While the world sleeps

I hear the creak of the door opening and the patter of your feet racing toward my bed. 

I feel you wiggle onto the mattress until you manage to somehow lay on top of me because sleeping in the same bed just isn’t close enough for your little self. 

I feel your fuzzy blanket brush against my arm and your messy hair tickle my chin. 

I hear your breathing as you drift immediately back into a deep sleep all while knowing my deep sleep has ended for the night. 

Related: Why I Share a Bed With My Baby

I touch your soft little belly that is poking out of your pajamas in a desperate attempt to soak in my final baby. 

I can’t explain the perfect smell that is you—a mixture of chaos and perfection that I want to bottle up because I know it will be gone too soon. 

You roll to the side, poke one eye open and whisper, “I love mama” and then immediately disappear into your perfect slumber. 

As a tear escapes my eye and drops to your fat cheek, I cuddle you in close as a desperate attempt to slow time. 

I breathe you in. I kiss your face. I pinch your toes. 

All while the world around me sleeps.