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Madison stumbled in through her front door, bringing up Gabriella's rear. Her thighs ached from the two hours of training squeezed in after her students were done for the day. This time, her feet were fine—she'd learned her lesson from their first session earlier in the week. Thick socks and gel insoles had never even crossed her mind in her twenties, but she wished it had.
With Gabriella, she leaned against the wall and pulled shoes, coats, scarves, and hats off their weary bodies. When their cold fingers failed, they helped each other. Finally, they were free from the layers and trudged down the hallway to the living room.
Adrián looked up from his workstation in the kitchen. "Amor! Gabi! Welcome back. How was practice?"
Madison nodded slowly as she leaned over to give him a kiss; her lips scratched against his beard. Her head felt like it was moving through honey. "Good. How's Clo?"
"She's 'reading' over there," he said as he tipped his head toward the living room. His hands were occupied with dirty dishes.
Sure enough, Chloe was looking at large pictures spread across the floor. These were flash cards that Madison had made early into her maternity leave, bored out of her damn mind, complete with handwritten labels. Although the ten-month-old couldn't read just yet, Madison was hoping some visual pattern recognition would start to develop. She was just starting to babble random words.
Chloe didn't noticed the hubbub in the kitchen, focused on her own little world. Madison's heart melted at her little face screwed up in concentration. She watched Chloe flop to her belly and crawl toward a picture of herself and Gabriella from the 2022 Olympics. Despite her bone-deep weariness, the sight of her daughter brought on a smile.
"Have you two eaten yet?" Adrián asked.
Gabriella, who was laid out across the dining table, did not answer. Madison didn't register the question. After a few seconds, she realized she had been asked a question. "Say again?"
"Have you had dinner?" Adrián asked again. He gently pushed her to the dining table and helped her take a seat next to Gabriella.
"No."
Adrián nodded. "I figured as much." There was a quiet clanking of pots and spoons, then the smell of delicious food as he returned with two bowls of beef stew.
Madison loved that her husband knew how to cook and clean. He was a capable chef from start-to-finish, pulling inspiration from his motherland as well as his new home. There was a rotating menu throughout each month, but mainstays fro each season. This winter, Adrián had found a recipe for a rich, veggie-filled beef stew. It was great after a long day of the cold. She always enthusiastically ate whatever he served. But she was so tired today, she wasn't sure she could pick up her spoon.
"Lechona, don't fall asleep just yet!" Adrián gently shook Gabriella's shoulder. His voice was soft, calm. But Gabriella didn't stir.
Madison tried next. She pushed a lock of fine hair behind Gabriella's ear and thumbed the corner of Gabriella's jaw. That did the trick.
Gabriella slowly pulled her face off the surface and leaned on her elbow. Squinting against the bright light above the table, she focused her bleary eyes on the bowl of stew Adrián had set in front of her. "Thank," she muttered through a thick accent. Her grasp of English weakened in her exhaustion.
Adrián left them to their own devices as he resumed cleaning the kitchen and looking after Chloe. A couple times through their dinner, Gabriella started to nod off—Madison had to keep her from face-planting into her stew. If she had more of her wits about her, Madison would have teased Gabriella about this, but half her energy was directed toward her hand that held the spoon and the other half was focused on chewing the food without choking. Somehow, she got the bowl empty—Gabriella soon followed.
"Mama!" Chloe cooed from Adrián's arms. She had finally noticed the extra two women in the house. Sleepy eyes blinked against her father's chest.
"Hey, Chloe," Madison said with the last of her energy. "Did you have a good day?"
Chloe's responding babble was happy and tired. She yawned wide.
As she reached out and smoothed down the curls at the back of the child's head, Gabriella slumped forward again. The exertion today seemed to hit her much worse than it hit Madison herself. Madison mirrored her hand in Gabriella's hair and chuckled to herself at the absurdity. Two babies losing the battle with sleep—it tugged at Madison's heartstrings.
"I'll put her down. Leave the dishes, I'll take care of them. Don't want you or lechona to drop anything." Adrián rubbed Chloe's back as they disappeared down the hallway.
Madison wanted to clean up after herself and Gabriella because her husband had done a lot of the work so far, but he was right—best to just leave it. She would return the favor tomorrow.
"Come on, Gabs. Let's go to bed," Madison got out as she pushed herself up from the dining table.
Gabriella blinked awake and followed her lead, docile and quiet as a lamb. Her hair stuck up in an odd angle, but she didn't seem to notice.
They stripped down to their bottom layers and brushed their teeth with a specific kind of reckless abandon that only came from abject fatigue. Madison had zero thoughts at this time; she was just following the steps she knew.
Instead of leaving for her own room shared with Adrián, Madison closed the door to the guest bedroom with her foot and dropped her body into the queen-size mattress next to Gabriella. She had ample opportunity to sleep next to her husband. The same could not be said for her best friend. She always seized the chance when it came up. The soft pillow caressed her face and she sighed.
Gabriella stirred for a moment, nosing her way into Madison's personal space. She was always a cuddly sleeper, but usually she moved once she was unconscious, Not that Madison was complaining. She didn't have the energy, even if she wanted to protest.
"Bonne nuit, mon chéri," Gabriella mumbled into Madison's chest. She sounded drunk off her ass.
"Night, babe…"
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Adrián walked into the house, his wife's name on the tip of his tongue and a tray of coffee in hand. He had seen her car in the garage, and two pairs of women's shoes at the door. Chloe was still safely tucked away in her crib from when he put her down last night. Where were Madi and Gabi? He kept his hand on his phone as he walked through the house. Silence, all throughout.
Adrián poked his head into the guest bedroom after his courtesy knock was greeted with silence. He had to hold back a laugh. Two women were curled up on one half of the bed. Their limbs were so tangled together, he wasn't sure where Madison ended and Gabriella began. Their chests rose in unison. Madison had a thin line of drool running down the side of her mouth. Gabriella's jaw was wide open and she snored like a chainsaw. They were dead to the world. Yesterday must have knocked them out.
He brought his phone up, camera lenses at the ready. One, two, five photos, from different angles and orientations. Then, he closed the guest bedroom door and returned to the kitchen. Coffee could wait.
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