The Laughter Of The Children
Roxanne was awakened by the sound of laughter downstairs early the following morning. Her mind
was so chaotic last night that she fell asleep only after a long time. And now, her head pounded from
the lack of sleep.
Roxanne glanced at the time. She wanted to get some more sleep, but there seemed to be no end to
the laughter downstairs. Given no choice, Roxanne had to crawl out of bed and walk out of her room
with half-closed eyes.
When she looked down from upstairs, she spotted Madilyn playing with the two children in the living
room. Seeing that, Roxanne could not help but sigh helplessly.
This woman lives so near to our house, but we haven’t heard from her for the past few days. Yet, she’s
here to disturb my sleep now. “Mommy!” The boys looked up as soon as they heard Roxanne’s room
door open.
Madilyn, too, followed their gaze. The moment she saw Roxanne’s terrible complexion, the smile on
her face was replaced with a look of worry. “Did we wake you up?”
Roxanne nodded without beating around the bush. Massaging her pounding temples, she asked, “Why
are you here today?”
Sensing Roxanne was feeling unwell, Madilyn stopped playing with the children. “What’s wrong? Are
you unwell? Why do you look so terrible?”
Archie and Benny gazed at their mother with concern, looking extremely guilty for waking her up.
Roxanne sighed in exasperation when she met the trio’s worried gazes. “It’s nothing. I just didn’t sleep
well last night. Then, I got woken up by you guys.”
Hearing that, Madilyn pulled the children to her side and said apologetically, “Go and get some sleep.
I’ll take them out to play for a while.”
Roxanne shook her head. “I can’t fall back to sleep, anyway. Please carry on. I’ll be down in a while.”
With that, she turned around to wash up.
Meanwhile, Madilyn exchanged glances with the boys.
“It’s all your fault. I told you to lower your voices, but you boys didn’t listen,” Madilyn reprimanded first.
The boys angrily placed their hands on their hips as they stared at their godmother, who said those
words shamelessly.
It did not take long for Roxanne to wash up. When she was done, she descended the stairs, yawning at
the same time.
Madilyn had bought breakfast for them. The children had already eaten theirs, and Roxanne’s portion
was set aside on the table.
Hence, Roxanne went over to the dining table to have her breakfast.
Madilyn brought the boys over to the dining table and sat beside her, asking, “What were you thinking
about last night? You look like you were up the entire night.”
A look of exasperation flashed in Roxanne’s eyes when she thought of the reason that kept her awake.
She shook her head as if nothing was wrong. “It’s nothing. I drank some alcohol during my social
gathering last night. That’s why I didn’t sleep well.”
Hearing that, Madilyn shot the boys a suspicious glance.
The boys nodded, though they were not really sure.
Only then did Madilyn believe Roxanne’s words. Frowning, the former advised, “Don’t be so hard on
yourself. You might not be worried about your health, but these kids are.”
With that, she gazed downward at the two kids, who immediately nodded to play along.
Roxanne could not help but smile at their act. “All right. Besides, I’m not the only one who’s guilty.
You’re the same, too. You’ve been swamped with work lately, haven’t you?”
Madilyn rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I had no choice.”
For some reason, the hospital had been severely understaffed for the past few days. Madilyn had no
choice but to do whatever she could to help, which threw her into a spiral of hecticness for the past
month. Now that she finally had more free time that week, she decided to pay Archie and Benny a visit.
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