re: The Nephew

The Nephew is a tiny bit older than Two. And he has just moved into our neighborhood. Now, we see the Nephew more than ever. He stops by on afternoon walks with my brother. And we drop in at their house with dinner. And they come by to borrow Ben's painting tools. It's all very impromptu and wonderful.

The Nephew calls me Auntie.

As in:

"Auntie, look at this!"

"Auntie, come!"

"Auntie, why?"

He calls our house "Daisy's House," because he is delighted by Daisy. But it's true, really. It's Daisy's house. We just live in it.

The two of them walk around the yard together. Daisy trots alongside him protectively and curiously, as he picks up rocks and sticks and shuffles his feet in the dirt (oh, wonderful dirt!). This evening, he dropped by with my brother on one of those afternoon walks. And he gave Daisy kisses on the nose and patted her pink belly and pulled on her tail.

Until we told him that Daisy does not like it when you pull on her tail.

Last week, we took dinner to The Nephew's house. I cut avocados and cherry tomatoes in the kitchen while he flurried in and out.

On this evening, The Nephew had a pair of sunglasses that he preferred to wear upside down. So, we pretended that his sunglasses made him invisible. And every time he put them on, I would wonder aloud where he went to. He danced around the kitchen giddy with invisibility - pausing every now and then to reveal himself with dramatic flair and sneaky laughter. To which I acted very surprised.

We did this until it was time for him to go to bed. At the warning of bedtime, he stretched his arms out and asked to be picked up with all the tenderness and vulnerability and trust of Two. I scooped him up, and his Momma and I covered his flushed cheeks with kisses. Good night. Good night. Sweet dreams.

So loved this little boy, wrapped up in all the love of Momma and Auntie with good dinner smells simmering up all around us and a summer evening lingering lazily at the window.

All things safe. All things good.