The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 315

Chapter 315 You went to Catherine’s house?

Mia’s POV

The drive home felt like swimming through thick honey, each mile stretched into eternity by the phantom ache in my ankle and the phantom pain in my chest that had nothing to do with physical injury.

It’s like ascending through layers of water, pressure building in my ears until I had to swallow hard to make it pop.

I stood outside my apartment door for a long moment, key poised at the lock, listening to the sounds of life filtering through the wood. Gas barking with the particular timber that meant he was playing, not alarmed. The twins‘ laughter bubbling up like champagne foam.

The key turned with a soft click that sounded like a small bone breaking.

“Mama!” Alexander launched himself at me the moment I stepped through the door, his small body colliding with my legs with the force of a tiny meteorite. The impact sent a fresh bolt of pain through my injured ankle, but I welcomed it.

“Easy, baby,” I murmured, steadying myself against the doorframe while my son wrapped his arms around my thighs like he was trying to climb me. “Mama hurt her foot a little bit.”

“You’re walking funny,” Ethan observed from the living room, where he was sprawled on the carpet with Gas.

“Just twisted my ankle on some bumpy bricks,” I said, forcing my voice into the sing–song cadence that meant everything was fine,. “Nothing that won’t be better in a few days.”

I looked at my boys. “Mama, your eyes are red,” Ethan said, his small hand reaching up to pat my cheek with the unconscious tenderness. “Did you cry?”

Smart boy. Too smart sometimes.

“A little,” I admitted.“I missed you guys.

Gas padded over and pushed his grizzled snout under my free hand, his tail wagging in slow, careful sweeps. Even the dog could sense the tension radiating off me like heat from asphalt in summer. I scratched behind his ears, feeling the familiar comfort of his warm fur under my fingers.

“Are we going to make tacos tonight?” Alexander asked, apparently deciding that tears were boring and food was much more interesting. “You said we could make tacos.”

Right. Tacos. Because life continued even when your world imploded. My babies needed to eat.

“We need to go to the store first,” I said, pushing myself back to my feet with more effort than it

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Chapter 315 You went to Catherine’s house?

+25 BONUS

should have taken. “We need meat and cheese and all the things that make tacos taste good.”

“And those little tomatoes!” Alexander bounced on his toes. “The ones that look like tiny balls!”

“Cherry tomatoes,” I corrected automatically, already mentally composing a shopping list. Ground beef, corn tortillas, sharp cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, that packet of seasoning that made everything taste like childhood and safety.

“And milk for breakfast,” Ethan added seriously. “We’re almost out of milk.”

I looked at him in surprise. When had he started noticing things like milk levels and breakfast needs? “You’re right,” I said. “Milk and bread too. Good thinking, sweetheart.”

Everything was an adventure when you were four years old and the world was still mostly magic. They chattered about which flavor of cheese was best.

Gas whined at the door when he realized he wasn’t coming, his brown eyes liquid with

disappointment. “Sorry, buddy,” I told him, scratching under his chin. “No dogs in the grocery store. But we’ll be back soon.”

The late afternoon sun slanted through the windows of our local market, casting everything in that golden honey light that made even mundane things look magical. The twins rode in the shopping cart like tiny kings surveying their domain, Ethan pointing out items we needed while Alexander provided running commentary on everything that caught his attention.

“Look, Mama, they have flowers,” Alexander said as we passed the floral display near the entrance. Pretty yellow ones like the sun.”

Sunflowers. Catherine had loved sunflowers, had grown them in her garden every summer until they towered over the fence like gentle giants..

“Maybe we should get some,” Ethan suggested, following his brother’s gaze. “For our table.”

“Pick out the ones you like best,” I heard myself saying.

The meat section smelled like blood and cold storage. I selected ground beef. The boys had opinions about everything–this package was too big, that one looked too red, did we really need two pounds?

“Tacos for dinner tonight, leftovers for tomorrow,” I explained, dropping the meat into our cart next to the flowers. “And maybe Uncle Thomas will want some too.”

“Is Uncle Thomas coming over?” boys perked up immediately.

“Maybe,” I said.

By the time we made it through checkout, my ankle was throbbing steadily.

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Chapter 315 You went to Catherine’s house?

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“Mama, you’re walking really funny now,” Alexander observed as I limped around to the driver’s

side.

“My ankle is just tired,” I said, which was true enough. “It’ll be better after we get home and I can put it up for a while.”

I was standing in the kitchen, surveying the ingredients for our taco dinner and trying to decide if I had the energy to actually cook, when I heard the familiar sound of a key in the front door lock.

Thomas.

“Hello?” his voice carried down the hallway, warm and familiar and exactly what I needed to hear. ” Anybody home?”

“Uncle Thomas!” The boys abandoned their unpacking duties and raced toward the front door like small rockets, their excitement palpable in the air. I heard the rustle of grocery bags being dropped, the soft thud of Thomas’s briefcase hitting the floor, the boys talking over each other in their eagerness to tell him about our shopping adventure.

“We bought flowers,” Alexander announced proudly. “They look like happiness.”

“And taco meat,” Ethan added. “Two pounds because we might have leftovers.”

“And bread that looks like a smile. Mama said it was a good choice.”

I could hear the smile in Thomas’s voice when he responded. “Sounds like you had a very successful shopping trip. Where’s your mama?”

“In the kitchen,” Alexander said. “She hurt her ankle and she’s walking funny, but she says it’ll get

better.”

I heard his footsteps in the hallway, before he appeared in the kitchen doorway.

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