Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Before long, the kitchen was thick with smoke. Henry, his little mouth open and tongue sticking out, started coughing. "Cough, Mommy, help-cough cough!"

Mia frowned. Something was definitely off. "Should I turn on the exhaust fan?"

Henry just stared at her, wide-eyed and innocent. He was barely two-how was he supposed to know what to do?

Mia hurried over to figure out the fan, fiddling with the buttons. Suddenly, her voice rang out, "Oh no, it's burnt!"

Henry scampered out, still coughing. But when he realized his mom hadn't followed him, he spun around and ran right back into the smoky kitchen on his chubby little legs. He was determined to rescue her: "Mommy, come with me— cough cough!"

Mia turned off the stove and looked down at her brave little guy. She scooped him up in her arms and carried him out first.

"I told you not to come in here, didn't I? Why did you go in anyway?" she chided gently.

Henry pouted, lips sticking out in a show of pure toddler indignation. Mia's heart melted. She kissed his cheek. "Alright, sweetheart. Mommy loves you most. Go play, okay? I need to make dinner for Daddy."

She stood up to head back to the kitchen, but Henry grabbed her shirt, tugging hard. He didn't want her to go back in there he knew it was dangerous.

Thanks to his mom, Henry had managed to explore every corner of the Cedillo family's big old house-except the kitchen. That was the one place he'd never dared mess with.

But Mia was on a mission. Nothing was going to stop her from getting dinner on the table.

All the commotion didn't go unnoticed. Naomi and Hansen watched the kitchen, eyes full of suspicion and more than a little fear. They didn't dare ask what Mia was up to—last time they'd made that mistake, she'd just grinned and said, "Naomi, Dad, I want you to try my special homemade dinner."

Mrs. Calder noticed the tension written all over their faces and chimed in politely, "Oh, Mia cooks too? I bet she's pretty good." Meanwhile, Henry stuck to Mia's side like glue, not even coming out to play with little Ash.

Naomi and Hansen exchanged a look, determined not to say anything that might embarrass the family. "Mia is, un, very committed to her cooking," Naomi managed, forcing a smile. Hansen, leaning on his cane, stood up. "Naomi, I think your friend Hárry just called me out for a chess match. I'll step outside for a bit.

Butler, come on, let's go.”

He shot one last nervous glance toward the kitchen, then made his escape, dragging the butler along.

Out in the yard, Hansen dialed his

friend. "Harry Rayner, let's get out of here. My daughter's destroying the kitchen in-I'm not sticking

around for this one."

Back in the living room, Naomi eyed the kitchen nervously. Soon, another loud sizzle and pop echoed through the house. Mrs. Calder frowned and glanced back. "That's quite the ruckus."

Normally, with how big the Cedillo place was, you couldn't hear the kitchen from the living room, but today was different.

Naomi's mind wandered. Maybe Mia was just excited to have her mom back from vacation—maybe she wanted to cook a special welcome-home dinner?

Naomi stood up, looking for an escape herself. "You know, I don't think you've ever seen my coffee shop. How about we go check the books together?"

Mrs. Calder blinked, caught off guard by the sudden offer.

"We can take Ash with us," Naomi pressed, practically out the door already. "And maybe drop by to see Anya and Leo afterwards."

Mrs. Calder hesitated. "Let's leave Ash here. He loves playing with Henry."noveldrama

Naomi glanced down at the toddler in her arms and offered a gentle warning. "Better bring him along-things might get a little wild around here."

So, poor little Ash was whisked away from his big brother Henry.

He was still sniffling as he got buckled into his car seat, Mrs. Calder soothing him

quietly and pointing out the sights through the window as they drove off.