It had been about a week since the cat appeared at their door, and Maia had said nothing of it since that night. It wasn't that she was afraid to talk about it, but she just hadn't felt it necessary; she knew very well that even this excuse was cowardly. Now, she was keeping herself busy, going about the house early in the night to gather everything that needed to be washed, tossing it into a basket at her hip.
Venturing into Heike's room, she found the baby girl to be awake, for once. Smiling, she set her basket down by the door and made her way over to her, picked her up, and kissed her all over until she got her giggling. "Silly girl," she whispered sweetly, setting her down again so that she could change her, and when she was done she wrapped her up in a clean blanket so she could bring her outside with her. Holding Heike close with one arm, she picked up the basket again with the other and took them down the stairs and outside.
When she reached the area where she usually washed things, downstream of where anyone would ever go in or bathe, of course, she set Heike down and unwrapped her from her blanket so that she had her own little spot to stay on, trying to make it easier for herself to keep an eye on the baby. Talking sweetly to the girl, Maia had a difficult time with stopping and actually doing what she'd set out to do. Eventually, though, she got to work, kneeling beside the creek and taking care to be thorough with each item she washed. Maia wasn't sure what this night might entail, but she hoped it would be something good, something nice.
Occasionally, she found her thoughts drifting. She kept thinking of Kaito, of how she wanted to see him soon. She thought she might have just not seen him in the house or even that he was out doing something, but her heart did want him. Pausing from her work, Maia turned her head and stared off in the general direction of the house for a moment, smiling faintly, reflecting. It occurred to her then that they'd not been together in about a year, something she'd never really expected to happen but had, nonetheless. With a tinge of pink in her cheeks Maia giggled, shaking her head as she returned to her washing.