Chapter78Group Photo
Madison got up early the following day to prepare breakfast for the kids. With no sign of Matthew around and the bedroom and study room doors closed, she wondered if he had already gone to the office.
While eating breakfast, Hannah asked, "Mom, did Dad go to work?"
"Yeah, he must have. Once you finish eating, can Mom take you to preschool?"
"Okay." Hannah knew her dad was busy with work, so she didn't keep asking about his whereabouts.
After finishing breakfast, Quentin and Hannah picked up their backpacks and walked out the front door, hand in hand with Mom.
Madison, who had planned to hail a cab, saw Matthew's car parked outside. Seeing them come out, the driver quickly got out to open the car's back door for them.
"Madam, Matthew instructed me to wait here to take you to preschool," the driver said.
Madison had guessed it was Matthew's arrangement when she saw the car and accepted without a fuss, worried about the hassle of finding a taxi and being late.
The driver left after dropping the kids at school and waiting until Madison was safely back home.
Madison entered the house, changed her shoes, hung up her bag, and prepared to head upstairs to work on her designs.
With the kids now at school, she had more time to focus on her design work.
She poured herself a glass of water in the kitchen when she heard the front door open.
Holding the glass, she stood rooted to the spot. To her surprise, it was Matthew who had come in.
Why was he home so early?
She noticed he was carrying a bag that looked like it came from a hospital. Had he gone there first thing in the morning?
Matthew saw Madison standing by the living room couch with her glass when he walked in.
They locked eyes, but neither spoke, and silence filled the space between them.
Late at night, Matthew's stitched wound throbbed painfully, and he developed a fever. Unable to inconvenience Madison and the kids with a house call, he hailed a cab to the doctor's office. Afterward, he arranged for a driver to pick up the kids early for school.
The doctor had restitched the wound and warned him to keep it dry and avoid strenuous activity to prevent it from tearing again, along with a long list of precautions. Matthew listened, pressing his lips together and nodding, "Understood."
The doctor had prescribed some fever-reducing and anti-inflammatory pain relief medication for him to bring home.
Stepping into the house, Matthew hadn't expected to run into Madison. She was usually in her room at this time of day.
Clearing his throat, Matthew broke the silence.
Madison hesitated with the glass in her hand but eventually asked, "Are you all right?"
Matthew knew she was referring to his injury. She had seen it yesterday and now caught him carrying medication.
But he had no plans to divulge the truth about being shot. He answered vaguely, "Yeah, nothing serious, just a minor injury. Had to get some painkillers from the hospital."
"Oh, then take care of yourself—don't carry Hannah around too much with that injury," she said without probing into how he got hurt.
Turning with her glass, she climbed the stairs.
Watching Madison retreating until she was out of sight, Matthew finally returned to his senses.
He walked into the kitchen, swallowed his medicine with some warm water, grabbed the bag of meds, and headed back to his room.
Madison was busy in her room, sketching out designs, when she got a Facebook notification from Rachel. It was a photo.
It was taken the day before, when all four of them had gone onstage to receive an award, with Rachel snapping the picture from the audience.
She hadn't realized she had been standing next to Matthew at the time, with Hannah on his right and Quentin on her left. The photo had captured an incredible moment—the kids grinning proudly with their trophies, and even she had a beaming smile. What was rarest of all was Matthew's faint, elusive smile.
Madison had always known he was handsome, but she hardly saw him smile.
His smile in the photo, gentle and slight, lent him an aura of softness, amplifying his already dazzling presence.
Madison gently pressed the save button, quietly storing the photo on her phone.
She put her phone away and grabbed her pencil to resume sketching, but Rachel's photo had interrupted her flow of ideas, leaving her unable to make any progress. Giving up on the drawing for now, she decided to take a walk in the garden downstairs to check on the cacti she had bought for Max and Bella.
Grabbing her phone, Madison stepped out of her room. The house was quiet. She didn't hear Matt leaving, so he was either in the master bedroom or the study. Both doors were closed. She tiptoed down the stairs, making a beeline for the garden.
Max's and Bella's cacti sat perched atop the highest shelf of the garden rack.
The yellow pot belonged to Quentin, the blue to Hannah.
Upon closer inspection, Quentin's seemed to have sprouted a few buds.
Madison's heart leaped with joy, wondering if the kids could see them bloom when they got home from school, although they were more likely to open by tomorrow.
After observing the cacti, Madison finally grabbed a watering can to tend to the other plants. Cacti didn't need much water, so she moistened the soil a little.
Just as she was finishing up, she received a call from the real estate agent.
The transaction was complete, and the keys to the house could now be handed over to her. The agent asked when she could come to pick them up.
Thinking about her schedule, Madison figured she could grab them after dropping Quentin and Hannah at school the next day. She set up an appointment with the agent for ten o'clock.
After hanging up the phone and finishing the watering, she turned to head back inside.
Startled, she jumped as Matthew appeared right behind her.
When had he come out? She hadn't heard a sound. Did he overhear her call with the agent? She wondered if he would be as upset as last time.
Madison waited in the garden for a bit, noting that Matthew didn't seem angry. His expression was calm, unlike the last confrontation, where she felt his fury could scorch her.
Having taken medication, Matthew returned to his room, exhausted, and fell asleep on the bed. Waking up to see it was nearly noon, he was puzzled by the silence.
He knew Madison knew he was home – she would typically have lunch ready and call him to eat. Today, she hadn't.
Uncertain if the issue from before was still unresolved and whether she might not prepare lunch for him again, he decided to go downstairs and check.
He had just descended the stairs to the living room when he saw Madison through the glass, hunched over, closely inspecting two cacti. It reminded him of the last time Hannah had messaged him on Facebook, mentioning that she and Quentin each had a cactus. These must be the ones.
She didn't notice him at first, absorbed in her task of watering the plants with diligence. He quietly approached the glass door, watching her bustling about, a sweet smile on her face as she carefully tended to the plants.
Later, she took a phone call. He heard her say the paperwork was done and that she could pick up the keys tomorrow. So, she had bought a house already.
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