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Written by Rowonna McNeely – A few nights ago, I was awoken by a cry. “Mooooommmmmyyyyy!” The heart-wrenching cry was followed by a rough sounding cough. I jumped out of the bed and headed to Kiera’s room.

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Honestly, it was more like; I bolted out of bed at the sound of her crying my name. Then instead of walking down the hall, I more or less stumbled through the hall, thankful that none of the animals had decided to take up residence in my path.

I made my way to her bed, managing to avoid any errant Barbies that did not make it into their designated box before bedtime.

I leaned down to check on Kiera. She was lying sprawled across her bed, half-covered with her blanket, eyes closed. “Baby?” I asked.

She rolled to her side, clutching her blanket. In a sleepy voice, she whimpered, “Can you get me special chocolate milk?”

I picked up her cup and turned to leave the room. “Yes, baby.”

“Mommy?”

I turned, walked back to the bed and leaned down. “Yes, honey?”

She never opened her eyes. “Can you find Quack-Quack?”

Now, Quack-Quack is a whole other story. Let’s call him Q for short. Q is a yellow duck lovey. He has a satin strip down his front where he splits into a small blanket body. Q is VITAL for bedtime. I can’t stress the word VITAL enough. Let’s just say we have considered putting a tracking device on Q to make sure he is never lost.  To top it off… I have not been able to locate a duplicate Q. Now, you understand the reason we have considered putting a tracking device on Q.

Anyways, I searched the bed for Q and found him under a pillow. I placed him in her arms. Immediately she snuggled up to him, sliding her fingers along the satin.

Again, I turned for the door.

“Can you cover me up?”

Once again, I turned back, leaned down and covered her little body with her blanket.

“Don’t forget to cover all my shoulders.” The pitiful little voice said.

I tucked the blankets around her shoulders and stood again. I paused for a minute, waiting to see if she would ask for something else.

Just as I gave up and headed to the kitchen for her milk, I heard her.

“Mommy?”

I set the still empty cup down and walked back to her room. Leaning down, I pushed stray hair out of her face. “What is it, angel?”

“Get Daddy…”

As she paused, I considered going to get Aaron. She never asks for him in the middle of the night. I don’t know why. He has tried. She does not want him in the middle of the night. She loves him so much. She is fairly good about him putting her to bed, loves to play with him, but when it comes to waking up in the middle of the night… only Mommy will do.

So, in that brief pause, I considered waking Aaron up. That is until she finished her sentence.

“Get Daddy…” she said in the small, pitiful voice. “and have him go look for the sheep.”

The sheep… We don’t have sheep.

“Umm…the sheep?”

This is when the small, pitiful voice turns into a grumpy, frustrated voice. “The sheep.” She stated with her eyes closed. “Get Daddy to look for the sheep.”

I patted her on the back, making sure my crazy, dreaming child was covered. “Mmmhhmm…I’ll go tell Daddy. “

I began to back away from the bed.

Kiera sighed, clutching Q a little closer. “Thank you.” She mumbled before dropping back to sleep.

I waited for a few more minutes to make sure she was sound asleep before going back to my room.

Climbing back in bed, I snuggled up under my blanket. I listened to Aaron quietly snoring. I couldn’t help myself. I gently poked him in the back.

“Huh?” he mumbled out.

“Go find the sheep.” I smiled in the darkness, as I awaited his confused response.

I know. I know. It was mean. But, no worries, we were both back to sleep in about five minutes.

Kiera may not want him to wake up at night but I don’t want him to feel like he is missing out. Here’s to small paybacks and sleepless nights.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our new blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at [email protected].

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Rowonna McNeely works with her husband, Aaron, at Willie’s T’s in the Art Department, regularly volunteers in the community, and has her hands full with her daughter, Kiera, along with two dogs and one cat. 

Rowonna is a graduate of May High School (Go Tigers!) and grew up on a dairy farm. She enjoys reading, creating, swimming, and planning events. She’s also a bit of a klutz.  

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