The remains of my orange lay in fragrant shreds within a plastic orange bowl.  The bowls, once used strictly for Cadence’s baby mush are now my special fruit peel bowls.  Very linear, very neat that way.  Oranges have become plentiful in my house since my mother’s stay four weeks back.  Three weeks ago was our clementine craze.  Cadence soon caught on, peeling the clementines whenever it pleased her.  Random segments dried out on the table and countertops once she decided the real fun was not in the eating, but in the peeling.

Hana’s baby monitor emits a soft buzz at my back.  At last, both little girls have succumbed to a solid sleep, allowing me a quiet night to bathe and relax.  It won’t be long before Hana’s discontented grunts drown the buzz, and signal the end of my time.  It will be no loss, except perhaps a loss of sleep.  I’ll look down at her dark gray-blue eyes, and see a little something of me in them.