“Don’t go.”
A small voice calls from the bed behind me where I had just felt Elizabeth’s cool forehead and kissed her cheek. The curtains are pulled shut, keeping the morning light at bay.
“OK.”
I climb into bed behind her and she pulls my arm tightly around her chest and smiles.
“Stay with me. I want to have some alone time with you. Daddy and Samantha can do something, and we’ll be in here resting. Just you and me.”
“OK.”
Snuggle.
“Mommy, is it a school day?”
“No, it’s Saturday.”
“On Saturday we can go anywhere we want to.”
“Sure.”
“We’ll do whatever we want to, just us.”
“Sure.”
Snuggle.
“Mommy, why did you come into my bedroom?”
“Because you slept in late and I wanted to make sure you weren’t sick.”
“I’m not sick. Look, I’m already dressed!”
“Wha? You are! When did you do that?”
“Last night after I read books and Daddy made me go back to bed. I turned up the light just a little so I wouldn’t wake Samantha up, then I got dressed.”
Elizabeth wears a red Wonder Woman T-shirt, pink pants with flowers on them, and pink socks.
“And you slept in those clothes all night?”
“Yes. And now I’m all ready to go!”
Snuggle.
“Mommy, is it cold outside?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, if it’s a warm day, let’s go to Sea World. Then I can ride the big ride with the waterfall! We’ll go down real fast and then we’ll get wet! What do you want to do today, Mommy?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we can go to the Natural History museum and see dinosaur bones.”
“Yes, and then afterwards we can draw pictures of dinosaurs. But not until the end of the day -- I have other stuff I want to do during the day. We need to make a list.”
“Sure, but let’s eat, first. I’m hungry.”
“That’s the fifth thing on the list.”
“What are the first four things?”
“Ride the ride at Sea World, watch TV, have a birthday party for the snake, and make goody bags.”
“Well, the first thing on my list is to eat breakfast.”
“But we’re not doing stuff on your list until the end of the day.”
“Oh.”
Suddenly, a little alarm goes off that only Elizabeth can hear. It's time to begin the day. She pushes back the covers and jumps out of bed. She gathers the large green stuffed snake that’s coiled at the foot of her bed into her arms. She thinks of supplies she’ll need for the birthday party. She wonders what she can put inside the goody bags.
She needs to make a list.
It’s Saturday morning.
Sweet Lizzy, I wish I didn’t have a headache. What's the second thing on my list? Two Excedrin.
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