Page 129 of Koroleva

"We have our whole lives to get used to each other. We'll work on it; my sister can help us with that too."

"With everything she has to do, we'll have to pay her a salary," I chuckled quietly.

"Julieta will do it gladly; she loves Adri as much as I do and wants him to be happy."

I had no choice but to agree, so I gave in.

"Okay," I murmured, finishing my glass of wine.

"Have we reached an agreement?" My husband seemed astonished.

"Yes, I think so."

"Now I just have to choose the place to take you."

"Was the trip serious?"

"Very serious, we need it. It will only be a few days and then we'll tackle everything that comes our way; it will be good for us to disconnect and get to know each other a bit more." He reached out across the table, and I placed my hand in his warm palm, feeling his warmth seeping into my skin. "Beach or mountain?"

50

Adriano

We spent the night talking. And, as expected, we reconciled in the best possible way; amid sweat, gasps, wrinkled sheets, and until dawn.

When Julieta came the next morning with Adri, we decided to meet with her privately to tell her what had happened and to get some guidelines on how to talk with the boy I would always consider my son, as well as to have her supervise the conversation.

It was important to assure the boy that the information we were going to give him wouldn’t mean he was losing anything; on the contrary, it wouldn't bring any noticeable change to his life.

We decided to go look for him ourselves; he was on the terrace playing with Brutus, the dog who was his world and what he adored most.

He was throwing the ball as usual when the three of us settled at the terrace table and called him over.

"What's going on?" was his first question when he saw the three of us together.

"We want to tell you something important, so sit down with us."

"I'm not moving to a boarding school," my son said first, glancing sideways at Nikita.

"No one's talking about taking you to one; it's not about that." Adri didn’t seem entirely convinced.

"Then what is it?"

"We want to talk to you about your origins," Nikita interjected.

"If it’s that birds and bees stuff, they already told me about it at school."

"No, it's not that; it’s actually about who your father is," my wife clarified, looking him in the eyes. Adri frowned and looked at me, shrugging and spreading his hands.

"But what is this woman talking about?"

"Adriano, show more respect when you speak to Nikita," I scolded him.

"What’s the matter? Isn’t she a woman? Or has she finally confessed to being a witch?"

"Adriano!" I scolded him again. He let out a huff. "This is serious, and we need you to be receptive."

"I don’t get it, what’s receptive?" His face turned to Julieta.

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