Raincloud

Hush-a-bye,
Don't you cry,
Go to sleep, my little Raincloud,
When you wake,
You shall have,
All the pretty little horses.


Rain is sick with an on-and-off fever, cough, congestion--the works. I put her to sleep just now, and I was thinking about what an old friend told me the other day as she looked fondly at Rain:
Enjoy this time now. You don't know it yet, but these are the best years of your life."

I don't know what the future holds. Maybe I've got 60 more years of fantastic happiness, maybe 30, maybe 1 (eeks). But, I sang Rain her lullabye as I ran my fingers through her still-baby-fine-sparse hair. She curled up next to me, and she looked so peaceful and content. After only a few verses, she was asleep. Her dark, curly lashes always remind me of what my sister-in-law called her when she first saw her as a newborn: muñeca. Doll. A living doll.

I kept touching her hair. Someday, she will think I'm the biggest annoyance ever, and that all I do is yell at her to get off the phone, finish her homework, quit talking back ...

But right now, I am the coolest person she knows (granted, her social circle isn't that big, but still). She will do anything as long as I'm with her.

I know that tomorrow, at some point, I'll be bemoaning my lot in life as she defiantly throws her chocolate milk on the floor, but right now, I'll enjoy the thought that she may be the sweetest, best life I'll ever be a part of.