The room was dark, lit only by the lamp on the bedside table and the moon's slight reflection on the snow outside the window. A small stereo played quietly, barely audible besides a few notes here or there. Winter's cold had taken a strong grip on the isolated house, leaving every room's temperature feeling sub-zero, so Madeline and Jan had holed up in their bedroom, trying to keep warm.
Madeline's head lolled to the side, resting against Jan's shoulder as she yawned quietly, discreetly covering it with the back of her hand. "What time is it, Jan? I feel so tired…"
"Only nine-thirty," he replied in a hushed tone, sliding down so Madeline could rest more comfortably against him. "You can go to sleep if you want. There's no fun in being tired."
"But it's too cold to sleep," she pouted. Madeline rolled onto her side and sprawled out a bit, an arm over Jan's chest and her ankles wrapping around his. "And I couldn't just leave you awake by yourself, that's not fun either."
"Your words and actions are contradicting each other. You look like you could fall asleep at any second."
"Hm… You think so?" Madeline asked, absently scrubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand. "I didn't think I looked that tired…"
Jan ran his fingers through her hair, contemplating a response that wouldn't insult Madeline – of course, at this point, she was so tired she probably wouldn't remember it by morning.
"No, no, you don't look tired. You just seem like you are."
"Yeah, I guess…" She yawned again, quickly followed by a low groan. "But it's so cold…"
"Oh, quit whining," Jan said in a sarcastic tone as the song that had been playing faded out, leaving the two in silence before another replaced it, a lively guitar rhythm filling the room.
After a few moments, Jan's face broke out into a small grin. "If you're still cold, I have an idea."
"And what would that be?"
"Get up and I'll show you."
Madeline whined, but yielded a moment later. She slid off the bed and stumbled to her feet, quickly followed by Jan who immediately took her hands in his.
"You know how to do the waltz, right?"
Her eyebrow quirked for a moment before she clued in, her smile now matching Jan's. "Yeah," she replied. "But this isn't even a love song. It's more of a self-ode."
"What does that matter?" Jan asked, almost rhetorical about it, as he stepped into motion, twirling himself and Madeline around to the beat of the song. "It's still in three-three time, so it works."
Madeline could only laugh in response, quickly matching her footing to Jan's and swaying with him. The speed was almost dizzying, and she began to waver on her feet just as the chorus began.
Goodnight you moon light ladies, rock-a-bye sweet baby James, deep greens and blues are the colors I choose, won't you let me go down in my dreams?…
"And rock-a-bye sweet baby James," Jan whispered into Madeline's ear as she fell against him, too exhausted to dance any longer. "Warm now?"
A half-hearted nod was the only response.
"That's what I thought," he said, his voice muffled by Madeline's hair. He leaned down for a moment to secure a grip around her knees with one arm, a grip on her shoulders with the other, before picking her up and carrying her back to the bed. The song played quietly in the background, drowned out only by their exhausted breaths as they winded down.
It wasn't until the final chorus that they both had fully relaxed, Madeline already fallen asleep curled up against Jan's chest. He leaned forward and twisted the lamp switch carefully, as to not rouse her, and grabbed the small remote for the stereo. Before turning off it's power, Jan let the last few notes ring in the air, this time simply mouthing the words against Madeline's cheek as she slept soundly next to him.
And rock-a-bye my sweet baby James…