She's My Sleeping Pill

“Cheers!”

The mansion at the top of the hill looks as grandiose and majestic as ever and many people in the city who have a great view of the place couldn’t help but be awestruck by its elegance. It was none other than Stefan and Cayenne’s home. They even got the permit to have a firework display and with the bodyguards taking this matter at hand, everyone was out of danger.

The blooming fireworks in the sky could be seen by so many people but they could only appreciate the view from afar.

“Mom! Mom! Look at those beautiful fireworks,” the little boy asked while pulling his mother’s coat. They were walking home after his mother got off from work at the convenience store when he saw the fireworks display. “Who lives in that castle?”

“I don’t know.” The woman answered with a faint smile despite the exhaustion in her eyes. “The King and Queen probably live there.”

“Oh.” The child made a perfunctory remark and continued walking with his eyes glued to the beautiful view from a distance. He even tripped on a stone because he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. “I want to live in that beautiful castle, too.”

The woman could only pat her child’s head. She could barely provide for their needs after her husband left. There was no way she could afford her child to live in a castle. “Work for it. Study hard so you could live in a castle in the future.”

“Hm! I will do my best!”

.....

***

On the other hand, Stefan was excited to open the gifts that he got from several people. Ever since he met Cayenne, he was looking forward to receiving more and more gifts on every special occasion. Christmas was no exception.

One after another, the couple gave their gifts to everyone and was happily watching them as their loved ones, helpers and bodyguards opened the gifts meant for them. Latticia got something from Cayenne and Stefan as well. When she opened it, she teared up and had to turn her back from everyone so she could wipe away her tears.

Since she got separated from her son, she never had anything that could be considered a memento except for the photos from the magazines and newspapers that Dr. Albert’s hired nurse cut for her. This time, she got a gold locket with a photo of Stefan and her in it. Saying she was happy was an understatement. Her emotion was overwhelming and she couldn’t find the word to best fit the description.

“I’m so...so...hap-py,” she muttered which moved the man beside her. Dr. Albert could relate to how she felt; after all, he had been waiting for so long to get her to his side.

Luiz and Kyle both got limited edition watches from Patek Philippe and it was something that Cayenne had been saving up for her brothers. She got something for Jonas and Reuben as well. One was her biological father and the other was her stepdad but both of them were equal in her heart so she got them something of the same price. In that way, no one would get jealous of the other.

Dominic got something from Cayenne and Stefan as well. It was something he wanted to have for a long time but he could only get it if proven that he was doing great in school. As promised, since he became one of the top students, Stefan and Cayenne bought him the new PS5.

“Luiz! You have to drop by once in a while at our house. We can play the game together.” Dominic invited and Luiz promised to come if both of them weren’t busy with work.

“It’s time for Stefan’s gifts!” Magnus announced and everyone looked at Stefan who was looking forward to this very moment. However, seeing his father’s dubious smile, he felt that something bad was about to happen this time. “Son, this is for you. You will love it for sure.”

Saying those words with that mischievous grin on his face, even a little kid could tell that he was up to something. Stefan wasn’t going to fall for his father’s trick. “I will hate you again if you are giving something not matching.”

“Oh! Of course, I know that. It is something very flashy and matchy-matchy.”

Stefan narrowed his eyes at his father as he unwrapped the gift box that his father handed him. Carefully, he lifted the lid and what he saw brought sparkles to his eyes. There were five matching mug bears and five matching fluffy slip-on slippers with bears printed on them. Without even asking, it was obvious that Magnus already considered his future grandchildren when choosing the gifts.

“I got to ask someone to print the children’s names on their respective mugs! Hon, look at these.” Cayenne only smiled without pointing at him at the change in his behavior. It was best not to say a single word about it at this point. “We should ask someone to embroider their names on these slip-on slippers as well. Hmm. We’d have to wait for at least four years for them to use these slippers.”

Taking this opportunity while he was distracted, the others gave their gifts as well and most of them included gifts for their future young masters of the house. Stefan didn’t notice anything wrong and he was very appreciative of the things he received.

“In most cases, it was the mother who gets very happy when receiving things like these. I didn’t know that my grandson would be so easy to please,” Cory commented when she saw Stefan smiling like a child while being surrounded by so many people. “Sometimes, I felt guilty for letting Magnus take him away from us. If we refused, I wonder if we would have been able to protect his young innocent world from his malicious stepmother?”

“Granny, it’s all in the past. You don’t have to dwell on it anymore. We can no longer do anything about it. You just have to live happily from now on because Stefan and I are trying to do our best to do the same thing. I can understand that he’s being hot and cold to the idea of having children but I know that he will love our babies. I already have a feeling that he will be spoiling them. Sigh. Just thinking about it brings me a headache.”

Cory chuckled at Cayenne’s response because she could foretell the same thing. Stefan would surely dote on his kids the most.

After the party, when everyone went home, Stefan finally realized what just happened and his mouth twitched in annoyance. He let himself go along with the height of the moment and now he was standing in the middle of the gifts that he received. Out of one hundred, ninety percent of them surely include children.

“Am I not going to get gifts just for the two of us anymore?”

Cayenne laughed and showed him a video that she took while he unwrapped the gifts. “You were so happy when opening them.”

“That’s not me,” he denied quickly and looked away.

“Not you? Then, where could have my husband possibly gone to? I wanted to give him something.”

“Fine. It’s me. You better delete that.”

“Nah! I will show this to our kids in the future.”

“You can’t do that to me!”

“Yes, I can.”

“I’ll give you a spank.”

“Not afraid.”

“Wifey.”

Cayenne finally relented and deleted the video but she secretly sent a copy to Tristan and told him to save it for her future use. She didn’t need to say it. Tristan knew that she was planning to tease her husband with it.