I walk through the front door and am faced with absolute silence. Madigan never makes much noise but there's always the tv on of some music. Hearing absolutely nothing makes me nervous.
"Madigan?" I raise my voice to make sure it's heard throughout the whole house.
"In the Kitchen, Kevin," I hear her sweet sweet voice from the kitchen and let out a breath of relief. She's okay.
I kick off my shoes by Madigan's orders. She says wearing shoes inside is rude and makes the whole house dirty.
I step through the living room, walk into the kitchen and am hit with the most amazing smell. Food. Most importantly, Madigan's food.
Madigan is washing dishes and I walk right behind her, wrap one of my hands around her waist and lean down.
"Hey, Mads," I kiss her cheek, "what you doing in the kitchen?"
She leans into my touch and answers with a massive smile on her face, "I'm making you dinner."
"What for?" I laugh because her happiness is contagious.
"I just wanted to make you something nice," she looks up at me and smiles.
"Well thank you, Madie," I send her a grateful smile and wrap my other hand around her waist as well.
"So I have lasagna in the oven, almost ready, and I also made you some cookies," she says and dries her hands after finishing doing the dishes.
I turn around and see the cookies on the table and they look heavenly. My hand is moving towards one when a hand lightly slaps mine.
I turn to Madigan and give her a shocked face.
"No sweets before dinner," she says with a stern face then looks at my hand, "I didn't hurt you, right?"
"No, babe," I laugh and pull her close to me and give her a quick kiss. She lets out a sigh and I pull back. The moment I see her red cheeks I smile and kiss both of them. She's such a sweetheart.
She smiles as well, puts both of her hands on my shoulders and kisses my cheeks. I look at her with a smile for a while before she notices, having been resting her head on my chest.
"What?" she asks with a laugh.
"I just wanted to look at you for a while. You being happy makes me happy."
She looks at me with a smile on her face and then wraps her small hands around my waist, puts her head on my chest and hugs me tightly.Oh, what I wouldn't do to stay this way forever.
We spend the whole dinner conversing and enjoying the delicious lasagna she made. After the rough last few months she's had, I'm so thankful that she's so happy. She's laughing, talking, she's shining. I'm so proud of her for getting this far. She's the strongest person I've ever known.
It's almost close to midnight when we have finally finished eating, doing the dishes and taking a shower together. I had to be very persistent on doing the dishes because Madigan thought I needed to get some rest after such a long day at work. I'll never be too tired to do even a little thing for her.
The moment I lay down in our bed, my arms wrapped around my precious girlfriend with her head on my chest and her tracing patterns on my chest, I feel so in peace. She's the only one I'll ever need to feel okay, to feel at home. She is my home.
"Hey, Kevin?" I hear her sweet voice ask and I'm pulled out of my thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"What are you thinking about?" You. Only you, Mads.
"You," I tell her the truth.
"Me? What about me?" she laughs and it sounds like heaven to my ears.
"About how you're my home," my answer makes her eyes soften and what seem like tears fill her eyes.
"Thank you," she wraps her arms around my upper chest and presses her face in the crook of my neck.I don't have the chance to say anything, too wrapped up in her right embrace, before she finishes, "for everything."
"I'd do anything for you, Madigan," I say and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. She kisses my neck and presses herself closer to me.
And at that moment, Madigan wrapped in my arms and me in hers, I realize.
I realize that she truly means everything to me.
She's my home, I don't know what I'd do without her.
I realize that I love her.