So Everybody Loves You

After breakfast that morning, we all went out to the mall for the day. We had lots of fun too. The malls around here were huge, and a lot of fun at this time of the year. There were fun houses up and things. It was Halloween time. But we didn't take Maria through the Haunted Houses because she was already having battles of her own with monsters in her closet. Of course, they didn't know that, but we did.

Later that night, after we had gotten home, we were sitting on the couch together watching scary movies. The seating arrangement went like this. Mike, then Jacoby, then Tre, then Me, then Maria, then Billie. We were all packed in and snuggled up watching The Hills Have Eyes 2. Luckily, Maria was falling asleep on Billie's shoulder, so she wouldn't be scared. Billie, however, noticed this, and decided that we should probably put her to bed. Well, when he got up and picked her up to take her to bed, she woke back up. "Hey sweetie. You're sleepy, so we're gonna bring you to beddy by okay?" She nodded her head sleepily. "Follow me." I whispered.

When I entered my room Billie said, "Wow, she has an awful big room for such a small girl." I giggled lightly. "Shut up Billie, this is my room. She's been sleeping with me for like two or three months now." "Why?" "She had a little 'run in' with a 'monster' in her closet." "Ahh, I see." He said. "There are monsters in your closet?" He asked Maria, looking down at her. She nodded her head wide eyed. "Come on." He said, thought he was still holding her. "I want to show you something." He took her into her room, where I showed him it was, and spoke softly and calmly to her. "Now look Maria, we're going to look in the closet okay? And we're going to check for monsters." "I don't wanna!" She squealed turning her head away. "No, no, no listen baby. I'm going to show you that there's nothing in you're closet. If I'm right, you can start sleeping in your room again peacefully, if I'm wrong, you can smack me, and I'll buy you anything you want. Deal?" She thought about it for a few minutes. Contemplating. "Take your time thinking sweetie, I'll wait as long as it takes you."

Five minutes later I gave up and decided it was useless when my three year old looked up at Billie Joe and asked, "Will you stay with me the whole time?" "Of course!" He chimed! "Okay." She said in a tiny almost, inaudible voice. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't even get her to do it and I was her own mother! Now if he could get her to overcome this, I'd definitely be impressed!

He walked over to the closet and slowly opened the door. He pulled the chain down that turned the light on and stood back for a minute. "You ready, Maria?" She nodded lightly. "Okay then." I watched intently as they stepped into the closet and they inspected every inch of the closet together. Behind her clothes, behind her jackets, behind all of the big stuffed animals. Under the low shelves, on top of the high shelves, from wall to wall, side to side, front to back, and ceiling to floor, and Maria found that there was no monster.

They stepped out, and she didn't look frightened. She didn't look scared. But she looked relieved, peaceful. "See baby girl, there's nothing in that closet. And here's how I know. I'm going to tell you the same thing my dad told me when I was your age. Because, believe it or not, when I was three, I thought I had monsters in my closet, too. And he said what I'm going to tell you now. There's nothing in you're closet at night when you go to sleep, that wasn't there in the day time when you were awake. And think of it this way. How can a monster get into a closet that has no way of getting into? Your closet has no holes. So a monster can't slips through. And you know you've never seen a monster go through your closet door. Much less your bedroom door or your window, so there simply can't be a monster in your closet babe. Just remember that, and you'll be fine. The only thing that's in there are the toys that are waiting for you to play with them the next morning and the clothes that are waiting to go on your body. So no worries. It's like Timone and Pumba said, Huchunamata!" And he spun her around in the air while saying that. She giggled hysterically.

I couldn't quit smiling, that was such a precious sight. I also couldn't get over the fact of how well Billie was with my kids. He knew exactly what to do in every situation. Maybe I'd let him deal with the question about the birds and the bees when that time came. I laughed to myself at that thought as Billie Joe was laying Maria down in her bed. "Good night Maria. Sweet dreams. Sleep tight. Don't let Tre's bed bugs bite." She giggled yet again. He kissed her nose and then her cheek and hugged her. receiving, in return, a hug and kiss from her. I then walked over to my child. "Good night, Angel." I murmured softly in her ear while bending down to hug her, then kissing her cheek. "Good night mommy, good night da- I mean Billie Joe." My eyes grew wide as I knew what she just mistakenly was about to say. "Good night sweetheart." I said one last time, as I kissed her cheek gently and rushed from the room as quick as possible before Billie had a chance to mention it.

"What took you two so long?" Mike questioned. "Yeah, were ya 'messin' around'?" Tre asked. "Shut up Tre." I said, but laughed it off as I took my seat next to him again. Billie shortly took his seat next to me. Only difference, Maria wasn't there to fill the gap between us. So now we were even closer than before.