Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Molly jumped in, "If you stay comfortable for too long, that's just another way of falling behind."

Coleen listened as her daughter kept going, "Everything's moving forward- technology, society, even beliefs. If we just stand still while everyone else is moving ahead, that's basically going backward. Mom, what feels safe now might not be so secure down the road."

"If we screw up this first step, it'll be almost impossible for our brand to make a splash in that market later on."

"So we absolutely can't mess up the first move," Molly insisted.

Coleen gave her a thoughtful look. "Alright then, you're in charge of this." Molly: "..."

Three days later, Molly headed back to her mom's place.

She was curled up in pajamas, legs crossed, holding an ice cream bar and venting to Mia, "I've got to go on this work trip. Mom wants me and a few of the company's old-timers to check out the market and help pick our direction."

She took a big bite of her ice cream and, looking at Mia slurping cold noodles late at night, sighed, "Mia, when do you think I'll finally get to retire?"

Mia finished her noodles, clutching a bowl almost bigger than her head, and took a long sip of the cold, refreshing broth.

"Mia, I'm talking to you... Hey, save me some, I haven't even tasted it yet!" Molly protested, watching her friend polish off the last of the bowl, getting a little frantic.

Mia took one more sip, set the bowl down, and said, "Honestly, the broth's not as good as the noodles."

"You finished it already?"

Mia poked around in the bowl with her chopsticks. "There's a little left. Want it?"

"Of course!"

Mia slid the bowl over. She eyed the ice cream in Molly's hand. "Let me have a bite of your ice cream? I already finished mine, and my husband's put me on rationing."noveldrama

Molly handed it over without a second thought. The two of them didn't care about sharing snacks. "Mia, seriously, at what age do you think we'll finally retire?"

Mia got this far-off look. "I don't know... at least another ten, fifteen years?" "Why so long?"

"I'm waiting until Henry turns eighteen-then I'm out."

Henry peeked at his mom from his dad's lap.

Molly groaned, "If I'd known, I would've had a baby with Chad earlier. I could've retired a year or two sooner."

Wayne, hanging out with his dad, turned to look at his own mom.

Mia laughed, "You know, there's a thing called a 'child prodigy.' But my little

wildman? No chance. Maybe you could train Wayne to be one."

Molly dug around for the last bite of noodles, her chopsticks scraping the bottom "With a mom like me, you

really think Wayne's got a shot at being some kind of genius?"

"Not likely Unless you let him eat more of those 'Little Prodigy' ice creams you love so much-maybe if he eats enough, he'll get closer to genius level," Mia teased, taking another bite of ice cream.

Molly snorted, "No way, those little prodigy ice creams are mine. He can wait his turn."

The two moms kept chatting, the conversation drifting off as always. The whole family was in the living room, listening to the sisters' banter. No one interrupted; everyone just smiled.

Naomi watched the kids, wishing she'd had a daughter herself.

Andre and Chad listened to their wives and exchanged a grin, perfectly happy to let them talk.

Bruce came home from work, glanced around, and asked, "Andre, Chad, where's Dad? He's usually the ringleader at this hour."

Andre replied, "Oh, Mia and Molly scared him off. He still hasn't come back."