T had been asleep on the couch for about a half hour when I woke her. It had been a long week for her, from shuttling S to errands and the beach to dealing with various bouts of sibling drama each evening. I had tried suggesting that she go to bed when I first saw her eyes starting to close but she protested that she was awake. I let the episode finish, knowing full well that I would have to fill her in on the details of the end of the show when she was ready to hear them later on. She began stirring when I rubbed her shoulder, lifted her head up and looked at the clock.
“I fell asleep,” she said, squinting up at me. “Sorry. Did you finish the episode?”
“It’s fine,” I answered. “You didn’t miss much.”
She stood up and went to finish getting ready for bed. I moved her blanket from the couch to the bed, turned on Nick at Nite and the air conditioner and took out my clothes for the following morning. She came back to the bedroom, put her earrings on the dresser, and lay down. I covered her with the blanket, gave her a goodnight kiss and said I would be in in a few minutes.
“Don’t stay up too late,” she said, her eyes already heavy with slumber.
I closed the door softly and set to finishing my evening chores. I turned on one of my instrumental playlists on Spotify and started with the kitchen. I transferred the last few dishes from the sink to the dishwasher, started the cycle and hand-washed the still slightly warm griddle. I winced at the noisy protests from the frozen packages of steamed vegetables when I shifted them to make space for the new batch of French toast that T had made for the kids’ breakfast. I wiped down the counters and brought the full garbage bag and recycling container down the hall to the compactor chute.
It was Friday night, which meant that the bathroom was next on the list. I pulled the roll of paper towels off of the holder from the kitchen, took out the bottles of cleaner and started with the mirror. I glanced at the time as I began and did some quick mental calculations to estimate what time I would likely get to bed. My pace quickened slightly as I sprayed and scrubbed; it was later than I had realized. Still, I knew I wouldn’t be able to clean the bathroom in the morning once the kids woke up, so it was getting done at night. Plus, I enjoyed the time alone with the relaxing tones of the bluegrass strings; after a day of talking, listening to other people talk and writing about talking, the chance to turn off my thoughts and just enjoy the quiet was more than welcome.
I took a deep, exhausted breath as I finished cleaning the shower stall. I grabbed a towel to muffle my cough, brought on by the sickly sweet fumes of bleach, peroxide and glass cleaner, and whispered a quick prayer that I hadn’t disturbed the sleeping children next door. I went back to the living room and gave it a quick once-over to make sure I hadn’t missed anything from earlier in the evening. Sure enough, one of S’s toy phones and a frying pan from her miniature cooking set were sitting next to the Fisher Price basketball hoop. I grunted slightly as I bent to pick them up, trying to ignore the complaints from my quads that had gotten tighter since T and I purchased a spinning bike.
“Nice try, you two,” I muttered to the toys as I placed them back in their respective bins. “Better luck next time.”
I double-checked that the front door was locked and latched, rearranged the shoes on the floor into a neater line and then returned to the bathroom to brush my teeth and finish getting ready for bed. I finally closed Spotify; I no longer needed the music to help my body find the calm necessary for sleep to arrive. I turned off the lamp in the living room and made my way back to the bedroom, careful to avoid S’s doctor set that I had kicked over in the dark the night before. I closed the bedroom door silently and slipped into bed as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t wake T. I turned on the baby monitor, turned off the television, made sure my phone was set to “Do Not Disturb” and closed my eyes.
At that time of night, it didn’t take long to fall asleep.
