Chapter Text
Matilda slid onto the barstool with a heavy sigh, dropping her book bag on the counter before she looked her mother in the eye.
“Hit me barkeep,” Matilda sighed, shaking her head and knocking against the counter twice for emphasis. Ava shook her head and rolled her eyes at her daughter, shooting Beatrice a that’s all you look from across the restaurant.
“Not a chance, kid. Where’s your homework?” Ava responded, ruffling August’s hair as he pulled his books out of his bag.
“I don’t have homework.” Matilda had the same tell as Beatrice, a little wrinkle that creased between her eyebrows when she would lie.
“I talked to your teacher today - ”
“About what happened during siesta?” Matilda’s eyes widened and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“No, about your homework… what happened during siesta?” Ava set down the glass she was drying, turning her full attention to her daughter.
“Oh. Nothing. What about my homework?” Matilda tried to distract Ava, folding a napkin into a crane and offering it to her mother warmly.
“That you’re not doing it. Now what happened during siesta, Matilda?” Beatrice rounded the edge of the bar, brushing against Ava as she moved to the back office — Ava’s skin still lit up every time Beatrice touched her, burning like a wildfire even after all their years together.
Matilda evaded the question and the more Ava dug for the answer, the harder Matilda dug her heels in. Whatever had happened that day, Matilda wasn’t telling and Ava wasn’t getting anything from August either. Either both of her children had agreed to not say anything, or August genuinely had no idea what happened.
//
Beatrice rinsed the vegetables in the sink, nodding her head in time with whatever country song Ava had turned on. Her tattoo warmed her skin when Ava wrapped her arms around her waist, the shorter woman standing on her toes to rest her head on Beatrice’s shoulder. Matilda scrunched her face up dramatically, pretending to throw up when Ava pressed a kiss to Beatrice’s cheek.
Ava laughed, bundling the little girl into her arms and peppering kisses across her face while Matilda squealed and pushed her away. Ava spun with Matilda, her voice mixing with Shania Twain’s, her forced Texas accent eliciting a giggle from both August and Matilda. Beatrice rolled her eyes, leaning back against the counter and watching Ava take turns twirling their children around the kitchen. Their laughter filled Beatrice’s chest with light, her knees weakened when Ava looked up at her with glimmering eyes and a wide grin.
Beatrice wondered how she had gotten so lucky to be able to call Ava her wife, to have her as the mother of their children. They had been through so much together, so much hardship and trauma, and Ava had made Beatrice smile everyday regardless of what was going on around them — Ava kept Beatrice warm, kept her soft and kind when everything around her wanted to make her cold and hard and cruel. Ava was brighter than a full moon on a starless night, and she shone everywhere she went.
//
Matilda held the handlebars of the boy’s bike, steadying it while he bumbled onto the seat. She waited for him to start pushing the pedals, walking beside him and keeping him upright as he gained speed. She assured him he was doing great, waiting until he told her to let go before she released him and watched as he flew forward before toppling over. Matilda was at his side helping him up before Beatrice even had a chance to stand from the front steps, Matilda bounced excitedly with her brother. August grinned, his shoulders high as he turned to his mother and asked her if she had seen him. Beatrice assured him that she had, noticing the scrape on his elbow when he threw his hands in the air and cheered.
Matilda noticed too, asking him if it hurt when he lowered his arms and looked at it, both children reaching to poke it before August hissed at the pain and jerked his arm away. Beatrice knelt beside him, pulling out the bandages she always carried in her pocket and letting him pick the design.
He pointed at a pink bandage with purple flowers, Beatrice smiling when Matilda told him it was her favorite. Beatrice wiped the cut with a sanitizing pad quickly, apologizing profusely when August winced before she pressed the bandage over his wound, placing a gentle kiss on top of the bandage.
August thanked his mother for the bravery badge before he picked the bike up and asked Matilda to steady it for him again.
He fell seven more times before he managed to wobble shakily from one end of their fence to the other, grinning wildly when he finally made it.