(I also snuck in a kiss on his cheek and he pretended not to notice.)

I challenge the entire world to come up with anything more delicious than a 9-year-old who is pretending to sleep so that you will carry him up to his room.

I did this to my dad once. I felt guilty about it for years, that I was so ‘lazy’ that I pretended to sleep.

Now I know how utterly delighted he was, to hold me close and carry me and kiss my forehead and wonder if that was the last time he’d ever get to do that.