It’s 1:10 am. I hear her through the monitor and rush to her room.
The darkness is slightly pushed back by the dim red light from her new training lamp. It allows me to see her silhouette standing in the crib.
“What is she holding?!” I think, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing.
Elena has been sick for a couple of days, so we’re back on midnight calls and a swift transfer to our bed to make sure she doesn’t have a fever.
The past two nights, Tim got up and brought her in. Last night, I happened to be awake after one of my second trimester what-time-is-it-lets-pee-again interruptions.
I hear her call my name with a slight whimper. No cough, but an urge in her voice.
“Did she pee? Is the fever back?” my mind turns rational as I speed walk to her room.
When I walk in I find a scene that could have not been predicted. I really wish I had a photo.
“That looks like a plant,” my brain whispers.
Tightly gripped, she holds her snake plant up and hands it to me as I approach her. I am so confused.
I take it from her hand and place it on the floor, feeling the dirt on her body as I pick her up.
What the heck, girly?
I brush the dirt off with my hands and a wet wipe and bring her to our room. She falls asleep within seconds. I follow a few minutes later.
When we wake up in the morning, I tell Tim, “I’m going to have a fun clean-up in her room. She pulled the plant from the planter. ” It’s early, and everyone still sleeps, so he leaves for work without the chance to see the scene and laugh with me.
It’s a scene that seems pulled from a sitcom: her crib, sheets, pillow, and stuffed animals are covered in dirt. The pot where the plant used to be is placed in the exact location it’s always been: the dresser by her crib. The snake plant rests where I left it a few hours ago—roots sticking out and some dry soil still clinging to its stem.
By this time, we are all up. I leave Elena in my room watching TV while my mom and I begin to clean.
I hear Elena coming, and I ask her, “What happened?” in a genuinely curious tone.
She goes, “Oh no! It fell down!”
We will never know.
