I was just settling into my favorite chapter, the glow of my desk lamp casting long shadows across my room, when it started. A faint, whiny sound at first, then growing into an unmistakable, full-blown wail. Downstairs. It was little Lily.
A sigh escaped me. My parents were out for the evening, leaving me in charge, a responsibility that usually meant quiet movie nights but occasionally involved emergency baby-soothing. Book left open, I swung my legs off the bed and padded towards the door, the cries growing louder with each step down the creaky staircase.
Lily's room door was ajar. Peeking inside, I saw her standing in her crib, a tiny, red-faced hurricane. But the moment my shadow fell across the room, the wailing cut off. Just like that. One moment, a banshee; the next, a wide-eyed, sniffly little angel, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek.
I walked closer, leaning against the crib rail. "Hey there, little one," I murmured, wiping her tear with my thumb. "Why were you crying, huh? Bad dream?"
Lily sniffled again, then pointed a chubby finger at her own stomach, right where a tiny, almost-healed umbilical scar resided. "Bwutthwole," she mumbled, her voice surprisingly clear after the dramatics.
I blinked, trying to process the word. "Bwutthwole?" I repeated slowly, then a lightbulb flickered. She'd been fascinated by her tummy button lately, poking it, trying to pull it. And 'bwutthwole' sounded like her attempt at 'belly button hole', or just 'belly button'.
A strange thought popped into my head, a game we sometimes played. "Oh," I said, a smile forming. "I see. You want me to become one of your body parts, do you?"
Lily's face lit up. She clapped her hands together, a joyous, rapid-fire pat-pat-pat, and dissolved into a fit of giggles. Her specific way of saying a very enthusiastic 'yes!'
I chuckled, picking her up and bouncing her gently. "Alright, alright, you little dictator of the anatomy. I will become your belly button." Lily squealed, burying her face into my shoulder, a happy, gurgling sound escaping her.
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