“Are you ready for bed, yet? I want to cuddle” Michael whines from under the covers.
“I’m almost done!” I yell back through a mouth-full of toothpaste.
“How many fucking teeth do you have? You’ve been at it for ten minutes” he retorts.
“I’m done, my goodness you’re impatient!” I laugh while walking back into the bedroom.
“I’m tired and I want to snuggle” he says through a sing-song voice as I climb atop the bed.
I feel an unusual lump underneath the pinstriped comforter on my side near the pillow.
“What is this?” I ask, anchoring my arm underneath the blanket.
I pull up Michael’s favorite stuffed toy, Daniel, who is a brown and gold lion.
“Are you kidding me?” I say in disbelief.
“What?” Michael laughs, eyes beginning to crinkle at the corners.
“Why is Daniel on my side?”
“He was tired too” he continues to giggle like a small child.
“Here” I hand him the limp stuffed animal.
“Aw, why did you wake him?” he says, leaning over on his elbow to face me.
“Michael, please” I plead, still trying to hand Daniel over.
“He was comfortable there! Put him back!”
Irritated of arguing with, an overly tired, Michael, I tuck Daniel underneath his blanket and resting on his chest. I throw myself onto my side only to have the tiny lion laying on my head.
“You’re impossible” I say, Daniel now in my hands.
“Stop being cranky! He’s like… six inches long, he fits on your side with you” he says through a smile.
“You know what? I think I’d rather cuddle with Daniel instead of you. He’s always smiling at me” I say and wiggle Daniel in Michael’s face.
“Rude” he says flatly.
I turn my back to him, nuzzling the stuffed animal against my chest as he whines behind me.
“You’re a fantastic cuddler, Dan!” I pretend to say lovingly to the tiny lion.
“Why don’t you just date him then?” Michael says under his breath.
“That’s actually a pretty decent idea” I respond sarcastically.
Michael turns around to face my back and wraps his arms around my waist. He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck, breathing softly against the chilled skin.
“Stop cuddling Daniel” he says in a tiny voice.
“He’s warm though” I respond.
“You’re really going to pick a stuffed lion over this?” he asks before pressing a wet kiss to the side of my neck.
“Daniel says to stop kissing his girlfriend” I say before reaching behind me to tap the tip of his nose.
“Alright, that’s it” he groans.
Michael reaches over my side to grab Daniel, pinching me in the process, and tosses him out of the bed. Daniel lands with a slight thud as the plastic beads in his paws land on the hardwood floor. In the dim light that floats in from the window, I can make out Daniel’s face- still smiling although he looks like the ‘after’ picture of a murder scene.
“What did you do that for?” I roll over to face him directly.
“I want to snuggle with you. Not you, Daniel, and the entire inventory of Build-A-Bear” he says frankly.
“He’s your toy!” I laugh.
“Shh” he smiles, placing his open palm on my face.
“Alright, alright” I continue to laugh, now feeling a little unable to breathe.
“Come here” he says in a low voice, opening his arms for me to slide into.
My head rests on his chest while my hand lays palm down on his stomach, he kisses the top of my hair gently while pressing me a little closer into his body. We spend the rest of the night, curled into each other, like this; despite Daniel’s large eyes watching in the corner.
