Paulita and Dante were fighting in the courtyard when Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal arrived at their home in La Ciudad Santa, all tired.
The Holy City looked like it had just rained, the grass was still muddy and the two little ones were covered in mud, their little white faces and hands were covered in dirty mud.
“Hmph, my Estrella’s not bad, it’s Auntie’s fault! Auntie tried to take Daddy away from me! But my daddy is mine and Estrella’s!”
“You’re lying! It’s because of that woman who stirs things up that my mother can’t live again and cries every night!”
As soon as Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal got out of the car, they heard the two children standing there cursing stubbornly and struggling with each other.
Estrella Berrocal ran up and separated Paulita and Dante: “You are brothers, you are family, how can you fight?
Dante looked at Estrella Berrocal and did not approve, his eyes full of indifference.
As soon as Paulita saw that Estrella Berrocal and Adán Rouco were back, the disgust she had felt at that moment vanished and her dirty little face was filled with a smile of happiness. “Daddy, Estrella you’re finally back! I’ve missed you so much!”.
Adán Rouco came striding over on his long legs and swept the two boys, “Let’s talk about what’s going on inside.”
Estrella Berrocal put her arm around Paulita and reached out to put her arm around Dante as well, but he pulled away.
Estrella Berrocal, slightly stunned, looks at Adán Rouco.
Adam Rouco looked at Dante, who remained motionless and obstinate, and finally said, “Is that all you can do to be a man?”
Dante bit his lip and ran into the house first.
Paulita, with mud on her little face and hands, puffed up Estrella Berrocal with wide eyes, “My brother is becoming irrational, he never used to fight with me, huh?”
Estrella Berrocal was about to say something when Adán Rouco had spoken earlier: “Will your brother fight you if you don’t provoke him?”.
Paulita was squashed and embarrassed, opening her small shoulders and tugging at Estrella Berrocal’s skirt.
Estrella Berrocal put her arm around the little girl’s tiny back and, seeing that Adán Rouco’s face was a little cold, said, “Well, she just got home, so don’t lecture her.”
Paulita smiled and muttered under her breath, “My hands hurt from the blow.”
Adán Rouco growled lightly: “Let’s see if next time you dare to fight with your brother”.
“Dad doesn’t even want Paulita.”
“Dad didn’t ask you to fight with your brother.”
Estrella Berrocal: “…”
This father and daughter, why do they like to upset each other so much?
When she entered the house, she saw Sister Rouco standing attending to her precious monarchs, paying no attention to what was going on between the two little ones.
As soon as Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal entered, the old man looked up and said: “Me, back from the honeymoon”.
Estrella Berrocal couldn’t resist speaking up: “…. Dad, two kids are fighting in the playground, why aren’t you pulling the car?”.
Roberto Rouco continued to attend to his monarch, without batting an eyelash: “Will they stop fighting if I stop them? I’ll look for a place where I won’t see them and they’ll fight anyway, it’s like child’s play, it’s over”.
When Felipa came to pass the coffee, she was surprised to see the two children covered in dirt: “Oh, my two little ones, rolling in the mud? Why are you covered in mud? Come, I’ll take you to wash you”.
Roberto Rouco burst out laughing and said: “The two children will go with Felipa to wash, they will come back clean and grandfather will give candy”.
After the two little ones followed Felipa into the bathroom, Roberto Rouco sat down, took his old glasses off the bridge of his nose and said, “You have returned just in time to talk to me about what is the best arrangement for your sister-in-law and Dante, the mother and son.”
Adam Rouco said, “If your sister-in-law really wants to move back in, it’s not impossible, Estrella and I can go back to The Villas at Repulse Bay. ”
Estrella Berrocal agreed that was probably the best course of action. “Yes, Dad, I’m out of work for the time being, too, and Paulita and Lucio can come back to live with us at The Villas at Repulse Bay, and I don’t have to worry about leaving the two kids unattended if I’m home. ”
“So what you’re saying is let your sister-in-law move back in with Dante and you move out.”
Adán Rouco nodded slightly, “If Dad agrees, he can inform his sister-in-law.”
Estrella Berrocal, fearful that the old man would miss Paulita, added, “If Dad misses Paulita and Lucio, he can always go stay at The Villas at Repulse Bay. ”
Sister Rouco nodded and sighed, “It looks like it’s not going to be possible for you and Olivia to live under the same roof.”
Adam Rouco pursed his thin lips and spoke, “I think there is something wrong with the way my sister-in-law is raising Dante, and if she and Dante move back in together, Dad can correct the way my sister-in-law is raising Dante. ”
“This time when Dante came back and was playing with Paulita, I noticed that the child has become old-fashioned, it is not good to become so old-fashioned at a young age, you have to behave in everything, his father Oscar is not like that.”
Estrella Berrocal was relieved to hear this from her father-in-law, who was not only reasonable but also insightful.
The two children were brought back by Felipa smelling clean and changed clothes.
Paulita ran and rubbed up against Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal, sticky after so many days of absence.
Estrella Berrocal, naturally, also looked down and kissed her small, milky forehead.
Dante stood in the corner, refusing to come closer, or so the old man called him: “Dante, what are you doing standing there, come with Grandpa”.
Dante then approached Roberto Rouco, who said, “Which one of you won the fight with your sister a moment ago?”
“I won.”
When Paulita heard this, she was immediately disgusted: “The brother is lying, it is clear that it was the brother who fell to the ground first!”
Dante blushed at Paulita’s poke in the eye and tried to argue but was at a loss for words, “Me, I was just giving in to you!”.
The old man spoke in a serious voice: “Dante, you are a brother, a boy, be a gentleman, what kind of gentleman is it to fight with a girl, besides Paulita is your sister, as an older brother, you have to have a belly, you know?”
Dante bit his little mouth and nodded, “Grandpa, I was wrong, I won’t fight with my sister again.”
Dante approached Paulita again and apologized, “Sister, I will not fight with you again.”
Paulita said in a milky voice: “Brother, I’m no good either, I’m not going to do that anymore, brother, let’s make peace”.
“Mmm!”
The old man had already called Olivia Montes. When she arrived, she was a bit stunned to see Adán Rouco and Estrella Berrocal, and did not offer to greet them.
The old man blurted out, “Olivia, you and Dante can go back to living as of tomorrow if you want to.”
Dante brightened up a bit, “Really, Grandpa?”.
“Of course it’s true. This is your home, you can come back to live here if you want to, what’s not to like.”
Dante excitedly grabbed Olivia Montes’ hand and said, “Mom, Grandpa says we can move back in!”
Olivia Montes was slightly stunned, “Dad, I don’t think it’s convenient, that …”
“What’s the catch, Adam and Star move back to The Villas at Repulse Bay and you and Dante come back to stay just to keep me company, an empty nester, or is it that you and Dante don’t want to stay with me, an old man?”
“Dad, I didn’t mean that…”
“Then it’s settled.”