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It wasn’t often that you got to have alone time with Rebekah. (In fact, it was close to never.) Since having your four-year-old daughter, Mimi, you’d both been consumed by her. Not that it was a bad thing—you knew that this would be your reality when you chose to become parents—but it did get depressing when you couldn’t just cuddle up with Rebekah on the couch, a glass of wine in hand.
As Mimi was getting older, though, it became easier to have evening time reserved just for you and Rebekah. Seeing as Mimi was now four, she slept through the night, and her bedtime was eight o’clock, so that gave you and Rebekah an hour or two of peace in the living room.
Lately, however, Mimi had been catching on to your plans. She began connecting the dots: whenever either you or Rebekah (or both of you) tucked her into bed, you didn’t go into your own bedroom, you went downstairs. Then she’d stay up, straining to hear the two of you talking on the couch. She’d get upset, stomp her little feet down the stairs, and walk into the living room with a scowl on her face.
You and Rebekah had been laughing. Your hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and Rebekah’s right arm was around your shoulder, pulling your cheek closer to her so she could press a kiss there, and her other hand was on your wrist. Your half-full wine glass nearly spilled on the wood floor as you giggled.
“Mimi,” you said as you stopped laughing, “what’s wrong?”
“Why are you spending time with her and not me?” she grumbled, scowling in the most adorable way possible.
You were doing your best not to laugh, but it was, admittedly, hard. “It’s time for you to be in bed, and when you’re asleep, we like to spend time together.”
“But you’re my mommy,” Mimi complained.
“Well, so am I, actually,” Rebekah muttered, making you force back a laugh. You slapped her gently on the thigh for doing so.
“You’re mum,” Mimi stated. “She’s mommy,” she gestured over to you. “And she’s my mommy, so she should be with me.”
You held out your hand for Mimi to grab, then pulled her up on the couch, sitting her half on your half, half on Rebekah’s. “Mims, we’re both your parents, and we both love you equally as much. Just like I love you as much as I love Mum. I spend all my time with you, and I think Mum deserves some me-time, too, no? Didn’t we talk about why sharing is so important?”
Though she clearly didn’t want to see your logic, Mimi gave in and nodded, knowing you were right. You’d had a miscarriage a month ago, and because of the pregnancy and the miscarriage, you were sick for a few weeks, and Rebekah had to take care of Mimi the majority of the time. Mimi ended up developing some separation anxiety from you, and she didn’t want to lose you again, so you were as gentle as possible with her when it came to things like this.
“How about this?” Rebekah began. “How about we let you stay up past your bedtime tonight, and we can all watch a movie together? How’s that sound?”
Mimi’s face lit up, and she nodded immediately. “Can we watch Barbie?”
“Which one do you want tonight?” Bekah asked, grabbing the remote and scrolling through the movies. “Barbie as Rapunzel? Barbie of Swan Lake…?”
“Oh! Can we do the fairy one? With Mariposa?” Mimi excitedly asked.
“We sure can, darling,” Rebekah grinned.