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Malon was trying to clean. She was also trying not to lose her head.
It was a hard thing when Four had a blow out. It was a hard thing when Legend fell asleep while invisible and nearly drove her mad with worry. It was a hard thing when Twilight’s powers started acting up for some unknown reason and she had to calm down a frantic wolf.
All of those were hard enough on their own, but when they all happened in the same evening?
Time had been gone all day and was apparently working late without telling her because he still wasn’t back and it was time to start getting the boys to bed and Malon just wanted to have the house clean and a sweet snack ready for when he got back.
She’d hardly started on the cookie dough before Wild had zipped into the room and accidentally knocked over a jar of flour.
Immediately apologetic he had rushed to the sink where Twilight and Hyrule were doing the dishes while singing—loudly—with Four at their feet clapping out of beat. Wild shoved between his brothers and sent a spray of water shooting out of the sink off of some dish before he rushed past Malon with a wet rag before she could say more than “wait!” and plopped the sopping cloth onto the pile of flour.
“Wild, stop!” She said as she reached to pull him away from where he was spreading the wet and sticking the whole pile quickly to the floor.
“Ew,” Wild cringed, looking at the gooey rag. “That didn’t work.”
Malon took the rag with barely restrained frustration and smiled at him as she gently pushed him away. “I’ll deal with it, hon. Why don’t you get ready for bed.”
He wrinkled his nose, clearly wanting to do anything but that, but he obeyed and zipped out of the room just as fast as he’d come, making Four giggle at the gust of air.
“Fifteenth verse, same as the first! Gotta get better ‘cause it can’t get worse… Oh ttthhhhheeee horse put his foot put his foot on the ground!-”
Malon turned back to the now sticky mess and tried to hold back the snap that was creeping up her throat. They were entertaining Four. They weren’t doing it to be obnoxious.
Still, Wind sat in another corner of the kitchen with two cups that certainly didn’t need to be clinked and banged for the past quarter hour to see what sorts of noises they could make.
“Mom!” Legend poked his head into the kitchen, a scowl already written on his face. “Wild stole my book and he won’t tell me where he put it!”
The tattle tone grated on her nerves and she forced herself to take a deep breath before she looked up and raised her eyebrows at him. “Where is he?”
“WIIILD!!” Legend started yelling before he was even out of the kitchen and it made Malon cringe. “Come to Mom!!”
Was she getting a headache from all this noise or was she just imagining that?
A gust of air and then Wild was in front of her. He stepped back with a cringe. “Oops.” Wet flour goop stuck to his foot and he tracked it over the floor to get a towel to clean it off.
“Did you take Legend’s book?”
Wild glanced at Legend then looked back at her. “He stole my blanket first!”
“But I gave it back!”
“You threw it over my head so I nearly crashed into a wall!”
“Well that’s what you get for running in the house! I told you to quit and you didn’t listen!”
“-Horse put his foot put his foot on the ground! The horse put his foot put his foot on the ground! The horse put his foot put his foot on the ground! Ain’t this a terrible song?”
Bang bang. Ting. Tap tap. Bang.
“You don’t get to say what I get to do!”
“You kept poking me!”
“You wouldn’t quit reading!”
“That’s because I want to!”
“But that’s no fun!”
“Boys,” Malon tried to break through the chaos, but she could barely hear herself think over the faucet, the clinking of dishes, the raucous singing and the arguing, let alone hear herself speak.
“It’s fun to me! It doesn’t have to be fun to you.”
“But it’s almost bedtime! And you still haven’t played Speed with me like you said you would!”
“I didn’t say I would.”
“Yes you did!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Boys!” Her hands were trembling and her head was throbbing but her boys just kept it up, other than Twilight whose singing hesitated as he glanced back at what was going on.
“I said I might play with you if you helped me clean the bathroom. I didn’t say I would.”
“That’s cheating!”
“LINK!!!” Malon’s snap sliced through the noise and it broke off with a discordant clatter.
The singing stopped as all three at the sink turned to look at her in shock and apprehension, a thin pink barrier disappearing around them almost as quickly as it appeared.
Wind’s clattering dishes dropped to the floor and he looked over in surprise.
Wild and Legend both jumped and their argument broke off.
“Go get ready for bed, both of you.” She snapped.
“But my-“ Legend’s complaint was cut off by Twilight stepping over and pushing them toward the door.
“Bedtime. Wild, will you get Legend’s book before you go?”
Wild nodded mutely, and then trotted off at a normal speed. Legend was quick on his heels.
Twilight hurried back to the sink and started work on the dishes again, whispering something quietly to Hyrule as they worked, now void of any singing.
Wind still openly stared at her, even as she turned back to the flour mess and started cleaning it up.
Agh, the faces they’d looked at her with! This silence was almost worse than the noise, but with her pulsing headache and her still bubbling frustration she couldn’t bring herself to try and break it.
Not to mention the shame every glance or staring gaze piled onto her shoulders. She shouldn’t have yelled. Shouldn’t have lost her temper and she knew that.
Twilight and Hyrule finished with the dishes while she was cleaning, and soon her eldest had herded all the other boys quietly out of the kitchen.
The flour was everywhere and she found her vision blurring as she tried to scrub up the stuff that Wild had already gotten wet.
It was a lot of wasted flour, and her cookie dough was still waiting to finish so she couldn’t just stop making it now like she wanted and Time still wasn’t home, and now all the boys were upset and did she just ruin their whole evening? They’d been having so much fun up to now, despite everything Malon was dealing with.
Her lips trembled, but she scrubbed harder at the floor—unnecessarily—and blinked back the tears.
The house was tense and quiet. She could hear the occasional creaks as her boys crept through the process of getting ready for bed.
It would have been peaceful if it wasn’t so dreadful instead.
“Mom?”
Malon nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked up to find Hyrule, standing with his hands nervously clasped in front of him and his pajamas already put on.
“Do you need help?”
Malon’s frustration and anger melted just a little and she sighed, her shoulders slumping as she looked at the clean floor she’d still been scrubbing at. “Not right now, Hyrule. Thank you.”
He still looked uncertain, so she forced herself to meet his gaze and smiled. “Mama’s just been having a hard day. I’m sorry I yelled.”
Hyrule relaxed a little at that. He fiddled with the edge of his night shirt and glanced at the door. “Didn’t scare me as much as Wild and Legend, I think.”
Malon cringed. She sighed and set her rag to the side, pushing to her feet and ruffling his brown curls. “You’re right.”
Her bowl of dough and already half-mixed ingredients called to her, but she ignored it as she and Hyrule left the kitchen.
Her boys were far more important than a few chocolate chip cookies.
Hyrule went to his own room with a quiet “good night” as she pushed open the door to Twilight and Wild’s room.
Both boys were on Wild’s bed, where the boy was curled up and Twilight was sitting next to him with a hand on his back.
Twilight looked up as she entered, then he pulled back and moved off the bed to give her room, quietly returning to his own.
“Wild?”
He looked up at her, his eyes a little red at the edges.
“Oh, hunny.” She sat down on the bed beside him and pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I got a little overwhelmed and lost my temper and I shouldn’t have. Will you forgive me?”
Wild sniffed and nuzzled into her hold, giving a nod. “‘M sorry I overwhelmed you, mom.”
“It wasn’t you.” Malon assured him, even as his words broke her heart anew. “I’ve just had a hectic day. You could never overwhelm me. Got that?”
He just nodded again, squeezing her shirt as he pulled her closer.
They sat like that for a few minutes, before he finally pulled away and scrubbed at his face with his hand.
She stroked his head and quietly whispered, “I love you, Link.”
“Love you too,” he said softly back, giving her a smile.
She stood and said goodnight to Twilight, who seemed more relaxed now that things were clearly resolving, and the she slipped out to make her way to Hyrule and Legend’s room.
Hyrule was laying in his bed, staring toward Legend’s, which was notably empty other than the invisible lump that pressed down on it.
“Legend?”
The bed creaked as he moved, but he didn’t turn visible as she slipped into the room.
“Do you mind if I sit down, hun?”
He grunted and shifted again, making room presumably. Then he appeared, arms crossed and glaring at the wall to the side.
Malon placed herself gingerly beside him and touched his arm. “I’m sorry I lost my temper.”
That did it. He squeezed his arms tighter and his voice was strained. “I didn’t even do anything! Wild won’t leave me alone all night, he steals my book, and then I get sent to bed because of it!”
“It is bedtime, Legend,” Hyrule whispered from across the room.
That fact only made Legend growl. “Well it wasn’t when Wild got in the way of me reading! I just wanted to finish the chapter.” The last was less harsh than the first and be wilted a little with the words.
“I’m sorry you’ve not been having a great night, Legend.” Malon placed a hand on his shoulder. “And I’m sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn’t’ve no matter how bad of a day I was having.”
He hesitated at that. “You were having a bad day too?”
Malon ruffled his hair. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish your chapter, but there’s always tomorrow, right?”
He sighed and shrugged, but he did lean toward her, so she embraced him and he melted into it.
“Will you forgive me?”
“Yeah.” Legend adjusted to turn and wrap his arms around her in return. “Sorry for getting upset and saying you were the worst.”
Malon chuckled. “Didn’t know you said that.”
He flushed and ducked his head further so she couldn’t see. “I said it to Hyrule,” he muttered. Then he lifted his head and looked toward the boy in the other bed who was trying to pretend like he wasn’t watching the whole exchange, though he obviously was. “Sorry I snapped at you, Rulie.”
He perked up, and when Legend held out an arm to invite him into the hug, he scampered across the room to join them.
By the time Malon had tucked in all her boys and made certain they knew she wasn’t mad at them, her cookie dough was still waiting for her just where she’d left it.
She glared at it. “Now don’t you go making me lose it again,” she muttered as she finally got to form it into balls and put them in the oven.
It was around that time, as she was washing her hands, that the front door opened, breaking the now peaceful silence.
Time slipped into the clean kitchen and spotted her immediately, sneaking up behind to kiss her hair before she turned and he planted one on her forehead too.
Malon dried her hands and raised her eyebrows at him. “Where have you been all day?”
Time procured a small bouquet of roses from behind his back and she gasped. “Sorry. I got delayed at work, then something came up. I should’ve called.”
Malon took the roses and felt her eyes burn as her vision blurred again.
“Malon? Are you alright?” Time tilted his head and bent lower, touching one of her cheeks and wiping off an escaped tear.
“They’re beautiful,” she whispered.
“Not as beautiful as you.” He grinned and fiddled with a lock of her hair. “The red reminded me of you.”
She stuffed her face into the roses and let out a quiet sob.
Strong hands gently pulled her into a hug and she pushed the roses to one side so they wouldn’t be crushed.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s been a day,” she said quietly. “I’m just glad that you’re home.”