"Pleeeease can I stay up a little longer?"
His father gives me a questioning look; I shrug. "Sure," he says.
Lee's gap-toothed grin splits his face. His mother smiles faintly.
The cold and bitter taste of envy stabs, as my sole worshipper in all the world celebrates the prospect of more time spent in my presence. I wish I could believe in anyone that way.
I also long for a time when I had a father to look up to, a mother to look out for me, but this is hardly a new ache.
The feeling of missing my uncle, however, is still surprisingly fresh.