The Academy In My Head

Lots and Lots of Fluffy Sheep

"Mama..."

Erica glanced over at the doorway. "Kota, precious..." she smiled at him, holding out a hand as he came into Jessica's room. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked, feeling his forehead automatically as she checked for a fever.

"I can't sleep." He yawned and rubbed his eyes before eyeing his baby sister as she nursed and rocked her.

"I'm sorry precious." She said. "Do you want to rock with us for a while?"

"Okay." He lit up slightly and she stopped rocking to let him climb into her lap on the opposite side of the baby. He snuggled in and she kissed the top of his head before she started to rock again.

"You're tired." She murmured. "Why can't you sleep?" she asked her 4 year old son. He'd been such a good big brother since Jessica was born two months ago. "Did Jessie wake you up?"

"No. I wasn't asleep." He said. "She cries 4 times a night." He informed her. "Always 4 times."

Erica's eyes widened. "Is that so..." she murmured, reaching up to smooth the back of his hair down.

"Yes, mama." He nodded seriously, one finger poking up to push his glasses up but he wasn't wearing his glasses right now. He frowned and tucked his hand back down between them. "Twice because she's hungry." He said, looking at the baby. "And twice to have her diaper changed." He said solemnly.

"Ah, well, you're very right about those times and reasons." She said, shifting slightly to burp Jessica when she pulled away. "You were the same when you were her age."

"I was?"

"Oh yes. For the most part, all babies are at this age."

"Oh, even Luke?"

"Definitely Luke too." She smiled at him.

"He probably was trying to climb out of his crib." Kota said.

"Maybe." She chuckled. "He does seem to climb a lot of things, doesn't he?"

Kota nodded and leaned his head more against her shoulder. "he likes it." He said with another yawn.

"As much as you like counting?"

"At least as much as he likes cookies." Kota said.

She tilted her head to look at him as Jessica burped and gave a soft baby sigh before she nuzzled her nose into Erica's neck and fell asleep again. "Why can't you sleep, Kota, if it wasn't the baby?" she asked.

"I don't know, mama." He said, his eyelids fluttering slightly as he fought the rhythm of the rocking chair lulling him to sleep. "My brain wants to keep working."

"Ah..." she nodded slightly, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Well... I have an idea for you." She said. "Why don't you go get back in bed, I'll put Jessie in her crib and be right in to tuck you in again."

"Okay, mama." He said, leaning over to kiss his sister on the side of her head before he slid off of Erica's lap and went to his room.

Erica got up, kissing the top of Jessica's head for a long moment before she went over to the crib and laid her down in it. "Sleep tight, baby girl." She murmured, flipping on the baby monitor before she headed to Kota's room.

She turned on his nightlight, which put stars on his ceiling for him to look at. "Okay, precious." She said, crossing to his bed and tucking the blankets in around him. "All snug like a bug in a rug." She leaned over and kissed his forehead.

Kota giggled. "I'm not a bug." He protested.

"No, you're not." She agreed. "But you do like to count."

"I do. As much as Luke likes climbing and cookies." He said with a nod.

Erica smiled at him. "So, what I want you to do when you can't sleep is close your eyes and imagine a fluffy sheep in a field." She said with a nod. "Do it."

He gave her an unsure look before closing his eyes and she tucked his teddy bear in under his arm. "Okay mama."

"All right... see the sheep?" He nodded with his eyes closed ."Is he fluffy and white..." She smiled when he nodded again. "Okay, now, imagine that the field is suddenly so full of sheep... you don't know what to do with all of them. What could you do, Kota?"

"count them?" he asked.

"Oh, what a wonderful idea." She said, leaning down and kissing his forehead again. "Count them... wait for them to walk by you and assign them all a number until they are all numbered or you fall asleep." She murmured in his ear.

"Okay mama." He murmured as he settled with a sigh into his pillow.

Erica waited, sitting on the edge of the bed as he began to count in a sleepy voice. "One... two... three..."

She waited until he fell asleep, wondering how often he'd actually count sheep up to 100 before he fell asleep before she turned off the night light and headed back to Jessica's room to double check on her.

(Fade...)