You came into the bedroom
Where I lay mostly asleep
I feel the weight of your body
At the foot of the bed
Your hands and knees shaking the mattress
As you creep up the middle

Your dad warns you not to wake me
Mommy’s asleep
You need to go back to your own bed
He tells you sternly

You stop moving for a moment
Then protest about how much you want
To snuggle me for just a minute
I silence the banter by lifting the covers
And you slip under to snuggle close

Though still groggy and hovering within a dream
Part of my mind and body
Register the points where your smaller body
Is tucked tightly within my own

My arms close around you heavily
And you sigh in contentment
I can almost see you in my mind’s eye
Smirking smugly at your dad
Pinning him with your gaze

I hear your dad huff in amusement and resignation
The battle for the bedtime snuggle
Has come to an impasse
And inevitably, you have won again