at the tail-end the holiday break marty was woken up in the middle of the night by someone coming up the stairs. our kids are now old enough that we no longer have to participate in their bedtime rituals. that said, marty will still often do rounds of cuddles at bedtime but that tends to only happen on school nights because on the weekends and holidays the kids way outlast us, me especially as i tend to go to bed at/by 10:30 every night, without exception. after she was awake, she went to the bathroom. on her way back to bed she noticed a light on in the boys room and paused at their closed door. she overheard the following:

ALEX
what should we do?

ANTHONY
is tomorrow a school day?

ALEX
not for us. just for mom.

ANTHONY
maybe we should go to bed.

ALEX
yeah. it's like 2:00.

ANTHONY
ok. good night alex.

ALEX
good night. love you.

ANTHONY
love you too.

in the morning marty told me what she heard. after a few moments she added, "that's pretty cool how close they are." growing up as an only child i often wanted a sibling. then i hear horror stories, or even just everyday stories about life with siblings and think my solo draw may have been best. but then when i see my boys together and how close they are and hear how much they laugh and how protective they are of one another, i pine like mad for a relationship as deep-rooted as that.