Down the Rabbit Hole

Sleep Giggles

I was lying awake this morning at the unforgiving hour of 4am, thinking about the week of work ahead of me and all the housework I'd failed to get done over the weekend and the almost constant worries about our finances. I was preoccupied with my busy thoughts and just starting the feel the creeping stress of it all when Jaden made a sound as she slept beside me. It was faint and soft, it had barely registered in the darkness. I propped myself up on one elbow and watched her, her face was positively angelic in her slumber. Then she did it again and I realized with a measure of delighted wonder, that she was giggling. My daughter was having a happy dream. I could not remember the last time I had a dream in which I was happy, let alone one that inspired me to laugh. She giggled again and this time the corners of her perfect mouth curled into a sleepy smile. Her thick dark eyelashes looked like delicate little wings that fluttered but remained closed. She rolled over to her side, the slight smile still there as she dropped back into a deeper, dreamless sleep. I curled my body back down around hers, she fit into the curves of my body like a missing puzzle piece. I took one of her small hands in mine and felt the tiny fingers wrap around my thumb. My daughters soft sleep giggles was just about the best sound I have ever heard and like a super tonic, it swept the toxins from my mind. When my alarm woke me up three hours later, I felt as if I had sleep soundly all night.