"Daddy's off making towns," Alicia coos, rocking Clara back and forth. "I know you and your sister miss him, but he'll be home soon." She pulls Clara back and smiles down at her. "You'll have to get used to it, sweeties. I know I'm home for the most part, but there'll be a few times a year when I have to leave too. For fashion, or for the random appearance in WWE too." She leans down to rest Clara in her crib and leans over to rest a hand on both babies' chests, feeling them breathe and squirm. "But I promise I'll never leave you two for long, and when I do, you'll have daddy, and you'll have Sofa. And maybe when you're both older, we can all go together as a family."
She leans her head against her arm where it's resting against the rim of the crib and smiles at her daughters. "Wouldn't that be fun? The six of us? Me, daddy, Sofia, Andre, you girls?" She chuckles. "I can imagine it already. You three kids in little swimsuits, splashing around and having fun while the three of us teach you how to swim and other beach activities."
"I would like that," Sofia says, joining her, holding a mug of tea out. "Would you like this?"
Alicia glances over, smoothly claiming the mug. "As if I would deny a drink from you," she chuckles, sipping from it and closing her eyes in appreciation of the sweet twist of cinnamon mixed in with the other flavors. "Is that peppermint?"
"Yes," Sofia nods. "I don't make it often, but sometimes on winter evenings, I like the twist of peppermint and cinnamon. What do you think?"
"It's different," Alicia says, taking a deeper sip. "I like it. Not too strong, not too watery. Leave it to you to be innovative to the point of uncertainty and still knock it out of the park."
Sofia all but giggles at this, humming over her own tea. "Yes, well, years of experimenting and eye-wateringly bad attempts will make anyone a little more steady when it comes to ingredient amounts. I'm very happy you like this attempt though."
"I think you're just trying to make me sleepy faster so you can have some time by yourself to coo over the babies," Alicia chuckles, stifling a yawn behind her hand.
"Busted," Sofia chuckles. "But no, it's just very... chilly," she says after a moment. "And I thought you would appreciate something warm to drink. No ulterior motives."
"I know," Alicia chuckles, leaning closer to the cribs to stare at her fast asleep children. "It's already late, I didn't really need tea to get sleepy. The girls fell asleep pretty easy tonight, so I think I'm going to go tuck myself in and get a few hours before that changes." She takes another sip before leaning in to kiss Sofia's cheek. "Thanks again."
"You're welcome," Sofia tells her with a soft smile, taking the mug from her and quirking an eyebrow at her to dissuade her from arguing that she can take her own dishes to the kitchen. "See you in the morning, Alicia."
"See you," Alicia says, stifling another yawn as she leaves the nursery and goes next door to her own bedroom, sighing at the sight of the empty bed. With Ricardo opening his school so near to the house, it doesn't happen often at all, but she is happy for him getting booked in other states every now and again, get the restless need to travel out of his system a little bit. Even if she misses him a lot, hating the empty loneliness of their bed whenever he's gone.
"Oh well," she tells herself, shrugging into a shirt of his, slipping under the sheets and hugging his pillow. "He'll be home tomorrow." She snuggles closer, breathing him in and sighing it out slowly. "He'll make it up to me then..." she just manages to murmur before sleep claims her.
