Only Occasionally

There’s an age past which fevers and nightmares stopped bothering N so much. She stopped the default to cry out, or crawl into my bed.

A fierce thunderclap the other night, though, was the undoing of her sophistication. She flew into my bed in one whoosh, fluffed up the pillow, and slept the night through. In the morning I took a moment to admire this amazing young person that, only occasionally, still needs her mother.