Twisted Deception

~𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 35~

chapter 35
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Third Person POV
Arya bounced the pong ball onto the table and it landed perfectly in the bra cup.

"Yes! Give me your money!" Arya danced, taking another sip of pink lemonade from her cup.

"Ugh!" Luna put another ten dollar bill into the black, baseball cap.

"Damn it, again?!" Loriana also put a ten dollar bill in the black, baseball cap. "You are terrible at this, Luna."

"Excuse me? It's not my fault you lost three fifty dollar bills trying to bet with Ma" Luna defended. "You're just too hardheaded."

"No, I just hate being told not to do things because it makes me want to do it" Loriana defended.

"Mom, Auntie, this is no time to be arguing over money."

"You're right Lisa, we still have to find a new challenger so we can win some of our money back" Luna patted her oldest daughter on the head.

Suddenly, Loriana looked down at her baby to see her trying to pull her shirt down as she sucked on her pacifier.

"Oh, give me a quick minute, will ya?" Loriana said. "Victoria's hungry."

"Sure" Luna answered.

Loriana then walked over to her baby bag and pulled out a still warm bottle of baby feed. She sat down on the grey sofa and put the bottle to Victoria's mouth.

"Hey Lori?" Arya asked, sitting down next to her.

"Hm?" Loriana hummed.

"What was it like...you know, taking care of your children?" Arya asked.

Loriana raised an eyebrow. "What's with the interest, all of a sudden?"

"I'm just asking because once Asher and I get married....this topic might come up in the future" Arya answered. "So, I just wanna talk about what it was like for you. You know, just girl to girl."

Loriana huffed. "Honestly...I had my fair share of fear about being a mother. Since I was a young mother at the time, I always had the fear that I wasn't gonna live up to the standards of being a good mother for Ethan. But because I had Mom by my side, I eventually learned that....I didn't need to follow the standards of what people think I should be as a mother. I just needed to give my children a life to remember, even if the way they got here was a bumpy one."

Arya smiled at her.

"What I'm trying to say is...there are always fears and concerns that come when you're becoming a first time parent" Loriana explained. "But as long as you push through them and have hope, the result will always, always, the best part of the day."

Loriana felt a push and she looked down to see that the baby bottle was empty.

"Oh, you drank all of it." Loriana put the baby on her shoulder and tapped her back. "You're a big girl, Victoria!"

"Uno uno out!"

"Uno uno out, baby!"

Sofia danced in her seat on the floor while Xena had gotten up.

"I'm gonna go get a drink" Xena said.