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“Mendez, I see that face. Stop pretending you don’t love my cooking”
Rolling her eyes across the table at her husband when he pulled a face after a bite of the lovely meal she’d made for them all this evening, Maggie drowned out Gary’s response as she focused her attention on helping their youngest cut up her dinosaur nuggets, zoning back in midway through Javier’s enthusiastic retelling of his day at school to find Gary’s attention rapt on their son
Content his dramatic show of disliking the meal on the plate before him was over, Maggie rose to start clearing the table, halfway to the kitchen before she heard pearls of laughter from the table, the chide rising in her throat something she couldn’t bring herself to say as she opted instead to let the ongoing tickle battle continue
Oh life in this Mendez house of hers, there was nothing quite like it
No comparison to being Mom to Gary Mendez’s children
No words to explain how grateful she was to spend everyday with her three favourite people
“What are you smiling about, Bloom?”
“You…And Javier. Juanita…I’m just so unbelievably happy. I love you, Gary Mendez”
Shoving playfully at his chest, Maggie half-heartedly protested the gagging noise her husband made in response to her mushy sentiment, her body half-turned to scoop up their arms raised three-year-old when she decided it was best to chide him after all - There he’d gone and feigned a gag again, dragging out his disgust at her being mushy a little too long instead of admitting what she knew to be true
How happy he was, just like she was
She knew it, she saw it in his eyes when he thought she wasn’t looking, that distinctive tinge of sadness they both knew too well
The thought of what almost wasn’t
A thought that always filled her with a newfound determination to never take a moment for granted
Cancer had almost taken both of them out of this world twice already, but they’d fought, they’d got better, and because of their fight they had two wonderful children together to celebrate
“Oh I was not that mushy. You’ve said a lot worse, Men…Gary!”
Setting their daughter back on the floor, Maggie shuffled Juanita towards her big brother, her now free hands rushing to comfort her husband - He’d just thrown up in their kitchen sink, startling both her and their children, and by the looks of things himself
Rubbing Gary’s back as he bent over the counter top and tried to keep his nausea at bay, Maggie experienced a flash of memories similar to this moment pass before her eyes, it not lost on her the substantial role vomiting had played in their relationship - They were both well versed in nausea, a moment in Gary’s old car bringing a smile to Maggie’s face unconsciously as she realised how long it had been since vomit had held the significance it did then
They’d spent so many nights with one of them feeling the effects of chemo that she’d lost count, and once chemo was no longer a factor there’d been her bouts of morning sickness, then Javi’s ability to bring home every bug from preschool, morning sickness again when she was pregnant with Juanita, and then a break
A break that was apparently over, Maggie’s heart tightening in her chest as she prayed this was another example of the latter
*Please be a sickness bug one of the children has given him*
“Well, Bloom, I think you’ll need to look out one of your old pregnancy tests”
Forever impressed by his never ending ability to find humour in all situations, Maggie pulled her husband into a quick hug before taking charge, sending him off to bed to rest up while she set herself the task of cleaning up
“Mags…”
“You’re benched, Mendez…Tell Daddy he’s benched”
Too distracted with cleaning up to notice only one of her children took on the task and marched behind her Dad to the bedroom ensuring he got there without any diversions, Maggie closed her eyes over and took a deep breath once the sink was clean, desperate not to cry even as tears threatened to fall - She would not cry over Gary throwing up, no matter how many memories the action brought to the surface
Not now, not when they were so happy
Cancer could not be back for him now
Cancer could not have him now, not without prying him from her fingers
“Mommy”
Jumping a little at Javier’s voice, Maggie startled when she looked to her side to see him staring at her with an intensity too strong - Too knowing - for a seven-year-old, something in his gaze silencing her - He was a clever boy, a boy who surprised her everyday with how clever he was
He was the perfect mix of her and Gary, his smile and laugh the two things that reminded her most of the man who’d helped her bring him into the world
“Yes, Sweetheart?”
“Is Daddy going to die?”
Completely taken aback by the question, Maggie blanched, frozen in time until another voice entered the conversation, startling both of them in the best way - Gary
“No, Mijo”
“But you got sick, and when I was a baby…”
“When you were a baby I was very sick, Mijo. I’m not right now…I’m okay. Aren’t I, Mommy?”
“That’s right…”
Finally snapping out of her shock, Maggie rejoined the conversation and let her hands fall to her son’s shoulders, pulling him back into her so that she could hug him as Gary hoisted their daughter onto his hip
“Daddy’s not going anywhere, Javi. Other than to bed…Where we’ll all go and snuggle with him”
Deciding on the spot that she was willing to take the risk of getting sick herself, Maggie nodded when Javi’s face lit up at the idea of them all spending the rest of the night in her and Gary’s bed together, melting easily at his pleading eyes as her heart came to a heartbreaking realisation - He was old enough now to be aware of what her and Gary had been through before he and his sister had been born
To understand the fear that came with loving someone who would forever have cancer inside of them
Yet at the same time he was still so very young, and as much as possible she wanted him to keep his youthful innocence
“Can we watch a movie?”
“Yes, Of course we can. Why don’t you go pick one out and set it up while I get Daddy some medicine?”
“Love you, Daddy”
“Love you, Mijo”
Distantly aware of the hug and affirmation of love conversation occurring across the room from her, Maggie dug through the kitchen drawers for medicine and a thermometer, so distracted in her search she missed Gary’s arrival at her side until he startled her with a kiss on her cheek
“It’s passing already, Bloom. I’m not getting sick on you…Or my Mija”
Reading the extra meaning in those words - His reassurance he was not feeling any worse off than one would experiencing a simple flu or stomach virus - Maggie nodded and rose on her toes to risk a kiss on the lips, resonating herself to a weekend of likely nursing three sickly family members back to their full health when her daughter copied and also planted a kiss on her Daddy, his baby girl’s enthusiastic cuddle clearly appreciated by her husband as he slipped his arm around Maggie’s waist, steering his girls to the bedroom to join their waiting son
“Come on, Girls…I believe we’re having an impromptu family movie night”