shades of red

poppy red;

Adelina's tiny hand wrapped
around my braids and her little
thumb rubbed the intertwining
hair. "H-Hair?" She raised
her little hand to her own
hair.

I propped her up on
my knee and nodded,
showing her how the braids
swung side to side and
listened to her soft giggle.

Tumbling down the hallway,
little footsteps of eager joy,
Theo clumsily held a book
bigger than himself. "Book!"

"You want to read, Theo?"

"Yeah!" He lifted the flattened
tree onto the couch and pointed
at it.

I moved in between the two
angels and saw the twinkle
glowing in their navy blue eyes.

The children's interest in the colors
swimming across the pages, the desire to
capture all the letters and the sounds
pursing out my mouth, just amazed
me.

"Once upon a day, a girl and a
boy went on a walk. They saw
a little caterpillar sleeping
in a cocoon and they asked him.."

I never noticed how Charlie
was standing under the doorway,
listening to us read, with a small
smile on his face till Adelina beamed
at him, "Dada!".

"Oh I didn't notice you,"
I chuckled. "May we help you?"
I squeezed the two babies, giving
them a warm hug.

"You l-look pretty wh-when you
read to t-them." He blurted suddenly.

"Oh," I blushed, "Thanks."