I have been gone too long.

The other evening I woke to my niece screaming. The niece I lived with from the time she was 5 months old to over two years. The one whom I LOVE.

After ascending the stairs in the near dark I found her alone in the bathroom crying. Her mom was working a graveyard shift, so I took her to their room and tried to comfort her. She refused to be consoled, and could only say, "I want to sleep with Charity, I want to sleep with Charity," in near hysteria. I felt bad about waking that requested sister as I knew she had to wake up early the next morning for work. Ede became even more emphatic: "She said yes." Trusting a screaming, 4 year old child, I slowly opened my sister's door.

Graciously Charity welcomed her in.

The following day I told Lia about the incident, before asking Eden why she wouldn't sleep with me. She turned to me, and in the snootiest voice imaginable answered, "But Charity is my aunt," to which I responded with some measure of sadness (and snootiness), "Little girl, I am also your aunt."