hard | daniel seavey

chapter forty-four

  Daniel 

   It had been an hour since Madison fell asleep and I really had just been playing on my phone, waiting for Jack and Gabbie. I looked down at Madison. Soft snores escaped from her lips. I smiled at the sight and continued to run my fingers through her soft blonde hair. And before I knew it, J was drifting off to sleep as well. 

12:23

   The sound of the door clicking open suddenly woke me up. Jack and Gabbie quietly walked into the living room. I gently lifted Madison off of my lap, trying not to wake her.

   "We're so sorry we're late," Jack whispered as Gabbie walked over to Lavender.

   "It's fine, really. She slept most of the time and when the power went out we just went to sleep."

    They told me about the traffic jam and how it didn't start moving smoothly against until around 11. The storm has passed through and now it was only raining slightly. They were tired, so they said goodnight and ran up to Jack's room.

   "Hey," I knelt down and shook Madison's shoulder a bit. She mumbled something inaudible. "C'mon, let's go to my room."

    "We have to stay down here with Lav, Daniel." She said in a tired voice as she sat up.

    "Jack and Gabbie are home. It's fine, c'mon." I held my hands out for her. She took them and sleepily followed me to my room. When we got in, she immediately laid down on her side, cuddling with one of the pillows. She still was still wearing her jeans and shirt from earlier, I don't know how she managed to sleep in jeans. "Do you want clothes to sleep in?"

   She nodded, not looking up at me. I walked into my closet and pulled out the smallest pair of sweatpants I could find and a flannel shirt. I handed them to her and she lazily got up.

  "Don't look." She said and twirled her finger, signaling me to turn around. I sat on the edge of my side, looking at the wall while she changed.

   "It's not like I haven't seen it before," I joked, causing her to throw a pillow at my back. I could just picture hee rolling her eyes at me, the way she did when I made any sort of sexual joke.

   "Okay you can turn around now."
  
   When I looked at her, the sweatpants sagged low on her hips, even with the strings tied tightly. The flannel hung over her shoulders in the same baggy manner. Her hair was now in a messy ponytail. And she still looked perfect.

   "C'mon, Pretty Girl." I got under the covers and opened my arms out for her. She crawled under the blanket and over to me, resting her head on my chest. We always slept like this, since the first night she stayed over.

   "Hey, Daniel?" Madison yawned, her voice proving how tired she really was. I hummed in response. Her fingers danced lightly against my stomach. "How many kids would you wanna have?"

    "Two, maybe three." I answered honestly. I wasn't taken back by the question. We were only together for two months at the point, but we talked about our future often. Kids never really came up, she mentioned it once while describing her dream house. The question still didn't surprise. After seeing how well Madison took care of Lavender today, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to make her a mother one day.
  
  "I want a big, close family. Like yours. And I want us to go to church on Sundays and have family dinners and game nights and weekend vacations to the mountains." Madison rambled on, yawning afterwards. "And I still want a dog."

    "Anything for you, Pretty Girl."

    I would live up to that, forever and ever. After all this woman has done to show me love and give me reason again, she deserved nothing but the best. And I was determined to give her that.