Grammy's House

My mother in law called yesterday and we chatted for awhile. Now, unlike most mother/daughter-in-law relationships, I love my mother-in-law. We have coffee and cinnamon rolls on what used to be called Thursday, but is now appropriately re-named ‘Grammy day’ and we just enjoy each other’s company.
We were talking about a good time to come over for dinner when she casually says “Would the boys like to spend the night tonight?” She said this as if mentioning we might have meatloaf instead of hamburger. I mean, does Ed McMahon ever just casually knock on someone’s door with a fist load of balloons and say “Do you want the $375 million dollars you just won?”
The words were still echoing in the receiver as I was shoving the last bit of clothing they would need into a backpack. Their pillows were already in the car when she said that dropping them off around 6:00 would be good. It was only 2:00. Crestfallen, I decided to put a DVD on continuous play for the next 4 hours.
I instantly began having visions of my dear husband and I swanked out in our best dress, laughing and spinning wildly on a dance floor in some up scale club. Well, he has to work tomorrow, so maybe just a game of scrabble and some cereal for dinner, but whatever it was, I was promised an evening without jumping, yelling, crying and feathers floating from the new down filled silk throw pillows I recently splurged on.
My husband was already home from work when I got back from dropping off the boys.
“Where are the boys?”
My eyes twinkled in mischief “Your mom’s”
Confused, “For how long?”
“All. Night.”
We exchanged a look and then burst into fits of laughter and song. Woo Hoo!! What to do first?! Something wild, crazy, something we haven’t been able to do for, well, 7 ½ years! Anticipation builds as we both scurry about finishing up our evening duties. I clean the kitchen, he milks the goats. I clean up toys, he feeds turkeys and collects eggs, etc. etc.
By the time we’re both done, a bit of the enthusiasm has worn off. An hour later we both stand in the kitchen feeling a bit defeated. It’s just so quiet. Not a nice, peaceful quiet either. An eerie quiet. Neither of us dares speak of it so we just agree that it’s already too late to go anywhere so we’ll just read a few chapters of a book that we’ve been reading together.
Soon, it’s time for bed and we both lay quietly in the dark. I’m feeling a little sad and uneasy. Out of habit, I had walked into each of the boys rooms to make sure they had blankets on and to kiss their soft little noses. It was a quiet, relaxed, crumb free evening but it just wasn’t what I had hoped for. In the stillness of the night Brett softly says “I miss the boys.” I snuggled deeper into his arms, “Me too.”