You’re taking your afternoon nap. I check my watch — you’ve already slept as long as you usually do. It’s your birthday, so I should probably let you be as lazy as you want, but there’s a little present I’ve planned to give you, and I’m finding it hard to wait.
I come into the bedroom and you’re still asleep, your head turned to the side, your eyelids closed and unmoving. Through a gap in the your sleep-disheveled hair I see the pale, smooth skin of your exposed neck, and I move toward the bed. I lean down and bring my head close to yours, but you do not stir. I stand straight again and look down at you lying beneath the covers. I try to visualize the way all of your limbs are placed — your arms hugging a pillow, both legs turned to one side, making an adorable parallel zig-zag.
I lean in again, closer this time, bringing my lips a fraction of an inch from your neck. I release a warm sigh to see if you will feel it and wake up. You do not. I place the lightest possible kiss on your petal-soft skin. Now you stir, rolling over towards me and blinking tentatively.