The day after the wedding reception, we gathered at the Airbnb that Sonia and Doug had rented for the trip to Tulsa.
The muted early afternoon light streamed into the living room through the front windows, highlighting the arm of a sofa, the corner of a coffee table book, and a teacup rim.
Sonia, Doug, and Gregory were seated on a sofa, their backs to the window bathed in soft, yellow light. Jonathan and Brady faced them from armchairs on the other side of the coffee table. The fireplace was on the wall to Jonathan's right and Sonia's left. In contrast, Mireille and I sat on another sofa against the opposite wall, directly in front of it.
It was a family in a box. The only missing members were Liam, doing his homework, and Rowan, taking her nap.
As we sat together, discussing the wedding reception, our travels, the previous night's rain, the delicious food, and the music, each of us shared our unique memories and stories, resulting in plenty of laughter.
We were in the middle of a conversation when Rowan joined us in the room. She looked like she had just woken up, with puffy eyes, flushed cheeks, and curls sticking to her forehead. She was holding BunBun tightly under her arm.
I felt honored, and surely Mireille did as well when Rowan decided to sit between us on the sofa. As she snuggled between us, her warmth almost made her glow in the half-light. Comfortable and used to being the center of attention, she sat flopping one of BunBun's long ears back and forth as she does.
"Did you have a good nap?"
Her head nodded back and forth in sync with BunBun's ear.
"Did you have any dreams?"
"I did!" She exclaimed brightly.
"What did you dream of?"
"Pancakes!"
dust motes in sunbeams
rising in the warming air
-shoes piled at the door
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