Fresh from the shower, hair wet and not quite rinsed through...she's only five. She's not quite sure. But, Miss Independent will take her shower like her big sister and when she shuts off the water she'll still be...a tiny bit grimy.
I let it go. I always do.
Instead, I dry her hair. Slowly, tonight. I don't want to rush her into the next moment, for this moment will be...gone. Without her knowing, I close my eyes and breathe in her strawberry hair. I tenderly touch the lobe of an ear and focus on that new freckle. Inspecting every inch. That elfin nose. Those baby fine hairs on her left cheek. She sings while I dry. Some song from some show and the words are...all wrong. She doesn't care. If she wants to sing, loudly and off key, then she sings. Having no idea that I...can't get enough. Sing more.
She turns into my lap and buries her face in my neck. My momma. My momma. She says.
Her sister, growing jealous, asks...Why is Tink getting the Love Treatment?
Because, Pink, that's what I do. Would you like the Love Treatment, too?
Yes.
I'm surprised, but never let on. Pink is less willing to accept the Love Treatment on most nights. But, not tonight. Tonight she lets me....pull her close. Tonight she lets me pull the brush through her ever growing mane. Tonight she tangles her fingers in mine while the hair dryer muddles the conversation. I'm afraid to look at her too closely. If I do, I'll see how much she's grown. I'll see the new teeth and pajama pants that now graze the skin above her ankles. I'll see my first born, but not my baby.
Tonight I pull her close and think of that mother, in a neighborhood close by, whose arms are empty. Unexpectedly. There would be no greater pain. Every mother in every corner of the world is feeling it for her and with her. I don't know her, but I know that she, too, gave the Love Treatment. Because, that's what we do. We mothers. We, givers of love...and life.
Tonight I will lie down with my babies on my mind...and hers. And I'll pray that she will find a way back to those moments again. Where the Love Treatment is given...and not taken.
