There Will Be Freedom (not mine)

29. Real Estate

MADDIE POV

Roman was a very active little boy. He would never sit still for anything and even in his sleep, he moved around as if his dreams were coming true.

We brought him home about two days ago, and he was adapting quite well to life outside of the hospital. He and Sophia were like two peas in a pod. I never believed in all that twin nonsense before, but now that I saw it in the flesh, I couldn't deny that there was some sort of connection between the two of them. They had to be changed together, fed together, put down for naps together, and could rarely stand to be separated.

I think Sophia knew how sick Roman was, so she didn't like to be far away from him. The doctor said that twins just had that kind of connection. In short, because of his weak lungs and my infection from Spain, Roman had developed a pretty severe case of asthma. Since he was a preemie, he had to be put on a nebulizer. You could hear the crackles in his lungs when he took deep breaths. He would wheeze and cough when he slept on his side, and I had to prop him up sometimes so his breathing would level out. The doctor had given us several different inhalers and also a couplemedications.

I was always worried about him. He was so tiny, and I feared that one day, something horrible was going to happen. I kept picturing different scenarios and trying to convince myself that none of them would ever come true.

"Sweetheart, it's time for our walk." Justin came into the nursery with a leash on Francis.

"No, not today. Let's just stay in." I ran my finger across Sophia's stomach. She was in the cutest pink dress that Rebecca had brought.

"Maddie, the doctor said you need to start exercising again," He replied.

Every day was a battle between us about me leaving the babies. I had some sort of separation anxiety that I couldn't explain, but it was slowly consuming me.

"Can't we go later? I just put them down for their naps."

"Exactly why we need to go now before they wake up screaming to the high heavens."

"Alright, fine." I got up from my seat.

Francis was more than ready to go, almost bouncing on his feet to get outside. I had to put on a light jacket since it was kind of chilly. October was one of those months when it might be hot in the day, but by night, you needed to bring an extra blanket out from the closet. Today was actually pretty nice. There was a strong breeze and the sun was out, but it wasn't overly heated.

Justin and I walked Francis down the path from the house that led to the lake.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Fine." He shrugged. "Why?"

"You look forlorn."

"Forlorn, Maddie? No one uses that term anymore."

"But it's true. What are you thinking about?"

"I think I might have found us a house."

"A house? I thought we were having one built."

"Oh, we are, but it's taking too long and I know you want to get settled. I found something that's very nice and would suit us perfectly. From the outside, at least. I haven't been in."

"How big is it?" I asked, kind of scared to hear his answer.

He chuckled. "Pretty big."

"Bigger than the last one?"

"Double the size, but I figured since we have two more people, it might be needed."

I sighed. "How am I going to keep a place like that clean?"