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."

voice, Molly put her phone down, without much to chat about with a girl who didn't

a restless afternoon nap, Molly finally fell

woke up first, his internal clock ticking. The first thing he did was check on

been left open, letting the bright sunlight spill over the red

Chad was getting

"Tired? I can close the curtains for you to sleep some

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

didn't care what time

they both had their own sinks, avoiding any

admired her reflection, even with

we'll talk," Chad suggested, used to guessing what Molly was trying

did you get that heart-shaped balloon? Why didn't you tell me? I

Chad finished up and stepped out, he glanced at the red heart balloon. "You couldn't buy this with all the money in the world. I made it with

out to admire the balloon, growing fonder

photo and sent it to Mia, sharing her big

see it, or he'd have burst

missing

waking

each other's sore spots, then skillfully navigated around

"How's my nephew?"

milk, indirectly

nephew crying for his mother at the door, refusing formula and flailing about, until finally calming down in his mother's arms. After feeding, Mia just cuddled him back to

left early for a small gathering with

changed,

surprised to see her daughter up. "Thought you'd