Sunday, December 27th, 1953
5:40 a.m.
Rindy always was an early riser. She must have inherited that from her father who had to catch the commuter train every weekday morning at some God-awful hour. Carol also tended to wake on the earlier side, especially whenever Rindy was around, in order to make breakfast and get her ready for the day, but it had been so long since she needed to be awake in the morning for her daughter.
This particular morning, Rindy awoke in an unfamiliar place, clinging to her new teddy bear. Remembering that she was at her mother's and had the cuddly bear Therese had given her for Christmas, she felt more at ease. In the darkness of the early morning, she got out of bed, carrying her bear in one hand, and wandered into the living room to go play with her new train set. She propped up the bear next to her as she pulled out her train, and was very quiet, trying her best not to make any noise until she flipped the power switch.
The train went around and around in a circle, making a whooshing sound as it lapped the metallic tracks. Never altering the position of any of the figures or buildings she and Therese had set up the previous day, Rindy watched with amazement as the train went around and around in a loop.
After about fifteen minutes and bored with watching the train with just her bear looking on, Rindy got up to look for her mother. She wasn't on the couch, she wasn't making breakfast, she wasn't in the bathroom, she wasn't in the room at the end of the hallway that smelled like funny chemicals. There was one other door she hadn't checked; however, she was fairly certain her mother had to be in there. Rindy opened the door, once more lacking that characteristic squeak that it often had, and walked into the dark bedroom. The faintest amount of light came in through the curtains which allowed her to see her mother asleep in bed.
Rindy walked up to her mother's side of the bed, and looked over her mother's shoulder to see Therese snoring, sprawled out on her back, practically sleeping diagonally. Seeing Therese sleeping near her mother, she felt badly. Did she take Therese's bed because she was staying over? Was Therese upset because she had slept in her bed and had made her sleep somewhere else? No one seemed upset, she thought, they both looked very comfortable in the big bed.
Looking back over at her mother, Rindy watched her sleep for a moment before speaking. "Mommy?" whispered Rindy. She called out one more time, but still nothing. Not to be stopped, Rindy walked to the edge of the bed and climbed up, flopping onto Therese's legs beneath the blankets. There was a brief grumble from Therese, who then turned onto her side away from Carol and the ever-curious Rindy, completely unaware of the bed's tiny intruder. Rindy found a sizable space between both Therese and her mother, and made herself comfortable.
When Carol finally woke about an hour later, she awoke to the sound of quiet humming and the feeling of legs swaying back and forth beneath the covers. "Therese, sweetness, you're all tangled - " Carol paused as she turned toward Therese's side of the bed to see Rindy tucked into the blankets between the two of them. Carol didn't say a word, utterly embarrassed by her daughter having come into their bedroom in the middle of the night, and crawling into bed between the two of them.
"Hi, Mommy." Rindy smiled and gave a little wave.
Carol couldn't recall a time when Rindy had even walked in on her and Harge sleeping in the same bed, and not that was an all-too-frequent occurrence anyhow while they were married. "My, my, you're up… early." She sat up, raising the strap of her nightgown to her shoulder that had fallen in the middle of the night, and faced her very eager, very alert daughter.
"I'm awake!" she proudly said as she sat up next to her mother. Carol glanced at the alarm clock, seeing it read six-fifty. "You were sleeping!" It was Sunday, their usual sleep-in day, but sleeping in didn't matter because Rindy was there with them. Plus there was their promised museum outing after breakfast.
A groggy Therese suddenly came to, realizing that she and Carol were not alone in their bed. She opened her to eyes to see Rindy happily smiling at her. There was a moment of panic when Therese wasn't quite sure how to react, but she was definitely glad to have pulled the new pair of pajamas from under the tree the night before and worn them to bed. She smiled back at Rindy who didn't seem in the slightest bothered by the fact she was in the middle of the bed between the two of them. If Rindy wasn't bothered, and she appeared perfectly content, why should she be?
Therese sat up, rubbing her eyes and smoothing out her hair as best she could. It was impossible to be upset by Rindy waking them up so early, especially when she was so precocious. "Good morning, Rindy."
"Therese," Rindy excitedly crept toward her, "can we play trains again today?"
"Of course we can." Therese turned to face toward Carol, looking for some guidance on what to do. Her raised eyebrows said it all as she tilted her head in Rindy's direction, wondering what to do. She wasn't familiar with children; playing with them and making small talk, yes, she did that all the time at Frankenberg's. But she had no clue what entailed getting ready for a day out.
"Rindy, sweet pea, let's go get you cleaned up and dressed. Why don't you go pick out your clothes and I'll be there in a moment." Rindy nodded and climbed off the bed to make a beeline for the guest room. The moment she left the room, Carol pressed a soft, extended kiss to Therese's lips. "Good morning, angel."
"Morning."
"What a way to wake up." For a moment, Therese thought she was annoyed by Rindy appearing in their bed out of the blue. It wasn't the first time Therese couldn't read Carol's emotions immediately. After a brief reflection, she deducted that she was pleased as well as nostalgic with what had happened.
"She misses you." Therese softly added.
Carol looked off to the doorway, silently wrestling with a plan for the day. She selfishly wished she could spend the day lounging around in bed with her two girls, sipping coffees, reading to Rindy, listening to music. Someday, she said. Someday Rindy would be old enough to understand their relationship, and she and Therese might be able to be more open with her in the confines of their apartment, but until that day...
"You get yourself ready, I'll go dress and wash Rindy. When we're done, you can both 'play trains' while I get ready." Carol smiled.
"You want me to start breakfast?"
"No, no," Carol replied, "you go play with her so she won't be too disappointed when you have to pack it up later."
Therese initiated a kiss this time, and took hold of Carol's shoulders to push her down onto the bed. "I love you," she said as she leaned over Carol, delicately pressing her right hand against the patch of bare skin on her chest. Therese looked directly into her eyes and held her gaze, and all Carol could do was smile and return the kiss.
It was just before lunchtime when Carol, Rindy, and Therese left the Met. The morning was spent looking at paintings in only a few rooms as to not overwhelm Rindy with wall after wall of artwork. They needed to get home for Harge to pick up Rindy and were en route to the subway stop on Lexington.
Rindy skipped several feet in front of Therese and Carol until she wandered too far ahead. "Come back here and take my hand, please, Rindy." Rindy stopped walking and waited the couple of steps for the two to catch up. Carol took her daughter's hand and kept walking. Rindy extended her right hand, which Therese immediately grabbed and playfully started swinging.
"Did you like the paintings, Rindy?" Therese asked.
"Yes."
"Which ones?"
"The ballerinas. They're really pretty."
"She has excellent taste for a five-year old." Carol pointed out to Therese with a smile.
"And the animals, I also like them." Rindy added. She paused for a moment, remembering something important to tell her mother. "Mommy!" she exclaimed with a tug of the hand, "do you know Therese has a teddy bear too?"
Carol gave a confused look to a smirking Therese who kept walking, eyes forward, without saying a word. Carol pulled her coat a little tighter around her, gathering the fur at the collar and pressing the exposed space closed to fight back a draft. "Does she now?"
"Yes." Therese squeezed Rindy's hand, and the little girl happily squeezed back.
When the day was done, Rindy gone back to Harge's, and the guest room cleaned, Carol and Therese retired to the comfort of their bedroom. While Carol washed, Therese turned down the covers and fluffed her pillows, then reached over to do the same on the opposite side. That's strange, she thought to herself as she walked into the bathroom to find Carol.
"Carol, you left a hairbrush under your pillow."