“No! Go back in there and relax. The food will be here any minute.”
Chelsea looked lost. She wanted to calm the babies yelling, but Sangi was standing in the doorway, Mason in her arms, pointing to Chelsea’s room. Her shoulders slumped as she walked back in and sat on the bed. She drew her knees up to her chest, anxious until the babies had been calmed and put back to bed.
Sangi walked in a few minutes later with a box of pizza and sodas. She sat the box down in front of Chelsea, flipped on the tv, then waved her over. Chelsea made space for her. Sangi climbed into bed, flipped open the pizza box.
“I got your favorite, veggie lovers. I don’t know why you’d ruin a perfectly good pizza with vegetables, but there you go.”
Chelsea laughed. “You will never leave me alone about that, will you?”
“Just like I’ll never stop calling you Charlie darling.”
Chelsea felt her eyes welling up as she hugged her best friend. Sangi slapped at her hands. When they were separated again, Sangi picked up a slice of pizza.
“Stop all that crying, woman. Those damn hormones have you going crazy.”
Chelsea let out a laugh as she wiped her face. “I know! I’m turning into some kind of crazy person.”
“Nah,” Sangi said as she took a bite, “it’s normal. It’ll go away soon enough.”
They sat together in silence eating slice after slice of pizza until they were both stuffed. As they did, they watched reality tv, yelling at the screen or rolling their eyes in unison. Finally, Chelsea pushed the box away, washing it down with the last of the two-liter.
“So,” Sangi said as she muted the tv, “what’s going on with you and Matthew?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like he’s never around. Or that he doesn’t want to be here. I think he’s cheating on me,” she said quietly.
Sangi let out a loud laugh making Chelsea stare at her with wide eyes. “Come on, Matthew cheating on you? Do you really think that man has the time or the energy, let’s not even talk about the fact that he’s madly in love with you.”
Chelsea nodded slowly. “More hormone induced, temporary insanity?”
“Oh, yeah. Besides, the man hasn’t stuck his dick in anything in two weeks. Does he pester you for sex? Does he whine?”
“No,” Chelsea said. “He doesn’t even mention it.”
“Does that sound like Matthew to you? I guarantee the base of all your troubles is that he hasn’t gotten off since before you gave birth. Men need love too. Just a different kind of love, to their dicks.”
Chelsea threw a pillow at her. “You’re so immature.”
“You love it.”
“Speaking of dicks, how’s Andrew’s?”
“Happily satisfied. We’ve been together six months now you know? I think he might actually love me.”
“Has he said it yet?”
“Not yet. You’d be surprised how he clams up at the mention of feelings. Sometimes, he’s like the epitome of romance, other times he’s like a robot named Andrew.”
“It’s all the Rawlins,” Chelsea said as she leaned against the headboard. “Back when you thought he was gay, Matthew was like that.”
Sangi grinned. “Oh yeah, I did ask him that?”
They burst into a fit of giggles at the memory. The rest of the afternoon, Chelsea let Sangi take care of the babies. Every time she did, it got a little easier. Sangi flopped back into bed next to her with a heavy sigh.
“That Melanie is ornery. I wonder where she gets it from?”
Chelsea feigned innocence. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought. Would it really be so bad to get some help? She could use another pair of hands.
“I think I should hire some help.”
“About time, stubborn. You know, I grew up with a nanny and I turned out fine.”
“I don’t think you’re the person I want to hear that from right now.”
“Shut up, jerk! I’m perfectly fucking awesome.”
“Okay sailor mouth.”
Later that night when Sangi had to go home, Chelsea felt rested, happy. She sang to the babies to put them to sleep. Then she cleaned the house. When it was time to go to sleep, she drifted off easily, a smile on her face.
The next morning, she contacted a nanny agency and looked for a housekeeper too. She’d finally come to the realization that there was no point in having that much money if she was always going to shy away from it. There was no point. She knew she had to enjoy her life. With nanny and housekeeper interviews set up, she went ahead and decided on hiring a chef too. There were only a few more weeks before she’d have to go back to work, she might as well be prepared.