Work Text:
September 22, 1993
“No, you should go out with Mark. It will be good to network with him. … No, don’t worry, the girls and I will be fine. … I’m just getting started on dinner and they’ll be in bed when you get back. … Yeah, I’ll be up when you get home. Maybe. … OK, our oldest is looking right at me while you say this. See you later.”
Mel hangs up the kitchen phone, and says to her oldest daughter, “Well, that was Dad. He’s going to watch baseball with the guys from work for a bit. So we’re on our own for dinner.”
Nat is fine with this development and puts back one place setting as she sets the table. Nell, on the other hand, skids into the kitchen and thinks it’s the perfect opportunity for pizza for dinner.
“I’ve already got the lasagna ready to go in the oven, Little Miss. Maybe we can have pizza with Dad on Friday or Saturday?” Melina bargains.
Placating her youngest with promises of a future pizza night does not work and Nell stomps her little feet down to the TV.
“Anyone want to help me make the garlic bread?” Mel asks, already knowing which child will help her.
“I’ll help.” Nat volunteers while Nell ignores them both to watch some cartoons.
When dinner rolls around, Nell begrudgingly eats the lasagna in front of her, whispering to the plate, “Pizza pizza,” mimicking a commercial she’s seen. Mel gives her a look that clearly expresses to the child that maybe pizza won’t be in her future. Even her sister gives her an eyeroll.
After dinner, Nat, like always, dutifully loads up the dishwasher and heads upstairs to take her bath and then read a book she got earlier that day from the library. Nell, on the other hand and like almost always, was being stubborn and did not want to get ready for bed. She wants to stay downstairs and await her dad’s return.
While Mel is tidying up, awaiting the right moment when the feral child would tire of her antics and could get her to bed. She’s already given up getting the child in the bathtub. Nell is bouncing from the chair to the couch then she’s finding her mom’s sneakers and her sister’s and wearing them on her hands and feet and pretending to be a dog.
One moment Mel’s trying to unwedge an undressed Barbie doll from under the couch and the next her feral child decides to use all her strength to pin her mother to the floor.
Nell giggles and Mel tries once to lift the child up but decides to give up and let the child claim a temporary victory. Was she going soft? Has her upper body strength diminished in the past year?
On the television an episode of “I Love Lucy” was playing on Nick at Nite. Nell was entertained by the show – as was Mel, although she would never tell – and only started to show signs of exhaustion when the next program started. Nell soon after fell asleep on her mother.
The child seemed to get heavier with each passing minute.
In the position she was in and with the child fast asleep, Mel couldn’t exactly reach for the remote to change the channel. She didn’t know when the baseball game ended until Al came in – luckily quietly – an hour or so later. He takes off his light jacket and shucks off his shoes before noticing his wife and youngest daughter. He turns off the TV and then gently picks up the sleeping child with one arm and gives his wife a hand up with the other.
While Mel picks a Lego brick out of her lower back and trails behind them upstairs, she whispers, “If you wake that child up, I will end you.”
“You say that every night …” Al whispers back.
“Well, tonight, I really mean it.” She says as Al deposits the sleeping child in her bed.
“Rough night?” He takes her in his arms and gives her forehead a kiss then leans back and asks, “Wait, did she pretend to be a dog again?”
“Yeah, what is up with that?” She responds, rubbing her lower back.
“I dunno. She likes dogs. … She’s a weird kid.” He answers while taking over massaging her lower back.
Soon, the two are making out in the hallway, certain both girls are fast asleep. The undercover super soldier lifts up his secret agent wife and takes her into their bedroom. She smiles at him and hopes he remembers she was promised a full-body massage and other things.
She asks about his night, and Al complains that Mark spent most of the night complaining about his custody arrangement with his ex-wife. And, how the team lost to the Dodgers in the end.
“And he made fun of me for calling to let you know I was going out with the guys.”
“Dumb man. No wonder he’s on wife No. 3.” Melina says as she strips off her clothes.
Alexei smiles and warms up his hands to work his magic.