Warm tonight

The air was warm and heavy as I stepped outside tonight. The girl on my hip and my husband at my heal, she said "bye bye" in baby speak over my shoulder. She and I circled the mailbox and after putting a letter inside, walked down and up the ditch back toward our house. Upon our return I stopped in front of the steps and set the girl down on her bare feet. My husband was examining the brick walk and told me of his plans to make it more level tomorrow. I joked with him about how manly it is to consider home improvement on Father's Day. I put my attention back on the girl and saw that she had climbed nearly to the top of the porch and I yelped as I picked her up; I remember too well the day the boy fell down those steps and caused his head to bleed. I began to pull dead flowers off the gardenia bushes and considered the mess in the grass below. I followed the baby around the corner and smiled as she ran toward three cats in our side yard. She loves our animals and tells me in an excited whisper whenever she sees one: "kee kee" for cat or "dah" for dog. As I show her the hydrangea bush and she touches their soft, blue flowers, her brother and father join us. The boy had just finished in the bathroom and was ready for bed but my husband couldn't resist sharing with him the warm night air. The two broke into a run and I soon followed suit; running around our side yard in a chain of I chase you, you chase me. The spontaneity was infectious for the girl and she ran in no particular direction, giggling and screeching. I was glad to see the boy's true colors come out as he protectively stepped in front of her and asked her to stay in our yard with his body language. His sister back on track, I held his hand and ran to the front of our yard, around a tree and back again where he was greeted with a hug from his father. I felt an insect hit my bare arm and wondered if we'd be seeing lightning bugs soon. The activity changed flavor when the boy spotted the moon and we all walked to the front of the yard again to examine it. "The moon!" Where? "In the sky" I told the girl her moon was out and told the boy his sun had gone to bed. My husband and I sat on the prickly grass while the children circled around each other, dizzy from the late hour. We decided to call it a night and I wonder now what tomorrow will bring.