CHAPTER 140: AMUSEMENT PARK LL

"Hey, sup bro! We’ve been waiting for you! You’re five minutes late!"

Alfonso greeted with a grin the moment Rome and Alpheus stepped out of the car.

Rome’s jaw tightened as he shot Alpheus a sharp glare. He didn’t even have to ask, he knew it was Alpheus who had tipped their friends off about where they were going.

Having them all show up on the twins’ special day only made him more annoyed. This was supposed to be his moment with Sylvia and the kids. He just wanted a little time with them, to see the twins smile and personally hand them his gifts.

But now, looking at his friends with their own armfuls of colorful presents, it was obvious they had planned this. Each one of them looked way too prepared like a full-blown birthday invasion squad.

"Rome, bro," Alfonso said, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you look like you don’t appreciate our presence? Come on, man—it’s not like you’re the only one who has the right to see the twins. We’re their uncles too, remember?"

The others, Dave, Calyx, and Alpheus nodded in unison, backing Alfonso’s claim like a bunch of guilty kids caught red-handed.

Rome sighed deeply, rubbing his temples.

"Tsk. Why are you even here? Actually, never mind. Just—why don’t you all go home? I can give your gifts to the twins myself. But please, not today."

Calyx gasped dramatically, clutching his chest as if he’d been mortally wounded.

"Oh, why so harsh, bro? We came all the way here to see the twins, not to let you steal the glory of giving our gifts! And besides," he said with a teasing grin, "isn’t it more fun when there are more people celebrating the twins’ birthday? You know, the more, the happier!"

Dave groaned. "It’s the more, the merrier, you idiot."

"Same thing, Mr. Perfect!" Calyx shot back, rolling his eyes.

"Tsk." Dave muttered smugly, crossing his arms.

Rome exhaled sharply, already regretting agreeing to let Alpheus ride with him. With his friends now in the picture, there was no way this day was going to be peaceful.

"You’re all unbelievable.." he muttered, turning toward the amusement park entrance.

Before he could take another step, Alfonso jogged up beside him, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "Come on, bro. You know the twins will be happy to see all of us. Don’t ruin the vibe. Let’s just have fun, okay?"

Rome glared sideways at him. "If any of you try something that ruins the twins’ day, I swear, I’m throwing you into the carousel."

"Oooh~ scary," Calyx teased, pretending to shiver. "What are you gonna do, Rome? Spin me until I puke?"

"That can be arranged." Rome deadpanned.

The group burst into laughter as they followed him toward the gate.

Rome walked ahead with an exasperated look, Alpheus whistling innocently behind him, and the rest already arguing about who would ride the roller coaster first.

"Rome, why don’t we ride the roller coaster first before we look for Sylvia and the twins?" Calyx suggested, pointing toward the massive structure. "This amusement park is huge, we might spend all day searching for them."

Rome shot him a glare. "Good idea. You can ride one now alone so there’ll be one less headache following me around."

Calyx pouted dramatically. "So mean!"

Dave chuckled under his breath. "You kind of deserve it."

"So what now, Rome?" Alpheus asked, catching up. "After we find Sylvia and the twins, are we just going to walk up, hand them our gifts, and act casual? Sylvia’s definitely going to freak out if she sees us all together."

Rome glared sharply at Alpheus. If he already knew that would happen, then why did he still invite the others?

Alpheus immediately averted his gaze, pretending he hadn’t said anything, and awkwardly looked around.

"She will, for sure," Dave agreed. "So what’s the plan? Sneak up behind them and pretend this was all some random coincidence?"

Rome didn’t respond, so Alfonso answered instead. "We’ll just approach quietly, act normal, and pretend we just happened to be here. Then we’ll hand the twins our gifts, simple as that."

"Pfftt," Calyx snorted. "Please. Sylvia will never believe that. My gifts are too expensive to be a coincidence. You don’t just casually bring limited-edition designer dolls to an amusement park, dude."

Alfonso rolled his eyes. "Then what do you suggest, genius? Unless you want Sylvia to hate us all after this, we don’t have a lot of options!"

Rome sighed again, massaging his temples. "Why am I even with you guys..."

"Okay, okay, stop it, everyone," Alpheus finally cut in, raising both hands to calm them down. "I didn’t message all of you just so you could argue like this, alright? Here’s what we’ll do, let’s split up for now. Whoever finds Sylvia and the twins first will give their gifts and come up with their own excuse for why they’re here. No chaos, okay?"

The group looked at each other for a moment before Alfonso shrugged. "Alright, fair enough."

Calyx grinned. "Fine by me. I’ll find them first, and the twins will like my gifts best."

"In your dreams.." Dave muttered.

Rome just exhaled, shaking his head. "If this turns into a circus, I’m blaming all of you."

With that, he walked off ahead, heading toward the picnic area to start looking for Sylvia and the twins.

The rest exchanged looks before scattering in different directions.

Alfonso and Dave headed toward the food stalls, Calyx wandered off to the rides, and Alpheus, scratching the back of his head followed Rome from a distance, half-regretting ever bringing everyone together in the first place.

**************

Sylvia’s POV....

----

"Mommy! Look! The mascot’s dancing again!"

Egypt giggled, pointing at the big costumed character doing silly spins near the cotton candy stand.

Paris sat beside me, finishing her ice cream, her cheeks dusted with pink as she watched her sister jump up and down.

I smiled softly as I adjusted our picnic mat under the shade of a tree, which had gotten wrinkled thanks to Egypt’s constant fidgeting. Cairo sat quietly beside me, playing with the little toy car I had given him earlier.

It had been such a perfect day so far. The twins had ridden the carousel three times already, and we had even gone on the Ferris wheel with Cairo. I could still hear their excited voices echoing in my head.

"Mommy, can we ride the Ferris wheel again?" Egypt asked eagerly, tugging at my hand.

"But sweetheart, we already rode it once." I said with a laugh.

"But I still want to ride it again~!"

"Me too, Mommy! I want to ride it again!" Cairo chimed in.

"Alright," I said, chuckling. "We’ll ride again, but let’s rest a bit first, okay? You’ve both been running nonstop since we got here."

Egypt pouted playfully but nodded, plopping down beside her brother. Paris wiped her hands with a napkin and offered Egypt the last bite of her ice cream.

My heart warmed at the sight. For a brief moment, everything felt right.

"Mommy, I need to pee~" Cairo said, looking up at me while fidgeting in place.

"Me too, Mommmmy~" Egypt added, tugging on my hand.

"Okay, sweethearts, we’ll go to the powder room. How about you, Paris?" I asked, turning to her as she quietly finished the last bit of her ice cream.

Paris licked her spoon and shook her head. "I’ll go with Egypt instead, Mom. You can just take Cairo."

"No, I can’t let you two go alone. We’ll all go together."

Egypt puffed her cheeks a little, trying to sound mature. "It’s okay, Mommy. Paris and I can manage, we’re six years old now! I can still hold my pee, so we’ll just wait for you here since you’ll be back soon anyway."

"Yes, Mommy, Egypt is right," Paris added with a confident nod. "We’ll stay here and watch our things."

I sighed softly, torn between trusting them and worrying like I always did. "Alright," I said finally, crouching down to their level. "But make sure you don’t leave this spot, okay? Call me if anything happens and don’t talk to strangers, understand?"

"Yes, Mommy!" the twins said in unison, both saluting playfully.

I smiled, brushing a strand of hair from Egypt’s face before turning to Cairo, who was already clinging to my arm.

"Let’s go, son," I said gently, lifting him into my arms. "We’ll be quick."

With one last glance at the twins sitting on the picnic mat, I headed toward the nearby restroom—unaware that someone was already watching them from a short distance away.

------

Meanwhile...

"Hey, Rome, isn’t that the twins?" Alpheus said, pointing toward the picnic area where Paris and Egypt sat together on the mat. "But where’s Sylvia?"

Rome immediately followed Alpheus’s gaze. His breath caught for a moment when he saw them, Paris and Egypt, both laughing and talking. The sight softened his expression for a second.

"Maybe she went to buy something," Alpheus guessed. "Should we go say hi?"

Rome hesitated, his brow furrowing. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to approach them without Sylvia around as he didn’t want to startle the kids or make things awkward.

Before he could answer, Alfonso suddenly appeared behind them, holding a bag of snacks.

"Yo! You found them already?" Alfonso asked, grinning.

"Shh!" Rome hissed, glaring at him. "Keep your voice down."

Alfonso blinked. "What? They’re kids, not wild animals."

"That’s not the point," Rome said sharply. "Sylvia’s not with them, and I don’t want to scare them."

But before he could say more, Calyx’s voice rang out from behind Alfonso.

"Hey! Twins!"

Rome froze.

Both Paris and Egypt turned their heads toward the voice. Egypt’s eyes widened in recognition, and a big smile spread across her face.

"Uncle Calyx!" she shouted excitedly, waving both hands.

Paris, on the other hand, blinked in surprise, then looked around as if expecting to see someone else.

Rome sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Unbelievable..." he muttered.