Joanne unlocked the door to the house that she shared with her wife, Maureen, and their four kids, Anthony, Jason, Olivia, and Emma.
Joanne shut the door behind her slowly, seeing how it was ten o'clock and all of her family was probably asleep.
Joanne kicked off her shoes, shed her coat, and dragged herself into the kitchen, where she took out a moderately-sized bowl from the fridge. There was a pink post-it stuck to the bowl that read in Maureen's messy handwriting;
" Hey honeybear, I made some pasta for the kids' dinner, and left you some. It's probably not as good as yours, but I think it's okay, at least. I'll probably be sleeping by the time you get here, so goodnight, and I love you."
Joanne smiled, god how she loved that woman, and folded the note, putting it in her pocket. She heated up the pasta, and waited while it was in the microwave. Joanne was startled when she heard laughing coming from the backyard.
Joanne furrowed her brows suspiciously, and grabbed the broom, which would be her weapon if there were intruders. She nearly screamed when the microwave made loud 'beep's when it was done.
Joanne ignored the beeps, and slowly creeped towards the door that led the backyard. She quickly opened it, holding out the broom in front of her. " Who's there?"
The laughing stopped, and Collins and Maureen looked up from the weed they were apparently smoking and looked at Joanne.
Joanne sighed, resting her hand on her hip while her other hand holder the broom. " I thought you guys were… giggling thiefs or something. What are you doing out here?"
Collins stupidly let the smoke out of his mouth, hiding the joint behind his back and trying to kick to the empty bottles of beers away.
Joanne furrowed her brows in confusion. " Are you guys… smoking weed? With the kids in the house?"
" Well, we're outside, silly," Maureen said with an obviously high giggle.
" Yeah, but that crap stinks. Maureen, I thought you said no more drugs after our wedding?" Joanne inquired.
" Sorry, me and Collins were in the party mood," Maureen said dumbly.
" It's Collins and I," Joanne interrupted.
" Smartass," Maureen muttered.
Joanne sighed. " Look, it doesn't matter, you shouldn't be smoking weed in the first place, and you especially shouldn't be doing it when our kids are right inside. They could hear you two giggling like idiots, come outside, and see their mom smoking marijuana."
" Chill, don't get your panties all in a bunch," Maureen said.
Joanne scoffed. " Maureen, go to bed."
" No, mom."
" Maureen, go upstairs," Joanne said sternly.
" I'm an adult, if you remember!"
" I don't care, you don't smoke weed on this property. So go take a shower to get that awful smell off of you, and go to sleep."
" Joanne, sometimes you seem to forget that I can do whatever the hell I want, whether you're my wife or not!" Maureen yelled.
Joanne's eyes widened, and Maureen realized what she had said. She blinked repeatedly, dumbfounded. " What is that supposed to mean?"
" Joanne, I didn't—"
" Actually, don't go to our room. You're sleeping on the couch tonight… and I swear to god, if you don't throw that shit away right now, you can go sleep in a motel!" Joanne yelled.
Maureen clenched her jaw, and pouted, even though she knew no amount of pouting would fix the awful thing she just said to her own wife.
" I should go," Collins said awkwardly.
" Yeah, you should," Joanne said, and went inside sharply, and sat at the counter, and began kind of furiously eating her food.
Maureen looked at Collins, and then looked away, blinking away her tears. Collins our a hand on her shoulder. " I'm sorry… see you Sunday?"
Maureen nodded, still not looking at Collins. " Yeah, okay. Bye."
Collins stood, and waved at Joanne awkwardly when he went inside. Joanne waved back subtly, and Collins left.
Soon, Maureen came inside, and saw Joanne sadly eating her pasta by herself. " Joanne?"
Joanne looked up from her pasta. " What?"
Maureen cleared her throat. " I didn't mean it like that. In fact, I didn't mean that at all. And I'm sorry."
Tears brimmed in Joanne's eyes. " Whatever. You're still sleeping on the couch, I'll see you in the morning."
Maureen pouted again, but then huffed in disappointment. Still, she wrapped her arms around Joanne in a hug, and kissed her forehead. " Goodnight. I love you."
" Yeah, okay," Joanne whispered, and Maureen walked away. Soon after, she heard the shower of the downstairs bathroom turn on, and Joanne finished eating. When she was done, she went upstairs and fell asleep, but really had no peace without Maureen lying next to her.