My Mother

messy, eyes sleepy.

“I heard Santa,” she whispered.

I smiled. “Did you?”

She nodded seriously. “Or maybe the heater.”

“Probably the heater.”

She held up her blanket. “Can you stay for one minute?”

I climbed in beside her.

She curled against me, warm and breathing easily.

For a while, we listened to the quiet house.

No alarms.

No machines.

No shouting.

No demands.continue reading …