Little m Long a

With a muffled voice, she called them to dinner.  Habit.  Muffled because also out of habit she did not wait for them to arrive before beginning to eat.

“Ee ya…Oh ee….” she called.

“Llella!”  Zander corrected her.  “They’re not here.”

And certainly, they were not for  Zoë and Zia have gone to their aunt’s house this evening for a sleepover.  Yes, the same aunt who just last weekend kept Zane on his first sleepover.  Zoë and Zia felt that they needed some auntie time themselves.  So much so that they have given the auspicious occasion a fitting moniker–BFF Sleepover.  I think that’s Big Fun Filled Sleepover or something like that.  It’s a girl thing!

With a nonchalant, “Oh,” she turned her attention back to dinner and never gave the subject another thought.

As we sit on the deck this evening, Zane, the twins and I, an overwhelming sense of serenity, of calm, surrounds me.  The wind chimes behind me resonate deep, rich tones as the gentle breeze takes some of the heat out of the heavy August evening air.  I watch silently, as my kids play carefree.  Games are made up on the fly with simple rules that would appear to have been present for ages.  There is no bickering.  Interests wain and children race down the hill toward the swing set.

I close my eyes and take it all in.  Birds singing, gathering last minute morsels before nightfall, the cicadas, the wind chimes.  A train passes–it’s a mile to the tracks but it sounds like it’s just beyond the tree line, a church bell tolls the hour.

And above it all, the laughter of children.  Children that are happy.  And that makes me smile.