dessert

i spent the day tripping over his short self - he kept finding me and clinging pitifully to my pant legs begging to be picked up - and i, in my busy state kept shushing, feeding, changing, wiping his sweet little snotty nose - and then putting him back down, continuing on with the tasks at hand.
Finally his tone of suggestion morphed into one of insistent need - and i picked him up in my arms and felt his wee body press into me with his short baby arms reaching through my tangle of hair to circle my neck.
We snuck upstairs.
He already had his nap - he was fed, changed, clean...
He just needed his mama.
We went into his little blue room and i plopped him onto a pillow on Gagey's bed (which is always made because nobody sleeps in it... *sigh*) - then i pulled his blankie out of his crib and curled up beside him on his bed.
i heard a satisfied sigh escape his lips and then the rhythmic suck on his soother began.
We lay like that for what felt like forever - his tiny fingers trailing mine, drawing patterns on the palm of my hand while his body rested in perfect contentedness - just *being*, enjoying, holding each other.
"Ephraim..." i whispered breaking the silence, and i heard his latch break on his soother as he whispered his baby words back at me.
"Ephraim, you know what you're like? You're like dessert. Y'know how sometimes you have a nice big, satisfying meal... but after it's all done, you long for just a bite of something sweet. Some deliciousness to nibble on with a hot cup of coffee..."
i nibble on his baby ear, and his laugh is a sharp intake of breath.
There never was a sweeter dessert in all the world.