Page 124 of My Infatuation with Isabella

Even when Bella switches over to reprimand her in Spanish, Mrs. Hart does not look the slightest bit remorseful. “He said please,mi niña. I was trying to reward him for good manners.”

“But you know that ruins his appetite, then he doesn’t eat a proper meal, and he wakes up starving at two in the morning.” She looks over at Keith. “And you didn’t object to this, dad?”

“Well...you know...I tried?”

“He paid for it,” her mother blurts out before he throws her under the bus.

“The two of you are even worse than Dylan’s parents.”

“That’s uncalled for,” Keith says, looking offended. “Lorraine bought him a motorized Ferrari and cuts the crusts off his sandwiches. We don’t spoil himthatmuch.”

Bella sighs irritably. “She at least gives him sandwiches. You just give him sugar and?” She’s cut off when Neymar tugs her arm. She stops talking and kneels to be at his eye level. “And you, young man? Didn’t I tell you no ice cream before dinner?”

“Mommy, relax,” he says, his lisp accentuating thexsound. “You get so mad sometimes. It’s just ice cream. C’mon.” He cups her face with his sticky fingers. “Let’s cuddle. It will make you feel better.”

His chubby arms wrap around her neck, and from over his shoulder, her eyes narrow at me, giving me the death stare even though she’s melting inside. Somehow, her annoyance just got redirected to me.

“What?” I ask innocently. “I don’t know where he learned that.”

“So, none of that looked familiar?”

I shrug. “Nope.”

She lifts him off the ground as she stands up and hands him to her mother. “Please clean him up. We have to get to the hospital.”

Bella takes out a pack of wet wipes from her bag and wipes the stickiness off her cheeks while Neymar gets cleaned up.

“You know, I think I can safely answer the age-old question of nature versus nurture,” Bella says, walking up to me to loop her arms around my neck. “I always said I wanted to have your babies because I wanted them to be just like you. And now we’re gonna have another one of your adorkable kids running around.”

“Are you excited?” Keith asks.

“Nervous,” I reply.

“I’m so excited I could scream,” Bella says before she interlinks her fingers with mine. “And don’t be nervous. We got this.”

“Abu says we’re gonna pick up my sister now,” Ney says, entering the kitchen again.

“That’s right, Champ.”

“But I don’t want a sister. I want a brother.”

I lift him up again. “I also wanted you to have a brother, but sometimes life has other plans for us.”

When Bella and I were ready to adopt again, we decided that we wanted an infant this time, no older than three months. Based on our request, the adoption agency paired us with a mom who was expecting a boy. Although the mom wanted to remain anonymous, we were still given regular updates on her pregnancy, and about eight weeks ago, we were told that the umbilical cord was in the wrong place for the last few scans, sosurprise!It’s actually a girl. If it’s possible to feel excitement and dread at the same time, then that’s how I’ve been feeling for the last eight weeks.

We leave her parent’s house with hugs and kisses and a promise that they’ll come over to see their granddaughter tomorrow. Everyone is coming over tomorrow because we asked for privacy tonight. This is a special moment for our family and we just want it to be the four of us.

* * * * *

THERE’S A WEIRD THINGthat happens in the body and the brain when a person has their first child. Somehow, you think that the amount of love you have is abundant but finite. There isn’t enough to go around. And you think that you could never love anyone else as much. These myths are debunked the second the nurse places my baby girl in my arms. She’s so tiny and fragile...and beautiful. It’s like I’m holding this tiny ball of perfection. Isabella isn’t the emotional type, but tears are already rolling down her cheek. I pull her closer with my free arm to kiss her forehead.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Ney-ney. These are happy tears.”

Ney still seems concerned, so I kneel in front of him. “You want to meet your little sister? This is Tiana.”

Bella chose her name. In keeping with the King of Hearts and the Queen of Spades, she decided on Tiana because it means princess. It’s just a front for the outside world so no one knows how corny we truly are.

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