" I asked him. We had decided that once we returned to work, we would look into hiring a nanny who could, of course, cook seeing as I could not cook. The kids were too young to be left alone. However, it was challenging to find someone to my standards.

"Once our baby is born in two months, I'll be returning. You will be returning in four. For now, Adriano has everything covered and he's been doing a very good job," Saint explained. I nodded my head in understanding.

"Daddy, Miss Melinda has been teaching me more Italian," Adelina interjected.

He turned his attention to her, his eyes instantly softening.

"Really? Tell me something," Saint said.

"Papà, sei brutto," she smirked. "Brutto da morire."

My jaw dropped. Before either of us could say anything, she ran off to her room laughing the entire way.

Saint turned to me, still in shock.

"Did that just happen?" he asked me.

I snorted. "Yeah, it definitely just happened."

We finished our food in a comfortable silence for the most part, except for when we would occasionally talk about anything work related. For a while, things had been running smoothly. Ever since I, Saint's wife, had come out as Red, it kept pretty much everyone at bay. It was peaceful, but of course that didn't stop us from remembering how there could be a calm before the storm.

"Momma! Grandma is here!" Adelina called. I looked over to the sound of her voice to see my oldest daughter dragging her grandmother into the dining room.

"Mom!" I called, standing up to give her a hug. Her hand immediately dropped to my stomach where the biggest smile came

across her face.

"I can't wait to meet him," she said, rubbing my belly affectionately. Her gaze then shot around the room as her brows pulled together in confusion. "Where's my grandson?"

"Manuele is sleeping." I laughed.

Saint's chair gliding against the floor dominated any other sound as he went to gather our plates to place them in the sink.

"Oh, yeah, I bet it was difficult getting him to sleep," Mom said. She wasn't wrong. Manuele was an active baby even though he was only about to be one-years-old. He couldn't walk, and he couldn't talk but that never stopped him from trying.

"Grandma! Grandma!" Adelina called. "Where's Uncle Ale?"

"He's busy with work, hun," my mom told her.

"Hi, Maria. How have you been?" Saint asked her, going up to my mother and giving her a hug. She giggled like a schoolgirl as he pulled away and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm very good! I just wanted to check in with you all, see my grandbabies, and even deliver some news," she said, piquing my interest.

I raised a brow. "What news?" I asked.

A big smile came across her face. "I'm seeing someone," she confessed.

"Grandma, aren't you too old?" Adelina immediately asked. I gave her a stern look just as Saint snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough.

My mother chuckled. "There is no such thing as too old as long as this cat is still purring," she said.

"Mama!" I exclaimed, reaching over to cover my daughter's ears.

"Anyways, when can we meet this mystery man?" I asked her.

"In a few months. I want to see how serious he is about me first. So far, what I can say is that he's a gentleman who is caring and careful. He's everything I've wanted for so long," Mom said.

"I want my cat to purr," Adelina said, causing me to gasp.

"Adelina, shut the hell up and go to your room," Saint told her.

"No!" she exclaimed. He ran over to her just as she began to take off, giggling as she went.

I rolled my eyes, turning back to my mom. "I'm glad. You deserve that and so much more."

As Saint passed me again, I grabbed his arm. "I'm definitely looking into this man. Can you please have my computer set up for me, honey?" I whispered just before quickly letting go of him and turning to my mom with a big, innocent smile. He nodded his head and continued his search for Adelina.

"Alright. Well, I didn't intend on staying for too long so I'll be on my way. We have to plan something soon, Reyna," Mom told me. I walked over to her and embraced her in another hug.

Once we pulled away she picked up a running Adelina and kissed her on her cheek.

"I love you, Adelina. Make sure you behave," she told her sternly.

"Love you, too, Grandma," she said.

"Bye, Santino!" Mom yelled, already walking toward the door.

"Bye, Maria!" he called from his bedroom. She led herself out of the door and made sure to shut it behind her.

"Come on. It's time to bathe and go to sleep," I told Adelina, grasping her hand. We headed over to her bedroom and into the bathroom where I bathed her, brushed her teeth, tucked her into bed, read her a story, and walked out once I realized she was asleep.

As I shut the door, Saint was already leaning against our bedroom door frame with his arms crossed over the other. He had a smirk on his face as I made my way over to him. Once I was in reach, he grabbed me by my hips and pulled me in closer to him.

"Ti amo," he said.

"I love you too." I smiled.

Just as I leaned in for a kiss, letting his lips caress my own—the baby woke up, crying.

"It's your turn," I said, moving past him, pushing him out the room, and closing the door.

"But I cooked," he whined.

—

AHHH! Okay, I'll do a bonus chapter sometime soon that is only going to be exclusively available on my Patreon. If you want to read it, you'll have to join.

I HAVE A SECRET SO SHHHHH! IM PUBLISHING THIS BOOK, but I am changing the name to "Code Red." It'll be out hopefully on July 26th!

Thank you all for reading this story and loving it as much as I do. You're the best! Love you all!