It's dark. The wall clock shaped as a frog is ticking loudly. Scary loud. All the things in the room are put neatly on the shelves and don't make a sound, cos it's night and the house is quiet. Or, is it? Did daddy remember to check undet my bed? No, he didn't even say goodnight since he was giving Adam a bath. He and mom had been smiling and talking about the baby and 'first time' that evening and I was excited, too. I wanted to watch what made them so happy, but it was past mine and Julia's bed time and mom hurried to put me to bed. She even forgot to leave the door open. Stupid baby.
"Dad?"
No answer. Please, please listen! I want daddy to come and rub his fingers through my curls, whisper "Hey buddy!" and carry me to their big bed and put me down next to mommy. I would curl up right next to her and breath in her smell as she puts her arm around my back. The bed would get warm and we would fall asleep. My bed is cold and…Maybe something is under the bed? Did I turn off the robot? Maybe a monster has moved in there! What if the monster on Scooby Doo made its way out of the TV and hid under my bed… Oh!
"DAD!"
I pull the comforter over my head and start crying. I'm so scared – why is nobody listening? Mom, dad and Adam are probably sleeping in the big bed now, forgetting about me, not caring about me. I'm so alone.
"David?" a deep voice is calling.
Dad! I pull the comforter away from my face and reach out to the tall man sighing while entering the room. But instead of picking me up and making his way to the bedroom he's putting me into his lap.
"You should go back to sleep, big guy. "
No! I'm not big! What is this?!
"I wanna sleep in your room, with mommy."
Why the sudden need of explanation? Is this really my daddy, by the way?
"Alright, I'll take you to our bed, but your mom and the baby are sleeping, so you're gonna have to stick to my side of the bed, OK?" dad says.
I guess. Do I have a choice? He pulls me up into his arms and carries me out of my room, passing the door with the sign that says "Julia" and into the big room. I immediately notice mom's dark locks on the pillow. Her arm is draped protectively over my baby brother. I want her to wake up, smile at me and let me snuggle up to her. Dad whispers to me that I have to be quiet, cos mom is tired and I can not under any circumstances wake her up. I nod and carefully climb up on the bed, looking over at mom for a moment. Her body is moving slightly for every breath she takes. I look at dad and he smiles my way. I smile back and start reaching for him as he's raising his arm my way, but when I'm about to give him a hug his arm reaches behind me, his hand lightly stroking mom's cheek. Oh, I wanna cuddle, too! There's no chance of that as dad quickly falls asleep beside me. I'm in the middle of my parents bed, but even more lonely than in my own room. Tears are slowly sliding down my cheeks as I hear the deep breaths surrounding me. Suddenly a finger is stroking my face, collecting the tears. I look up into a pair of warm brown eyes. She smiles at me and leans down to kiss my forehead.
"Hi, sweetie."
Hi. The feeling of being completely safe is washing over me as I'm pulled closer to her. Her fingers are beginning to stroke the hair in my neck, curl by curl. I'm resting my head against her breasts and suddenly feel very sleepy.
"Mommy loves you, David", I hear her whisper.
I love you too.