A Room With A View

Chapter Two - Elena

September 1st, Friday

The lock turned and Elena Margova breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank god," she said, "the twins have been murder to deal with."

Her husband, Joshua, smiled and set his suitcase down by the door. He loosened his tie before coming over to give Elena a kiss.

"Our  twins?" he asked. One of them was currently burrowing into the couch, his diapered behind wriggling between the cushions. Joshua picked him up and planted him on his hip.

"Surely not our twins," he continued. Isaac made a noise of protest, and Joshua brushed a lock of dark hair from his face. "You know what they say about two-year-olds. 'Tremendous Two's.' 'Terribly Easy Two's'--"

Elena threw a sock at him from where she was folding laundry on the couch.

"Well they haven't been 'Terribly Easy' today," she said, but she was smiling.

Joshua looked around the living room. "Where's the other one?"

Elena scoffed. "'The other one?' You mean, 'where, dear wife, has our beloved son disappeared off to?'"

"That's exactly what I said." Joshua set Isaac down and shrugged out of his suit jacket.

Elena sighed and pointed. "He's glued into his game."

Jeremiah, sure enough, was hunched over the dining room table, his nose mere inches from the iPad screen.

Joshua had a sour look on his face. "I thought we weren't going to give them screen time." He crossed the living room to the dining room, Isaac right on his heels.

"I know," Elena said, sighing for the second time that afternoon. She felt close to tears. "But it was a really trying afternoon and I just needed a moment to fold the laundry." Her voice wobbled.

Joshua must have sensed her mood, because he quickly changed course and came over to sit next to her on the couch. He placed a hand on her leg and squeezed her knee. "Hey, you spent a whole day raising our kids. That's more work than I've done in a week. Maybe even a month. You take your time when you can get it. In fact, stop this laundry business right now and go take a hot bath. I'll uncork the wine, and run these hooligans straight to sleep." Joshua stood up and pretended to stretch his muscles.

Elena smiled gratefully. She watched as Joshua marched bull-legged over to the boys, his arms swinging in a mock punching stance. Isaac and Jeremiah squealed with glee and began racing their father around the apartment. Joshua, in turn, would get just close enough to catch them, before coming up with some blunder that would keep him just a hand's length away.

Elena dropped the bundle of unfolded laundry back in the bin, and leaned backwards, resting her head on the couch cushions. Their ceiling was a beautiful shade of rustic orange. Elena and Joshua had fallen in love in Italy, and had wanted to recreate that setting here in New York. Worn greens and rustic reds filled out the rest of the space, with Elena's favorite piece, a cornflower blue vase, completing the apartment's spectrum of color. The vase had once sat in the center of their dining table, but once the boys were born, she had moved it up to a higher shelf. Now, hearing Isaac smack his head against the table leg, Elena was reminded of what a brilliant idea that had been.

"Don't play too rough!" she called from the couch. No one was crying, so she let her heart unclench.

Joshua rushed into the living room, the twins hot on his heels. He collapsed on the floor, his hand over his chest, and moaned. "They've got me! I'm done for! Save...yourself..."