Sleeping arrangements

You looked inside and saw that Lucy was no longer in the room but Mom and Sarah were still hanging around. When you took a closer look however, Mom was the only one still awake as she sat there with Sarah resting her head on her lap. That left Mom semi-trapped without being able to leave without disturbing Sarah and when she saw that you were there, she showed a look of relief from the thought of being saved.

“Please help” Mom whispered, acting like Sarah was a curled-up cat that was impossible to disturb.

The temptation to slowly back out of the door again was one that you managed to hold off and you made your way closer to the pair of them, crouching down so that you could be level with Sarah.

“Hey. Sarah. Sarah” you quietly urged, running your fingers through her hair and giving her the lightest of touches to try and wake her up.

Sarah groaned and gave a few other sounds to show you were at least on the right track but she still didn’t want to move.

“It’s time to go to bed okay? Do you want me to carry you?” you asked, trying to match the sleepy energy she was giving out.

“Uh huh” Sarah managed to mumble in affirmation, moving enough off of Mom’s leg to show that she was willing to get up if you were going to help her.

There was an immediate sigh from Mom as she was released from under Sarah and she got up to stretch her legs. You were still pretty tired and hadn’t been expecting to have to carry someone again but you bent your knees and managed to get Sarah in a comfortable position in your arms before you attempted to start walking.

Mom followed behind you and that felt like enough of a safety net for you to feel like you could make the journey. And even though you had carried Sarah like this up the stairs and now towards her room, the context had completely changed and the earlier tension that had been building up between the two of you was nowhere to be seen, as if you had passed a threshold that meant you could let your barriers down.

Mom helped to open the door and turned on a lamp at the side of Sarah’s bed as you set her down.

“It is a bit cold in here” Mom noted, moving over to the window and shutting it too, something neither you or Sarah had remembered to shut after everything that had happened.

She meant nothing by it when she spoke but as you heard the words from Mom, there were goosebumps on the back of your neck as if you were getting away with something you shouldn’t be. Sarah was pretty much fully asleep at this point and hadn’t even noticed Mom had been talking so you doubted that she had the same reaction.

To give yourself something to focus on, you tucked Sarah into bed and whispered goodnight to her with a brief kiss on her forehead, seeing her snuggle further under the covers to where it was warmer.

Both you and Mom watched her for a second before she turned off the lamp and you left the room, quietly shutting the door to not disturb her.

That left the two of you out in the hallway and it felt like without Sarah, the mood shifted. The past few minutes had been as if the two of you were acting like a married couple settling in for the night and given that you were set to sleep in Mom’s bed tonight, those feelings seemed to amplify as you both saw what was happening.

It was left unsaid between the two of you for just the briefest of moments until you locked eyes, Mom looking straight at you and having a deer caught in the headlights moment to herself.

“Don’t panic. At this point, and after carrying Sarah up those stairs, all I want to do is sleep. As much as I would love to do something with you that’s more than that, I really just want to cuddle. I promise” you announced, cutting in before she could start to panic.

The effect over her was immediate and you saw the look in her eyes soften and her shoulders relax, no longer looking like she was about to run off in a full sprint away from you.

“...Okay, that sounds nice” Mom admitted, stepping to be at your side before keeping pace with you to walk down the hallway.

Mom seemed to walk with ease but now that you had reassured her, it was you that had a bit of tension developing in your chest. Even if it was just going to sleep with her, that in of itself still felt like a big step to go through with Mom who you hadn’t been able to really talk to properly since you had gotten back from your weekend trip.

You however repeated the same words you had just told Mom back to yourself in your head, telling yourself that nothing needed to happen if neither of you were ready for it.

You both stepped inside her room and you followed in after Mom, opting to go to the opposite side of the bed from where she walked and stood next to the bed. You didn’t really have any pyjamas with you so you just decided to sleep in your underwear, taking off your jeans first while placing your phone on the bedside table.

It wasn’t how you would usually sleep but you opted to keep your tshirt on as some sort of night shirt, hoping that it would make Mom feel more comfortable in some form or another.

You were practically already in the bed before Mom had even decided what she was going to do but given it was her room, she had a change of clothes available to her that she could take.

“...G-give me a minute” she stated, grabbing a nightgown that you hadn’t seen before and heading off into the bathroom, leaving you to your own devices for a moment.

You didn’t know how long she would be so you didn’t want to get up and doing anything special so you just reviewed your progress with the KDK for the final time of the day, checking in on everyones stats and how many seconds you were able to add since you had started the day.

Every day had felt like a whirlwind and just these little moments of introspection to steady yourself were becoming more common but they did genuinely seem to help, giving you a chance to catch your breath and move on to whatever came next.

Your phone settled back down on the table at the side of you and only a few moments later, you heard some movement from behind the door and Mom stepped out and back into the bedroom to join you.

Author's note:

Apologies for the late chapter.

Regarding the holiday break. Sunday will be last chapter until around the 7th of Jan so roughly around a 2 week holiday.

So hope everyone enjoys the holidays!