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Root groaned as she entered her hotel room a nearly two in the morning. She shuffled to her bed and flopped down face first, sighing into the pillows. Fatigue washed over her, her limbs felt heavy and her mind was fuzzy. Idly, Root hoped that the board and the investors that she’d just gotten out of a meeting with were feeling the same amount of fatigue that she was. It served them right for forcing her into a meeting that started at seven at night and was supposed to end ten. An extra four hours was not what she’d expected.
Closing her eyes, Root willed herself to fall asleep. She was drifting in and out for a few minutes, feeling herself right on the edge of sleep, but not quite getting there. It was frustrating, and actually made it more difficult for her to drift off in the first place. Sitting up with a frustrated grunt, Root ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes.
“Damn it.” Root muttered, climbing off of the bed sluggishly and walking around the bed, pacing a little.
With a small sigh, Root decided that she might as well take off her jacket and shoes before trying to sleep again. Halfway through untying her left shoe, her cellphone started to ring. Root dug her cellphone out of her pocket and furrowed her brow at who was trying to facetime her. The contact was Shaw’s email. Not her number, her email.
“Hello?” Root said, frowning a little when the screen was black. “Sameen, why are you calling me? And why aren’t you using your phone?”
“Hi, Mama!” A tiny voice shouted as a toddler’s face appeared on the screen. “I’m in bed!”
Root let out a little laugh, taking in the sight of her three year old son. He wore a bright smile on his face, his brown eyes were shining with mischief. and his hair was mussed up from laying on his pillow. His cheeks were bright pink from laughter and he had a little bit of spittle on the corner of his mouth that Root desperately wanted to wipe off.
“Hey there, Sam.” Root grinned, watching as the little boy’s eyes widened excitedly at Root’s voice. “What’re you doing up?”
Sam laughed loudly.
“Sammy?” Root sighed, taking a serious tone. “Why are you up so late?”
Sam laughed again, tapping the screen of his iPad, that Root had gotten for him when he was a baby.
Shaw didn’t agree with Root giving him an iPad because she didn’t think that a baby should be given any kind of technology, and at the moment, Root kind of understood where Shaw was coming from. Though, she would never tell Shaw that. At least not without telling Shaw all about how Sam’s fine motor skills and critical thinking skills had improved since he got his iPad.
“Why are you up so late?” Root asked, still serious.
Sam pulled his comforter over his head, hiding his face.
“Samuel.” Root prompted, trying to keep her voice gentle. “Why are you awake still?”
Sam peaked from under the comforter and looked at Root guiltily. “Missed you.” He mumbled.
“You missed me?” Root sighed, suddenly feeling guilt pool in her chest.
Sam nodded. “Missed you, Mama.” He said, yawning a little. “Miss me?”
“Of course I miss you.” Root said, a small, sad smile forming on her face. “I miss you all the time.”
“Miss Maman?” He asked, giving Root a mischievous look.
“Yes, I miss her too.”
“Miss Jahn?”
“Yes, I miss John.”
“Miss Bear?”
Root laughed a little and shook her head. “Not as much as I missed you.”
Sam nodded sagely. “Bear is a dog.”
“That is true.” Root chuckled.
“Miss you, Mama.” Sam repeated, looking sad.
“I know, Sam. I’ll be home soon.”
Root frowned a little and looked at her son. Her son who called her at two in the morning, three in the morning where he was, just because he missed her. Her son that she left so she could go on a business trip to Chicago. Who was waiting for her. Who was waiting for her every time she had to leave.
“I love you, Sammy.” Root forced a smile.
“Luh you, too.” Sam replied, yawning again.
“It’s time for nuh-nights.” Root said, chuckling a little at the horrified look on Sam’s face. “I mean it, lay down, get under the covers, and go to sleep.”
Sam grunted and fell back into his pillows, disappearing from the screen. Root heard his comforter rustle and the bed shift a little as he got comfortable. He yawned again and tilted the iPad so he could see Root again and smiled.
“Nuh-night.” He sighed, his eyes drooping.
“Goodnight.” Root smiled. “I love you, you silly boy.”
“Luh you.” Sam yawned. “Buh-bye, Mama.”
“Buh-bye, Sam.” Root said as the screen went black and he hung up.
With a deep sigh, Root ended the call and tossed her phone on the bed and slipped off her other shoe. She fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes, suddenly she wasn’t all that tired anymore. Guilt had a way of doing that, she guessed. It was like a heavy weight, pressing against her chest. Pushing her to do something, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what.
Root’s eyes snapped open when she realized that there was only one way to ensure that Sam was really sleeping. She grabbed her cellphone, and quickly dialed Shaw’s number, she put the phone on speaker. The phone rang twice before Shaw picked up, answering with more of a grunt than an actual word.
“Hey, Sweetie.” Root chuckled. “Ya busy?”
“What the hell are you calling me at three in the morning for?” Shaw growled.
Root smiled widely. “A gal can’t call her wife for a little chat?”
“It’s moments like these that tell me that I need to seriously consider divorce.” Shaw said, sleep still evident in her voice.
“Okay well, I love you too.” Root said, chuckling a little when Shaw yawned.
“Root.” Shaw sighed. “It’s so late. I don’t have it in me to do this right now. It’s so goddamn late.”
“Sam called me.” Root said, her tone turning serious. “Just now.”
“He called you?” Shaw asked incredulously.
“He facetimed me using his iPad.”
“Goddammit. I told you that he didn’t need a damn iPad.”
“That iPad has improved his fine motor skills and critical thinking!” Root snapped. “For the last time, Sameen, it was the right decision.”
“So he called you?” Shaw asked, now sounding fully awake. “Why?”
“He said that he missed me.”
“What’s he doing up so late?”
“That’s what I asked.”
“What’d he say?”
“He laughed at me.”
Shaw snorted. “This kid is exactly like you.”
Root wrinkled her nose a little bit. “Let’s hope not.”
“I agree with you there. You suck.”
“Anyway, thought you should know.”
“Thanks.” Shaw replied, yawning a little. “I’ll check on him.”
“Okay, goodnight Sameen.” Root smiled. “I love you.”
“Night, you too.” Shaw hung up.
Root frowned a little and put her phone on the nightstand before burying her face in a pillow. It was late, and she had to make her flight home at some point. Unfortunately, she still couldn’t sleep, and this time she couldn’t pass it off as guilt for not making sure Sam would actually fall asleep.
Groaning, Root sat up and climbed off the bed. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and quickly dialled another number
A twenty minute cab ride and a two hour flight later, Root was in another cab, on her way to her house. It was a little after six in the morning, and Root was now completely sure that she wasn’t going to sleep at all. Maybe she could squeeze an hour in if she got home quickly enough. Though, Sam was an early rider and was probably already awake and harassing Shaw by now.
Root chuckled at the thought, knowing that Sam would probably have to pull Shaw out of the bed just to wake her up. Idly, Root did the math, wondering if it would be possible for a three year old to move Shaw. The logical part of her said that Shaw wasn’t nearly that small, but the other part of her really enjoyed the image of a three year old being able to move his mother off the bed.
“Here we are, ma’am.” The cab driver said, pulling up to Root and Shaw’s brownstone.
“Thank you.” Root paid the man and hopped out of the cab, grabbing her bag from the other seat and smiling a little when she closed the door.
Root sighed and looked at her home, taking in a deep breath before digging her keys out of her pocket and heading for the door. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, smiling a little when she heard Sam yelling from his room. Root chuckled, locking the door again, this was New York after all, and headed up the stairs. It wasn’t often that Root examined their house, but today she couldn’t get over the fact that their perfectly white walls had remained white, even though they had a child. A child who loved coloring.
Opening Sam’s door, Root couldn’t contain the bright smile that formed on her face when she saw Sam. The little boy’s face absolutely lit up when he saw Root, he dropped the stuffed animal that he was using to hit against the wall to make noise, for whatever three year old reasons he had, and ran over to where Root was standing. Sam screamed at the top of his lungs and jumped into Root’s arms. Root held him close to her chest, lifting him off the ground and kissing his head.
“Mama.” Sam said after nearly half a minute of hugging. “Mama, poddy.”
“What was that, Sammy?” Root asked, frowning a little before pulling away to look at Sam’s face.
“Poddy.” Sam said, squirming until Root put him down. “Gotta poddy.”
“Okay, go on.” Root laughed, watching as her son ran to the bathroom and followed behind, leaning against the closed door.
“Done.” Sam called.
Root walked into the bathroom and flushed the toilet before picking him up so he could wash his hands. “You have a stool, you know.” Root said with a little laugh. She didn’t really mind, but it was important to give him the option.
“I know.” He said, wriggling out of Root’s grasp and grabbing a towel.
“How’d you sleep, Sammy?” Root asked with a small smile.
“Good.” Sam said with a yawn. “Still tired.”
“I bet, you were up really late last night.” Root said, allowing Sam to take her hand and lead her downstairs, into the living room.
“Yeah.” Sam nodded with a huge grin, sitting down beside his toy cubbies and grabbing the box full of toy cars. “My hot wheels.”
“I know, your Maman and I bought them for you.” Root said, sitting down next to him and accepting the sleek, blue car that he handed her.
“Your car.” Sam said, dumping out the rest of the cars. “Mine.”
“That’s no fair.”
Sam’s face scrunched up and he handed Root another car, it was bull shaped, for whatever reason. “Cow.”
“Thank you.” Root laughed, looking at the bull car. It was ridiculous. “Which one is Maman’s?”
“Dog.” Sam showed Root a gray truck with a wolf face painted on.
“That’s a good one.” Root said, looking at the truck.
“Jahn’s.” Sam put a sleek, red convertible on Root’s thigh.
“That’s about right.”
“Harld.” Sam held up a school bus.
Root laughed. “What about Lionel?”
Sam pointed to the police car.
“And Bear?”
“Bear’s a dog.”
They played for half an hour before Shaw came stumbling down the stairs sleepily. Root suppressed a wide grin at the sight of her wife, her hair mussed up by sleep and her eyes were half closed. Sam started to slap Root’s arm when he noticed that he didn’t have her undivided attention anymore.
“Mama, Mama!” Sam exclaimed in a frustrated tone. “We pay!”
“Sam, what’re you doing out of bed?” Shaw asked when she heard Sam shouting.
“Paying!” Sam stood up and ran toward Shaw. “Hot wheels!”
“Did you go potty?” Shaw asked, picking Sam up.
“Yah.” Sam nodded.
“Did you wash your hands?”
“Yah.”
“How?”
“Mama helped.”
Shaw frowned a little. “What’re you talking about?”
“Mama helped.” Sam repeated, sounding irritated.
“Aren’t surgeon’s supposed to be observant?” Root called from the living room, smiling widely at the way Shaw looked at her. “How did you get through your internship?”
“What’re you doing home?” Shaw asked, setting Sam down and crossing her arms. “I thought your flight didn’t land until... It’s not five is it?”
“No.” Root shook her head. “I came home early to be with my family.”
Shaw raised and eyebrow then shrugged before heading to the kitchen. “I’m making pancakes.”
“I missed you too, Sameen.” Root called, standing up and following. “I missed you and Sam so much that I climbed on a plane and flew home at three in the morning. Do you know what kind of people fly at three in the morning?”
“We should check it out sometime.” Shaw said, pulling eggs out of the fridge. “Sammy, do you wanna crack an egg?”
Sam came barrelling into the room and climbed onto the stool that sat in front of the counter.
“I climbed on a plane at three in the morning just to see you.” Root sighed, coming up behind Shaw and putting her hands on her hips. “I wasn’t expecting some tearful reunion because we make fun of people like that, but I was hoping at least for a kiss... Maybe a hug.”
“You’re getting pancakes.” Shaw replied, turning her head a little to peck Root quickly on the lips. “There. Happy now?”
“I’m always happy when I’m with you.”
“That was just disgusting.” Shaw rolled her eyes.
“Maman, egg.” Sam called from his stool in a demanding tone.
“Okay, okay. Calm down.” Shaw handed the little boy an egg. “Remember to be gentle.”
“Kay.” Sam said, gently tapping the egg on the edge of the counter. “Not cracking.”
“Try a little harder.” Shaw said.
Sam grinned and slammed the egg into the counter as hard as he could, effectively destroying the egg. “There.” He laughed, holding up his now egg covered hand.
Root and Shaw stared at their son, disappointed but not at all surprised. Root sighed and picked Sam up, helping him wash his hands while Shaw wiped up the egg. Idly Root wondered why Shaw even thought to let Sam help like that, they knew what their son was like.
“Why did you do that, Sammy?” Root asked, setting him down on the floor.
“Funny.” Sam replied, running off to the living room.
“That kid is a lot like you.” Shaw said, cracking a couple eggs and putting them into the bowl. “Like exactly like you. Another Root.”
“That’s not true.” Root chuckled, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms.
“He’s three and he figured out how to facetime you from his purely educational iPad.” Shaw replied, measuring some more ingredients. “He looked us in the eyes while he destroyed an egg in front of us. Kind of like when you named our son after the both of us, just because John jokingly told you not to, or every time you ruin someone’s life just for fun.”
“He’s just like me.” Root frowned a little. “Oh my god.”
“Yep.”
“Oh no.”
“Yep.”
“Is this karma? This might be karma.”
“Yep, karma gave us another one of you.”
“Oh my god.”