Chapter Text
After an uncharacteristically bad day at work, Cady came home to Oliver throwing a massive tantrum. Distracted by her son tugging on her pant leg and screaming, she didn’t notice the foul smell coming from the bag of mozzarella cheese that she sprinkled on top of the lasagna she had spent an hour making.
Janis had swept in at the rescue, ordering some pizza to be delivered and taking Oliver outside to take a walk to give Cady a break from the noise. While she went to start his bath, Janis was putting the leftover pizza away. Despite being asked three times to go pick out his pajamas and get ready for bath time, Oliver was running in circles around the kitchen island.
He didn’t notice that Janis had opened the fridge to put the ziploc bag of pizza away, and Cady stepped into the kitchen just in time to watch his face slam into the stainless steel, which knocked him onto his back where his head thumped on the tile floor.
Cady covered her ears as he let out a wail. Janis picked him up off the floor and held him close, shaking her head in disappointment. “That was a tough way to figure out that your pajamas aren’t in the fridge, huh bud? I’m sure that hurt. Can I take a look? Hm? Let Mama see.” When Janis tried to pull him away from her, he only clung to her tighter.
Cady made her way over to them, wincing as she uncovered her ears. Janis turned to the side so her wife could get a look at his forehead. “That’s a pretty nasty bump you’ve got,” Cady muttered. As soon as he heard her voice he scrambled away from Janis and clung to her, head tucked into her neck so he was crying as close to her ear as possible.
She bounced him and patted his back, futilely trying to shush him. She walked them into the living room, flopping down on the couch and wiggling Oliver around so she could get comfortable. She shut her eyes and tried to relax for a few minutes, simultaneously impressed and irritated with how much he had cried today. She heard Janis tapping on her phone and sighed. “Why are you on your phone right now?”
“I’m asking Google how to tell if our son concussed himself,” Janis responded. Cady frowned and pulled her head away to look at Oliver. “It’s hard to tell when he’s been screaming for fifteen minutes.”
“Hey Ollie? Can Mommy kiss it? Make it better?”
“Nuh uh! No!”
“Answering questions isn’t a part of any of these tests, but I guess that’s a good sign. What about a band aid, bud? Would that help?”
Oliver’s crying instantly gave way to sniffles as he wiped his nose on Cady’s shirt. “A Bluey one?”
Janis nodded. “Yep, a Bluey one. Why don’t you come with me and give Mommy a break?” He shook his head and clung tighter to Cady, his eyes welling up with tears again. “Okay, okay. Let’s not start crying again, please. Can you count how long it takes me?”
Cady smiled and started counting slowly, making silly faces at their son while she did. They made it all the way to thirty-two before Janis came back with a band aid, looking stressed. “Why are you making that face?”
“Promise me you won’t freak out.”
Cady’s shoulders tensed and their three-year-old reached up a snotty hand and ruffled her hair. “Go ahead and tell me, it’s not like today can get any worse.” Janis shifted her weight between her feet, looking down at the floor. “Janis, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Remember how, like, forever ago you went to start his bath?” Cady’s eyes widened and she gestured for Janis to keep talking. “We maaaaay have flooded his bathroom.”
“Are you serious? Please tell me this is a fucking joke.”
“You promised you wouldn’t freak out!”
“Is it a fuckin’ joke, Mama?”
Cady groaned and started to sit up, but Janis reached out her hand to stop her. “Let’s all just take a breath, okay? I have an idea to make it all better, but I think I need your help Ollie. Why don’t you come with me so we can put on your bandaid, then get to work. We’ll give Mommy a few minutes to breathe.” The boy nodded and wiggled down off of the couch. “Mommy, do you want me to take over bath time?”
“Nuh uh! Mommy does bath!”
“You heard the man. I’ll come help clean up, it’ll go faster with both of us.”
Janis shook her head, putting her hand on Cady’s shoulder and kissing her forehead. “Baby, no. You need a break, even if it is only five minutes. I’ll figure it out, okay?”
Cady nodded slightly and relaxed back into the couch with a sigh. Janis kissed her lips, then picked Oliver up and had him give her a kiss. Once they left, Cady curled up sideways on the couch and shut her eyes. She counted her breaths, stopping and sitting up once she got to a hundred. She could hear Oliver giggling, and she smiled as she walked to his bathroom.
She stopped in the doorway and her smile gave way to shock when she saw her son sitting in the tub wearing swim trunks and goggles, two Bluey band-aids forming an X on his forehead. Janis was kneeling beside the tub, seemingly unfazed by the fact that every move their son made sloshed more water onto the floor.
Oliver looked up and smiled at her. “Mommy look! I’m swimming!”
“I can see that. Mama, why is Ollie swimming?” Janis stopped laughing and turned sheepishly to look at Cady. She stood up and reached both hands out for Cady, who took a step back out of her reach. “This doesn’t look like it is making it better.”
“Please don’t be mad, my love.” Janis checked over her shoulder to make sure Oliver was okay, then reached out her hand again. “Don’t make me go out there and get you, I’ll get the carpet wet. Hear me out?”
“I thought you were going to clean up. Why are we actively making it worse?”
Janis took one step into the hallway and took Cady’s hand, pulling her into the doorway. She lifted her up and set her down on the sink where they could both keep an eye on their son. Janis kissed Cady’s cheek, then whispered in her ear. “I understand that this is a big mess, but look how much fun he’s having.”
Cady looked at the tub again, softening as Oliver pulled his head out of the water with a gasp, triumphantly holding up a plastic puppy toy that had sunk to the bottom of the tub. Janis kissed her forehead, then took a step back and reached for Cady’s foot to start rolling up her pants so they didn’t get wet. “This is one of those days that he’s going to remember forever. I mean, as long as he doesn’t actually have a concussion.”
“The night Mommy came home from work in a bad mood, ruined dinner, watched him run full send into the refrigerator door, and then flooded the bathroom? What a great day to remember.”
“Put yourself in his shoes, though. He got to have pizza for dinner, and we didn’t even make him eat any vegetables. And then his parents turned his bathroom into a water park !” She turned her attention to their son, who was talking in an Australian accent and mimicking his weekly swim lessons with his toys. “Are you having a good time swimming, Ollie?”
“Yeah, swimming!” He splashed a toy into the water, sending a splash into the air that hit both of his parents and sent him into a giggle fit. “Mommy, do you want to be Bingo, or Bluey?”
“I’ll take Bingo, please.” She slid down off of the counter and kissed Janis. “Thank you for making some magic for him.”
Janis kneeled by the tub again, letting Cady sit on the toilet to keep her as dry as possible. When Oliver started to yawn, Janis reached over and drained the now cold water from the tub. “Okay sir, you and Mommy have until the tub is drained to play then we’re going to get cleaned up, okay?” She stood up and kissed Cady’s head. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom, are you guys okay in here for a few minutes?”
Cady nodded and watched as her son repeatedly dropped his toys in the water, congratulating him each time he triumphantly held one up to show her that he had located it. Once the water had fully drained from the tub she wrapped him up in a towel and carried him through the house looking for Janis.
She opened her bathroom door to find Oliver’s pajamas on the counter and Janis leaned over the tub that was filling up with water. “Don’t tell me you still want me to give him a bath after that.”
Janis shook her head. “No, silly. This is for you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tube of children’s toothpaste. “His toothbrush is stacked inside his pajamas. I’m gonna go actually clean his bathroom. I think I’ll be done before his bedtime story is over, but if I’m not will you come get me for goodnight kisses?” Cady nodded as she sat Oliver down with his feet inside her sink and got his toothbrush wet. Janis wrapped her arms around her from behind and kissed the side of her head. “Will you make sure you turn the water off in the tub before you bring him to his room?”
“You’re so lucky our kid is in here,” Cady grumbled through her teeth. Janis slipped out of the bathroom, leaving Cady to brush Oliver’s teeth. She noticed his eyes fluttering shut for longer and longer, and she had to poke his cheeks to make him spit out his toothpaste. “All that swimming tired you out, didn’t it bud?”
He only nodded, trying to hold onto her when she picked him up from the sink and tried to set him down on the floor. “Come on Ollie, we just need to get you out of your swimsuit and into your PJ’s. Stay with me, here.”
She let his damp towel fall to the floor and peeled the cold swimsuit off of him, then wrapped him in her own bath towel and hugged him tight. She turned off the water in her bathtub, then grabbed his pajamas from the counter and carried him through the house to his bedroom. Janis had already turned on his sound machine and night light, so Cady laid him down on the floor half asleep.
“Did you have a good day today?” She leaned down and kissed his cheek when he smiled and nodded. She took her time maneuvering him into his pajamas, trying to let him stay sleepy. Once she was done, she scooped him up and let him snuggle into her neck. “You have the best Mama in the whole world, did you know that?”
“Don’t forget how incredible your Mommy is, though.”
Cady startled and spun around in the dark room, then stepped forward into Janis’s open arms. “You cleaned that up pretty fast.”
“I ran out of towels and had to use two of his blankets to sop up all the water, but everything is in the washer on a spin cycle now.” Janis kissed Oliver’s head. “He’s already asleep, isn’t he?” Cady nodded and rested her head on Janis’s shoulder as her wife swayed them back and forth. They danced around his room for a few minutes, with Janis humming and rubbing circles on Cady’s back. “Are both of you asleep now?”
Cady shook her head without lifting it up, leaning into Janis even more. “Every time I think that you can’t get any more perfect you figure out how to one-up yourself. Thank you for turning a bad day into a fun memory for him.”
“We turned it into a fun memory for all of us. I’m sorry that everything just kept piling up on you,” She took a step back when Cady yawned. “Let’s get him into bed, so we can get you into your bath before you fall asleep.” She kissed the band aids on Oliver’s forehead and ruffled her hand in his hair. “Goodnight bud, we love you.”
Janis held the door open while Cady laid him down in his bed and tucked him in, then kissed him goodnight. They carefully closed his door then turned the lights off throughout the house until they made it to their room. Janis played some music on her phone and braided Cady’s hair so she could soak in the bath without getting it wet.
Janis took a quick shower, and by the time she got out Cady had fallen asleep in her bath. Janis dried off and wrapped her hair in a towel, then put on a bathrobe while she brushed her teeth. She sank to the floor beside the bathtub and put a hand on her wife's shoulder, shaking her gently. "Cady, baby, why don't we get you into bed?"
Cady brushed Janis's hand away and shook her head, barely opening her eyes. "No, 'm swimmin'."
Janis laughed. "It isn't safe to sleep in the pool, come on." She pulled up her sleeve so she could reach into the tub and pull the plug out of the drain.
Cady whined and sat up, hugging her wife's arm for support while she carefully stood up and stepped out of the tub. Janis wrapped her up in a towel and guided her to their bed, sitting her down on the edge and trying to dry her off. "What PJ's do you want? A nightgown or just a shirt?"
Cady shook her head and wiggled away from the towel. "No p'jamas, just lay down." She flopped down on the bed, rolling off of her towel and straight into Janis's spot. "Will you hold me?"
Janis grabbed Cady's towel and unwrapped the one from her hair and tossed them onto the bathroom floor. She untied her robe and shrugged out of it. "I would love to, but you're in my spot. Scoot over."
Cady rolled away just long enough for Janis to lay down, then wrapped herself around her wife and sighed happily. "You love me so much."
Janis smiled and kissed Cady's head. "You're right, I do love you so much."
"We're gonna remember today forever. He's gonna tell his babies about today. Isn't that fun?"
"It is very fun. Why don't you go to sleep?"
"I'm trying, but you keep talking to me." Cady leaned her head back with a sleepy smile that Janis kissed away. "I love you." She waited a few seconds, then poked her wife. "Heeeeey. You have to say you love me too."
"You were just complaining that I was talking!"
"I love yous are always okay."
"Fine, I love you." Janis kissed Cady's head, then wiggled beneath her. "What happened to 'I love you, too?'"
"Shh, 'm trying to sleep." Cady cuddled closer to her wife, giggling. She pressed three kisses on Janis's skin and smiled as they fell asleep.