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Eve Moonlit does not wake up to snoring.
It would be a minor annoyance if that were the case, but Adam lays right next to her already awake, his eyes focused directly on her. He kisses her on the forehead as he says, “Good morning, love.”
She giggles, leaning closer to him. “Good morning, Adam.”
Neither of them make the first move to get up.
Normally as soon as either of the two of them are awake, they have to wake the other up to get started on their daily chores, but Eve can tell from the way the sun’s light barely dips from their bedroom window that the two of them have woken up earlier than usual. Normally even then the two of them would want to get up no matter the time because those chores aren’t going to do themselves.
“We should start to get out of bed,” Adam says, despite not sounding like he wants to do it at all.
Eve leans in a bit closer. “It’s early,” she says, smiling. “Surely we can stay in bed a bit longer.”
The image of Adam frowning does not come unbidden to her mind’s eye because he’s smiling at her. It means that he’s already decided to stay in bed and be lazy for once. “That’s a great idea,” he says, lying back onto the pillow.
Eve snuggles up next to him, and time stretches out onto infinity as they lie together waiting for the sun to rise high enough to bother them enough. It never does, but even Eve’s laziness has limits.
-x-
Her routine is simple enough, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“Hansel, be careful with that,” she warns. “You might cut yourself with the edge.” Hansel wanted to try cutting the vegetables this time, while Gretel’s mixing the meats. Eve thinks that the poor deer never stood a chance, but at the moment she better make sure that Hansel doesn’t cut himself.
The boy in question perks up as his name is called. “Don’t worry Momma! I promise I’ll be careful.” She pats his head with her free hand, since her other hand’s stirring the pot. The stew’s just about done, but there’s one more thing she needs to add. “I know, I know,” she says. “Forgive an old woman for being such a worrywart.”
“You’re not old, Momma!” Gretel pipes up. Such a sweet child, reassuring her mother like that. “Yeah, Momma,” Hansel repeats after her.
Eve chuckles, before stepping away from the pot and kissing her two children on top of their head. “If the two of you say it, then it must be true,” she says lightly, her children’s smiles sending a pleasant sort of joy through her as Eve looks through the cabinets.
The cabinets are full, of course, stocked up with enough food to last them for a few months at least. She does not linger at looking at all the stored food items before finding the exact spice - oregano, was it - and adding it to the stew. And after that, the rest of the meat and vegetables that her darling children have already prepared goes into the pot.
The resulting dish smells perfect.
-x-
After making enough food to last the whole family through the rest of the day - much to the twins’ relief - there are a couple of chores around the house that need doing.
Adam’s off to town with Gretel in order to deliver a couple of their home grown vegetables to one of the sellers that’s willing to buy their produce since there’s more than enough food at home than they could eat for a long time. Eve should know, since she’s been collecting the rest of the lettuce and cabbage growing in their backyard.
Hansel is carrying the basket in both his hands as Eve picks up another cabbage up from the ground and places it inside the basket. He’s very obviously having some difficulty lifting up the entire basket, but he’s trying his best if his wrinkled face is any indication.
Eve takes the basket from his grasp. “That should be more than enough for now, don’t you think, Hansel?”
Hansel doesn’t reply, but instead sighs deeply in relief and lets his butt fall to the ground instead of sitting straight up. “Momma, I’m tired,” he moans. Eve chuckles at her son’s antics. He was the one who wanted to try and be strong and hold the basket and let Eve pick the vegetables instead of the other way around.
“As a reward for your hard work, I'll bring you back home, okay?” Hansel mumbles something in agreement, and Eve can plainly see that he’s looking really tired. Thankfully Hansel’s still light enough that she can lift him up on one arm back to the house with her other hand on the bundle of vegetables.
As soon as Eve gets back inside the house she drops the basket on the floor and heads to the children’s room to deposit Hansel on the bed. From a quick glance at Hansel, his breathing is slow and steady, and his eyelids are starting to droop. Normally she’d give him a bath after getting this tired, but just this once Eve thinks it’ll be better to let him immediately go to bed.
Eve twists a lock of blond hair as she cradles Hansel in her arms. “For being such a good boy and helping Momma today with the garden, I’ll let you sleep without cleaning up first. So be a good boy and get some rest, Hansel.”
She deposits him on the bed and she can hear his sigh of relief. The bed is big enough to hold both twins, so it’s a funny sight looking at him in a bed that size. The urge to sit down on one of the chairs and make sure he has a blissful sleep isn’t a new one, but it’s strong enough that she’s actually considering it right now.
She really has gotten too sentimental in these past years, she thinks, already grabbing a book from one of the twins’ bookshelves that isn’t at least one of the many children's stories.
-x-
She wakes to Adam shaking her softly.
“Huh? Adam - what is it?” She yawns. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Gretel currently curled up against her brother, so at least she’s asleep. How long was she out?
Adam smiles at her. “I found you here fast asleep. Gretel was tired enough from the trip that when she saw Hansel already sleeping she went right in bed without cleaning up.”
She shakes her head. “At least she didn’t trip in a bunch of soil.” Eve tries to get up from the chair and Adam gives her his hand to help her get up. She clenches it softly as she gets to her feet and sees Adam’s eyes shining.
“I know that look in your eyes,” Adam says, as smooth as ever. “You’re thinking about something.”
“I’m just feeling sentimental,” Eve answers, letting Adam lead her to the living room. The fireplace crackles as they exit the children’s room. She does not flinch as the two of them linger just at the fireplace’s entrance.
“Is - is something bothering you?” There’s a quiver in Adam’s voice that she knows means he’s uneasy. It’s a tone that she often hears whenever Adam thinks she’s introspective or moody.
She shakes her head. “No it’s just -” How can she describe it? Sometimes it feels like her heart is bursting out of her chest and she can’t take it. All of this. All of this is much more than she could’ve ever dreamed. A life with her precious prince and two of her beautiful children is too much for her to imagine even in her wildest dreams.
She wanted it, of course. Imagined something like this happening but now that she can experience it fully, it just makes her so happy. She must be blessed by the gods for being granted such a life.
“I’m just so happy,” she reassures Adam. There are tears rolling along her cheeks now, and Adam takes her into his arms. “Everything. Everything is so perfect, Adam. I have you. I have two beautiful children and a safe place to call my home. It’s so much. It’s so much more than I could have ever dreamed.”
-x-
“Eve,” Adam says suddenly, as they lay side by side in bed.
In the moonlit night, she puts her hand on his. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.” The apology leaves her confused. What for?
She vocalizes her thoughts, “For what, Adam?”
“I promised you so much more than this. I promised you the world,” he trails off. “I wanted to see you rule with me at your side. I wanted - I wanted -” Eve shuts him up with a kiss.
“You never asked me what I wanted,” she says in response. “All I’ve ever wanted was a simple life with you. You rescued me, my darling prince. That could have been enough for me, I think, but you love me. And I you. Together, that is enough for me to be happy with.” Whenever she thinks of Adam, sometimes it feels like her chest is about to burst and she can’t breathe. Sometimes she can’t even think straight about him, and it distracts her. That’s how much she’s in love.
He takes a shaky breath. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Eve.” There are tears streaming out of his eyes and Eve wants to kiss away the tears.
“I will always forgive you, my love.” Whatever karma, whatever sins the two of them shared before they got here would be shouldered by both of them. They would face their fate and move forward into the future. Together.
“And I will always love you.” She knows this in her heart to be true, even if Adam would never say it out loud.
And with that, Eve sleeps peacefully next to the man she loves.
She does not dream.
And if she did, she would not dream of being sucked up into a black box.
-x-
Eve Moonlit does not wake up to snoring. She never wakes at all.