Alicia hums, running her hands over her stomach, rubbing suntan lotion into her skin. It's a sunny, beautiful day, Sofia playing with Sonya a few feet away, and she enjoys the sounds of her son giggling and squealing. "What are you two doing over there?" she calls after a few moments and there's a telling silence, permeated with the sounds of squishing and slapping.
"Oh, you know, we're just playing. Nothing to see over here, none at all," Sofia says, letting out a nervous kind of noise as Alicia half-sits up and turns to look over at them.
"I don't know," she says with a smirk. "It sounds like my little boy is making mudpies. Andre, are you making mudpies over there?"
Andre laughs and slaps his little pudgy hands harder into the mud surrounding him and Sofia tsk. "You have much to learn in how to be sneaky, young Rodriguez," she informs him, lightly tapping his nose with her own, dirty fingers.
The little boy babbles and laughs, shaking his bed back and forth to get rid of the mud caked on his skin. "Silly little guy," Sofia tells him, hoisting him up and spinning him around.
As he laughs and screams, Alicia rolls her eyes, watching the two of them with a fond glint in her eye.
"No worries, Alicia," Sofia calls out over the baby's enthused squeeching. "It is my evening to give him his bath, after all. So leave it to me to sort out later."
Alicia chuckles. "I will hold you to that, my friend." She hums. "You know I really wouldn't know what to do without you, right? Especially now. Everything just feels kind of... Sisyphean. I keep pushing and pushing and pushing, trying to make my way up the hill, but it all just keeps pushing me back a little bit for each step I take."
"I know," Sofia says softly. "I know you miss Ricardo, I do too. I'm glad I'm here to help you, I... I wish I could do more."
"I don't know what more you could do," Alicia tells her, resting her face on her knee. "You've been an absolutely godsend. But, uh. Things may be changing, and I'm wondering if I could ask one more thing of you?"
Sofia looks up at her. "Of course, what's on your mind?"
"Ricardo likes Pennsylvania," Alicia muses. "We both know he's a wandering soul. He hates being in one place for too long, and Egypt... Egypt fell through, and I think... now he's considering moving there for awhile. Would you come with us? Or is that one thing too many?"
Sofia blinks at her. "Pennsylvania," she muses. "I don't know much about it. I have heard some nice things. I would have to think about it, but I would lean towards... of course, Alicia. You, Ricardo, Andre, you're my family. I've been with you all for so long by now, I couldn't imagine staying here without you all. So if Ricardo and you decide that that you're next step, please let me know, and I'll be right there with you all."
Alicia beams. "Thank you. I... it means a lot to hear you say that. I couldn't imagine continuing to grow this family with Ricardo, without you by our side."
Sofia blinks at her. "Grow this family..." she muses, staring down at the little boy still clinging to her arm. "Alicia, do you...?"
"I'm having another baby," Alicia tells her softly. "I'm a couple months along." Her lips tremble a little. "I told Ricardo just before he... just before he had to go to Pennsylvania."
Sofia looks a little emotional too all of a sudden, getting to her feet and rushing over to Alicia's side, hugging her tightly with Andre pressed between them. "I'm so happy for you both. And I'm so sorry the timing wasn't perfect." She pulls back and cradles Alicia's face in her hands, examining her. "I promise you. Wherever you all go, I will be right by your side. You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Alicia."
Alicia laughs faintly, blinking away tears as she clings onto Sofia's hands. "Thank you," she breathes out. "I love you, Sofia."
"I love you too, Alicia," she murmurs, hugging her tightly.
"Now we all need baths," Alicia chokes out, somewhere between laughing and crying to an almost painful degree. "Don't we, Andre?" she asks her baby, pulling him into her and kissing his forehead. "You're still the most adorable little baby."
As he waves his little fists around and fusses playfully, she watches him, thinking about the future. What the new baby would look like, if they'd resemble Andre, and what their new house in Pennsylvania might look like.
There's so much good potential ahead, she just has to get through the next few weeks waiting for Ricardo to come home.