I close my eyes.
Upstairs the silence stretches long enough that I can feel it all the way down here.
When Gabriel finally speaks, his voice is quiet.
"I care about Natalie a lot," he says.
"That's not what I asked," Maddie replies.
I close the dishwasher slowly.
For a second I think maybe he'll dodge it again.
Maybe he'll make a joke.
Maybe he'll tell her she's supposed to be sleeping.
He doesn't.
The room upstairs is quiet again.
Then Maddie's small voice says something that hits me like a punch.
"If you love each other you should just say it."
Gabriel lets out a breath that sounds a little wrecked.
"It's not always that simple," he says.
"Why not?" she asks.
"Because sometimes when you say something out loud," he says slowly, "everything changes."
Maddie thinks about that.
"That sounds scary," she says.
"Sometimes it is," Gabriel admits.
A moment passes.
Then Maddie says, very softly, "I think you'd both be happier if you stopped being weird."
I bite down on a laugh before it turns into something else entirely.
Upstairs Gabriel makes a sound that is half cough, half laugh.
"That's brutally honest," he tells her.
"I know," she says sleepily.
Then, quieter, "I like her here."
That one gets me.
I grip the edge of the counter.
When Gabriel answers, his voice is gentler than before.
