Page 173 of Solanum

"It's true," Maggie said. "Every word of that."

"I don't doubt it."

"What time is Anita coming to get you tomorrow?" Maggie asked Nora, her voice soft.

"Um… Early. Around nine. If I go to bed now, I'll wake up hours closer to Caroline coming home," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Want to sleep up here or downstairs with us?"

"Up here with you up here." Nora's bottom lip poked out in a pout. "Sali's noisy in the kitchen at five in the morning."

"Excuse me, blondie. It was eleven in the morning." She swatted her elbow. "You and Maggie are bums."

"Yup." Maggie pressed her finger to the center of Sali's forehead. "Only bums allowed. You sleep downstairs."

Sali laughed and swatted her hand. "Fine. But you get no sex."

Maggie looked between Sali and Nora. Once. Twice, then said, "Okay. How about Sali and I start out downstairs then come up here?"

Nora laughed hard. "Fine. I need to shower anyway."

"Good." Maggie pretended to wipe the sweat from her brow.

"Say goodnight to your Mistress so we can get on with the sex." Sali gestured to the screen.

Nora snickered, her sad eyes on me. "It's late there…"

"Almost one." I nodded. "But I only want to hang up if you're okay. Honestly okay, honey…"

"I'm okay." Nora smiled while patting the cheeks of Sali and Maggie. "These two macadamias will help me sleep."

"Excuse me. I'm a pecan." Sali narrowed her eyes at Nora.

Maggie and Nora cracked up.

"What kind of nuts are Nora and I then?" I asked her.

"Nora's a peanut because she's tiny." Sali poked at her a few times. "You're a cashew. Because you're dick-shaped."

We lost our shit then, all of us bursting into a round of hysterics.

"Sali! You say the dumbest shit sometimes," Maggie exclaimed while red-faced with laughter.

"Tell me you disagree with that assessment!" Sali flailed, waving wildly at the screen.

Maggie and Sali broke into a round of bickering about nuts while Nora and I watched them. Neither of us controlled our laughter at that point. Nora's gaze met the screen again and she smiled.

"Love you," she said, her voice soft.

"Love you, too, Kitten."

"Go to sleep. You look tired."

"I will."

She blew me a kiss and I returned it.

"You go to sleep, too. Enjoy your day with Anita tomorrow and I'll see you around dinner time."

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