Another Happy Snippet
Kate never quite understood the people who were restless during church. They’d shift in their seats constantly, so energized by those few hours of sitting and singing that they disappeared like a bolt when things were concluded.
Kate could not bring herself to be one of those people. Sermons drained her, much as reading scripture drained her, as she tried to piece everything together. She would keep her Bible open while people spoke, following along with anything they might reference and keeping notes on hand.
Being faithful, to her, meant being engaged. She had to engage with lessons mentally, engage in services and activities physically, and steadily, steadily engage herself spiritually. She did not understand having an excess of energy after all of that. It drained her.
It was the middle of the day, sure, but when Kate got back home from church, she was nearly in a stupor. It took her three tries to slip off her shoes, and she didn’t bother to take off her tights. The lights were off throughout the house, so she figured Max must still be out running errands. Was she with Chloe today? Kate couldn’t remember. She was so tired.
When Kate opened her bedroom door, though, she stopped in place. A weary smile crept up on her face immediately, and she felt the tiniest jolt of energy reinvigorate her.
Max lay, fully dressed but for her shoes, face-down in bed, and did not respond at all to the door being opened. The gray-yellow light that filtered in through their blinds gave Kate just enough of a look at Max’s face to know that she was totally gone, as exhausted as Kate had felt.
Max had woken up two hours later than Kate. How did she manage to tire herself out so fast?
Kate made a quick calculation. They were having friends over for dinner at six, and it was about 2pm right now. That meant she could easily take a two hour nap and still have the house ready by the time anyone arrived. Perfect.
Kate slid her skirt down and crawled beyond Max, rolling over to fit herself behind her. Knees locked in behind Max’s, check; arm over Max’s waist, check; the gentle rhythm of Max’s endless mouth-breathing as she slept, check.
Everything was perfect, and Kate fell right to sleep.