"Will you cuddle with me?"

A long weekend filled with friends, family and junk food = exhausted kids with stomach aches.

She rises at 4:30, pads downstairs to my doorway.  "Mom. Mommy. I need you.  Please tuck me in."  I shake away the desperately clinging throes of sleep to head up with her. Tucking her blankets up under her chin.  And she looks at me with those blue, blue eyes.  "Will you cuddle with me?"

Hana is already sharing her twin bed, so I settle in on the rough carpet next to her.  Fall is settling in and it's cold.  I find a throw blanket in their mess of covers and claim it for my own.  Her breathing becomes slower, more calm.  But she doesn't fall asleep. She periodically reaches down to assure herself I am still there.  Finally, she slips out of her bed and into my arms, finally relaxing fully. I stay there a few minutes more before tucking her back in next to Hana and placing a kiss on her forehead.  

I carefully ease out her door, desperate for a few more minutes in my own bed, under the down comforter.  As I slip into the hallway, I hear her sweet, five-year-old voice whisper, "I love you mom."

I returned to bed, shutting off my alarm to run.  I scraped myself out after 2 snoozes on the later alarm.  I am clutching my coffee in one hand, trying to type with the other, and managing the puppy with my knees.  

But my heart is happy.