Clementine was worn out. Lilly had been impossible at work, extra demanding with paper work and scheduling a meeting during Clementine's lunch break. Then there was the physical and emotional demands of her job alone. Having to lift patients from wheelchairs and help support their weight as they tried to relearn their mobility skills. The whole time being as encouraging and cheerful as possible. Today was just one of those days that seemed like every patient was both larger than her and pessimistic, completely draining her mind and body. She loved being a physical therapist but sometimes it was just hard.
Clementine sat in her car parked in the driveway for a few minutes after she got home. Leaning her head on her steering wheel trying to renew her energy for her pregnant wife. It was the kind of day where she would usually go in looking warn. Violet would tell her to take a bath while she fixed dinner and then after dinner Violet would rub her feet or shoulders as they watched tv. That was before Violet was pregnant though. Clementine didn't expect all that while she was pregnant, but weeks of working, taking care of Luke, and doing the household chores all on her own was starting to take a toll. She wanted to be the perfect caretaker for Violet but felt like she needed a day off and felt guilty for feeling that way.
Clementine knew Violet couldn't help feeling sick and tired, it wasn't her fault. Clementine was just praying that now that Violet was a couple weeks into her 2nd trimester, about fifteen weeks pregnant, that she would start to get her energy back and stop feeling so nauseous. Clementine also knew that some women felt sick their entire pregnancies and Violet had been so good to her when she was pregnant, she needed to try her hardest to return the favor.
Rubbing at a knot in her shoulder, she took a deep breath and exited her car, putting a smile on her face as she walked in the house, surprised when she was greeted by raucous laughter.
"You got it! I can't believe you got it!" Came Louis's voice yelling from the dining room. Clementine rubbed the heel of her hand against her temple. She loved Louis, but she was not feeling up to entertaining today. All she wanted to do was put on her pajamas and lay on the couch. She sighed as she kicked her shoes off and dropped her bag by the door, feeling guilty for thinking so selfishly, especially about Louis who had done so much for them.
"Hi Louis, I didn't see your car outside." Clementine said, throwing on a smile as she rounded the corner to enter the dining room. What she saw in front of her had her shaking her head in amusement. "What is going on in here?"
Louis was sitting at the table with Violet, who was blind folded. In front of them sat five boxes of chicken nuggets, all from a different restaurant. Luke sat bemused in his high chair. "Sophie dropped me off but you have to check this out, I call this, 'the chicken nugget challenge'" Louis explained waving his arm dramatically over the trays, leaving Clementine still confused. Violet moved to pull her blindfold off but Louis stopped her. "Wait Vi, you gotta see this Clem. She was good before, but with her super pregnancy sense of smell, she doesn't even have to taste them, watch!" Louis said as he picked up a nugget at random and held it under Violet's nose. She took a big whiff and nodded with confidence.
"Wendy's." She said with certainty. Louis cheered, confirming she was right. Violet pulled off her blind fold and took the nugget from Louis, popping it in her mouth. "Good day at work?" She smiled at her wife.
Clementine hesitated only for a second before smiling back. "Yeah, not too bad. How was yours?"
"Great. They had a masseuse come in and give everyone a free massage in the office and they bought everyone lunch." Violet said, staring at the chicken nuggets as she talked, trying to decide which one to eat next.
"I'm happy for you, that sounds like an amazing day." Clementine turned her attention to Louis, "Staying for dinner Louis?"
"If that's cool." He grinned, "Sophie's coming to pick me up around 7. My car is in the shop and I needed a place to hang while they finished working on it. Sophie had some things she needed to get done that were booooring."
"Yeah, that's fine." Clementine said, internally hoping it would be a 'let's just eat cereal for dinner' kind of night. Clementine leaned over and kissed Luke on the head, he was sitting in his high chair eating small pieces of nugget. "I'm going to shower real fast and then fix dinner." Luke started crying and calling out "Mama!" as Clementine walked away. She sighed and pulled Luke from his high chair.
"It's okay buddy, it's okay. Mama will stay with you." Clementine held him on her hip and bounced him gently to calm him down.
"Brody said he was cranky today and had a runny nose, maybe he's getting a cold?" Violet frowned up at her son.
"Possibly, I'll just make dinner first and shower later." Clementine said, inspecting the boy, feeling his head for fever and finding it normal.
"We can have chicken nuggets!" Violet cheered, "We have plenty, can we have mashed potatoes with them? And asparagus?"
"Sure." Clementine turned toward the kitchen as Violet slipped the blindfold back over her eyes. Clementine got to work peeling and boiling the potatoes and roasting the asparagus, with more than a little difficulty because of Luke on her hip or sitting on her lap as she worked at the kitchen table. She managed though and once dinner was ready she set it down on the kitchen table.
Violet and Louis dug in energetically. "Finally, I'm starving, you're the best Clem." Violet cheered, hungrily shoveling food into her mouth.
"Yeah, the best." Louis echoed, as he began eating as well.
Clementine half smiled, Luke cried as she tried to set him down in his high chair. So she held him on her lap as she attempted to eat her own dinner while feeding a few bites of mashed potatoes to Luke before he turned his head away, refusing to eat more. Clementine frowned but assumed he was filled up on chicken nuggets and didn't think much of it. Violet and Louis happily laughed and joked through dinner. Leaving the table to play video games when they finished.
Clementine sat at the table, rubbing at her eyes and looking at her son, "Are you teething Luke? Why are you so clingy today hmm?" She stood, holding her son and began bringing the dishes back into the kitchen, when a knock came at the door.
"Can you get that Clem?" Came Violet's voice from the living room. Clementine furrowed her brow in frustration, arms full of Luke and plates.
"Got it." Clementine said sounding irked as she set the plates down a little rougher than necessary causing them to clatter into the sink. Still holding Luke she hurried to the front door, opening it for Sophie.
"Luke!" Sophie cheered, grabbing the boy and hugging him tight. He cried immediately, reaching his arms out for Clementine.
"Come on buddy, you don't need me. Stay with Soph for a minute." Clementine begged, but his hands continued to reach out, so Clementine took him back into her arms where he sniffled against her shoulder. "I think he might be teething or have a cold, sorry."
"It's fine, we all get in a mood sometimes." Sophie said, ruffling the boy's still almost white blonde locks. "Did you just get home from work?" She asked, noticing the brunette still wearing her scrubs.
"No, Luke won't let me go, I haven't had time to shower and change yet." Clementine sounded disgruntled as she spoke, "I hate wearing my scrubs at home after wearing them in the hospital all day."
Violet and Louis finished up their game and joined Sophie and Clementine at the door. "Why didn't you say something Clem, I would have taken Luke for you." Violet reached out to take him but Clementine turned away.
"It's fine, I've got him." Clementine said grouchily. Louis and Sophie's eyes widened.
"Well, that's our exit cue, thanks for letting me hang out Violet, bye!" Louis grabbed Sophie's arm and pulled her out the door.
"I can't read your mind Clementine, if you need help just ask." Violet huffed.
"We've been married six years Violet, I shouldn't have to spell everything out for you," Clementine shook her head briefly before walking away, "I'm going to give Luke some medicine and give him a bath."
Violet threw her arms in the air in frustration, not quite sure what was going on she walked back to the couch and laid down, clicking on the tv.
Clementine bathed Luke, wiping his snotty nose as he splashed in the warm water. She folded her arms on the edge of the tub, resting her head on them, feeling weary. "mama!" Luke yelled holding out a rubber ducky. Clementine smiled and reached out to take the duck from her son.
"Quack quack Luke, ducky's going to get you." Clementine made the duck swim around the bath water before tickling the boy under his arms with the toy, he giggled. "Ducky loves Luke." She made kissy sounds as she pushed the duck's bill all over Luke's face. Luke screeched with joy, trying to push the duck away. His laugh turned into a cough and Clementine patted him on the back. "Poor buddy, you do have a cold. Let's get you in your snuggly pajamas and get you some rest."
Clementine made sure he was thoroughly rinsed off. She laid a towel across her chest and pulled Luke out of the water, laying him on her chest, wrapping the towel around him. She cradled him in her arms, smiling at his sweet baby face, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "There's nothing better than a wet baby in a towel. Oh I love kissing your fresh clean cheeks. They're so damp and doughy." Clementine snuggled her head into his belly, causing him to squeal.
She carried him into his bedroom and laid him on the changing table, putting on a fresh diaper and clean pajamas. Clementine brushed his rapidly growing teeth, carried him into the living room and crouched down next to Violet. "Putting our guy to bed, want to say goodnight?"
Violet stared at Clementine, "Already?"
"He's acting like he's not feeling really great, I'm going to put him down a little early tonight." Clementine explained, Violet leaned forward, kissing Luke and ruffling his hair.
"Get some good rest buddy," Violet sat up, taking him from Clementine to give him a hug, he snuggled into Violet's chest. "I can put him down for bed, I'm feeling good today and I haven't gotten to sing to him before bed in a long time." Clementine nodded and stood, Violet grabbed her hand and pulled her down on the couch beside her. "You seem stressed out today, are you alright?"
"Yeah, of course, I'm fine." Clementine stood and went into the kitchen to clean up from dinner. Violet sighed, knowing it wasn't true but now wasn't the time to push her for answers. Violet took Luke to his room and sat in the rocker in the corner. He smiled as she sang, reaching up to touch her face as she did. Slowly his eyes got heavy and started to close, but Violet continued to rock him for a while longer. She knew she should put him down awake and let him fall asleep on his own, but he wasn't going to the baby in the family much longer. She wanted to enjoy the time she had with him as her youngest while she could. Once he was completely asleep she laid him down and walked to the kitchen, leaning against the door frame she watched for a minute as Clementine scrubbed at the dishes with a little more zeal than necessary.
"You're over doing it." Violet half smiled as she approached her wife.
"I know how to scrub a pan." Clementine retorted sounding miffed.
"I'm not talking about the pan." Violet wrapped her arms around Clementine from behind, resting her head on Clementine's shoulder. "You've been doing too much lately. You've been amazing but you don't have to do everything by yourself."
"I have to support you... I have to take care of you and our babies." Clementine rinsed off the pan and set it to the side. Violet pulled Clementine's back into her front.
"What's wrong Clem?"
"Nothing."
"It's not nothing." Violet leaned in and kissed her wife on the cheek, finding it wet. "Talk to me Clem, stop holding it in."
Clementine turned around, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I lied to you Violet, it was not a good day at work. It was a bad day. I just wanted to come home and take a bath and eat cereal for dinner."
"You're allowed to have a bad day. I'm pregnant, I'm not useless, I can help more. I've been feeling much better for days. I should have started helping more on my own, I know you're too proud to ask for help. You've done more than your fair share. Take a break." Violet hugged Clementine tight.
"Right after I get some laundry done." Clementine made to pull away.
"Nope." Violet held her tight, " You're going to take a bath and I'm going to get some laundry done, then we're going to lay in bed and I'll let you rub and talk to my stomach as much as you want."
"You will?" Clementine's eyes lit up.
"Mmhmmm." Violet smiled.
"I'm not taking a bath then, I'm just going to shower real fast!" Clementine ran out of the room at a comical speed, Violet shook her head and chuckled as she finished the dishes and moved the wet laundry from the washer to the drier.
Clementine emerged, from the bathroom, steam billowing out from behind her. She was wearing her pajamas as she climbed into bed beside Violet who was laying down waiting for her. Clementine kissed Violet quickly on the lips before scooting down the bed and pulling Violet's shirt up. No longer did she have just a baby bump, she had a rounded pregnancy belly.
Clementine caressed Violet's stomach gently, "How are my babies?"
"You know they can't answer, right?" Violet grinned.
"I know!" Clementine giggled, pressing her lips against Violet's stomach. "I just want them to recognize my voice, they aren't with me all the time like Luke was."
Violet chuckled lightly, pulling a book out and propping herself up on her pillows as Clementine continued talking to the twins. "You're my loves, I don't even know you but I already love you both. No favorites. I love you both equally, and your brother too of course." As if on cue Luke began crying.
"I'll get him." Clementine jumped up with concern. Luke rarely cried in the middle of the night. She opened the door before Violet could protest. Clementine bent over the crib and ran her fingers over Luke's face. He didn't feel warm, she pulled him out of his crib as he hiccuped, snuffling frustratedly, sounding like he had a stuffy nose.
Clementine sat down in the rocker, holding him up on her shoulder and patting his back. He coughed and she could feel the congestion in his chest. He continued to sniffle as Clementine sang and rubbed circles on the boy's back. He rested his head on his Mama's shoulder, relaxing in her embrace. Violet listened in on the baby monitor in their room, smiling at her wife's voice, Clementine sang for no one but Luke. This was the only way she could hear Clementine singing and the sound of it made her heart swell in her chest.
Violet fell asleep, book in her hand, put at ease by the sound of Clementine's voice wafting in through the baby monitor. She woke up hours later, her need to use the restroom waking her from her slumber. Something that happened more often the further along she got in her pregnancy. After relieving her bladder she started to get back in bed, but noticed that Clementine was missing. She listened to the baby monitor. Silence. Violet walked out of the bedroom and through the house. Clementine wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. She padded down the hall to Luke's room and quietly opened the door. Violet grinned as her eyes landed on the corner of the room. There was Clementine leaned back in the rocker, sleeping soundly. Luke dozing on her shoulder looking as content and peaceful as she'd ever seen him.
Violet delicately extricated Luke from Clementine's arms, laying him down in his crib, careful not to rouse him. Replacing the warmth from his Mama with a snugly blanket. After she was certain that he wasn't going to start crying she gently shook Clementine's shoulder, "Hey, babe, wake up." Violet whispered softly.
Clementine groaned as Violet pulled her out of the rocker. The blonde wrapped her arm around her wife's waist as she slumped into her side. "Where are we going?" Clementine grumbled half asleep as Violet led her back to their bedroom.
"Back to bed." Violet explained to her sleepy wife.
"I'm not tired." Clementine mumbled, eyes lidded. "I want to go back to the zoo."
"You do?" Violet grinned, they hadn't been to the zoo since they were dating.
"Yeah... Luke loves the pandas." Clementine said as Violet eased her into the bed.
"The pandas hmm?" Violet encouraged, trying to see what else Clementine would say in her groggy state.
"Pandas are cute." Clementine yawned as she snuggled into her pillow.
"Yes they are." Violet kissed Clementine on the top of the head. "Can the twins come?"
"Yeah..." Clementine said, "I love the twins..."
"So do I." Violet pulled the covers over the two of them, cuddling up next to her wife as they both drifted back to sleep.