Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Molly was on the verge of tears, swearing she'd never been through anything like this before. Yet Coleen remembered clearly that the two of them had definitely crossed that line.

Before long, Chad stepped out, cool as a cucumber, without a hint of panic. He walked over to Molly, wrapping his arm around her waist in a natural, affectionate gesture aimed at Coleen. "Mom, you're still up?" Coleen glanced at them, offering a casual piece of advice before she left. "Try to get some sleep; you both looked exhausted last night."

Leaving the newlyweds standing there in their matching red pajamas.

Feeling the warmth from Chad's palm through the thin fabric of her silk pajamas, Molly's heartbeat quickened. "Uh, Chad, I need to use the bathroom."

"Let's head back; our room has one too," Chad said, guiding Molly back to their bedroom.

Molly dilly-dallied to the bathroom, and by the time she came out, Chad was already in bed, seemingly dozing off.

Molly approached the bed, lifting the covers to slide in.

Back to the beginning, where each movement Molly made was cautious and tentative.

"Molly, I'm heading off to sleep. You should too," Chad murmured.

Molly simply responded with an "Okay," too nervous to make any further movements. Neither of them brought up the earlier awkwardness of Chad attempting to untie her sash or Molly's panicked dash out of the room. Eventually, when the sound of light snoring filled the room, Molly dared to shift slightly, whispering to the "sleeping" man, "Huh, does Chad snore?"

The pretend sleeper: "..."

The snoring ceased shortly after.

Once Chad was asleep, Molly felt a sense of freedom. She lay back, pouting as she stared at the red canopy above, her once sparkling diamond ring replaced by a more modest band, now on her ring finger. "Why hasn't Mia replied to my message?" Molly checked her phone again.

Eventually, she reluctantly messaged Anya, "Are you asleep?"

Anya quickly replied with a voice message, "Auntie, I absolutely loved the wedding favor you gave me."

phone down, without much to chat about with a girl who didn't even have a

a restless afternoon nap, Molly finally

morning, Chad woke up first, his internal clock ticking. The first thing he did was

had been left open, letting the bright sunlight spill over

was getting up, signaling she still wasn't fully settled

her dark hair. "Tired? I can close the curtains for you to sleep some more?" Chad's pajamas were still in place, unlike Molly's,

the previous day, "You and your dad, both heavy sleepers. Don't oversleep on your first

really didn't care what time she

had their own sinks, avoiding any

admired her reflection, even with a mouth full of

suggested, used to guessing what Molly was

you get that heart-shaped balloon? Why didn't you tell me? I would've bought one

balloon. "You couldn't buy this with all the money in the

admire the balloon, growing fonder

photo and sent it to Mia, sharing her big

"Good thing your nephew didn't see it, or he'd have burst it with one squeeze and then cried about

missing person

reply was listless, "Newlywed waking up at

spots, then skillfully navigated around them

"How's my nephew?"

milk, indirectly explaining why

formula and flailing about, until finally calming down in his mother's arms.

early for a small gathering with friends

chatted briefly before Chad changed, and Molly

downstairs together, Coleen was surprised to see her daughter up. "Thought you'd sleep