It was Ben.
I looked at the monitor.
He was lying underneath Brenda’s crib.
One hand was wrapped around one of the crib bars.
But unlike the other mornings when I’d discovered him asleep under there, his eyes were wide open.
He wasn’t simply sleeping beside his sister.
He was staying awake.
I climbed out of bed and quietly walked into the hallway.
The nursery door had been left slightly open.
I was almost there when I heard Ben whisper again.
“I won’t fall asleep this time.”
I froze.
Then came the sentence that made every hair on my arms rise.
“I won’t let Grandma do it again.”
For one second, I couldn’t move.
Then I rushed into the nursery.
Ben startled so violently that he hit his shoulder against the underside of the crib.
“Ben!”
He scrambled around to look at me.
“Hey. It’s okay.”
