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Written by Rowonna McNeely – “Can Michael spend the night?” Kiera begged looking at me with wide, imploring eyes. “Please?”

“Go ask your Daddy.” I replied. It was Saturday night and we had been playing dominoes at my in-laws. Our 11-year old nephew, Micheal, was staying the weekend with his grandparents and he and Kiera had been playing for a few hours.

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I glanced to the living room where Kiera had turned her pleading eyes on her Daddy. I wondered what his response would be as I poured creamer in my coffee. I turned to put the creamer up and the sound of running footsteps drew my attention from the refrigerator.

Kiera came sliding into the kitchen as she exclaimed, “Daddy said it’s up to you!”

I sighed inwardly thinking about what a disaster I had left the house in before turning to look into Kiera’s hopeful eyes.

“That’s fine.” I said.

“Yeah!” Kiera and Micheal exclaimed loudly, running back to the living room.

An hour later, we loaded up and headed to our house. “Ok, guys. Y’all can stay up for a little bit, then it’s bed time.” I explained as we stepped on to the front porch.

They both readily agreed.

Aaron and I let them play for a while on the PlayStation before deeming it time to start settling down. We turned on a cartoon while they had a small snack.

Now, the original plan was for Michael to sleep on the couch, but Aaron and I wanted to watch a show on television. We decided to make a pallet on Kiera’s floor for Michael and they both settled in to their beds.

I turned on Kiera’s fan and music before sitting on the bed and reading her a bedtime story. I left the room and managed to sit on the couch for a whole five minutes.

Kiera was the first to appear in the living room door. “I can’t get my mind to shut down.” She stated.

“Come on.” I responded as I led her back to her room and helped her settle back in her bed. I sat on the edge of her bed for a couple of minutes before making my escape.

Five more minutes passed and Michael wandered into the living room. “I just can’t sleep.” He said. ‘That fan and her music is keeping me awake.”

Taking a deep breath, I stood up from the couch and headed back into Kiera’s room. As I stepped in her room, I noticed Kiera was wide-awake. I made an abrupt turn and headed back to the living room.

“What do I do?” I asked Aaron. “”Kiera is still awake. She needs her music and Michael can’t sleep because of her music.” By this time, it was getting close to my bedtime and I was feeling it.

“I’ll take care of it.” Aaron stood up and trekked into Kiera’s room. He came back out a few short minutes later.

“Ok. Kiera said she can sleep without her music and I told Michael he can play a game on his phone for five minutes then he needs to shut it off and go to sleep.”  He explained as he sat back down in his recliner.

Content that Aaron had solved all the problems, I decided that I could stay awake long enough to finish our show.

I had just begun to relax when Kiera peeked around the doorframe of the living room. “I can’t sleep.”

“I’m putting her in our room.” I stated to Aaron.

He sighed and agreed. “I’ll tell Michael to sleep in Kiera’s bed.”

Kiera dragged her pillow, blanket, and two Quack-Quacks to our bed. Within twenty minutes she was sound asleep. I checked on Michael as I headed back to the living room and was relieved to see that he was asleep as well.

Thankfully, they both slept well. Aaron and I… we slept well too. We slept really well during the times that we didn’t have a small foot in our ribs or an arm tossed over our face… Or when one of us would have to wake up and drag Kiera back to the middle of the bed so the other one could roll over.

It was the most restful nights sleep we have had in a long time.  I think we will definitely be scheduling another sleep over soon… maybe in another two years.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our new blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at [email protected].

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Rowonna McNeely works with her husband, Aaron, at Willie’s T’s in the Art Department, regularly volunteers in the community, and has her hands full with her daughter, Kiera, along with two dogs and one cat.

Rowonna is a graduate of May High School (Go Tigers!) and grew up on a dairy farm. She enjoys reading, creating, swimming, and planning events. She’s also a bit of a klutz.

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