I couldn’t have been asleep long. Maybe a half hour, an hour even. But something had woken me, the creak of a floorboard and the sound of voices. For once, the words of Mama and Daddy weren’t angry or sad.
It sounded like they were singing.
When I got up from my bed and out the door I saw Ray standing at the top of the steps, already listening in.
“What are they doing?” I whispered.
He shrugged.
I nodded for him to come downstairs with me.
Once we got to the bottom we saw them, Mama and Daddy. She was in one of her nighties, one that looked like something a lady would wear in the movies. Her hair was down and looked soft with the curls falling perfectly down her back.
They had their arms around each other. And they moved in time. Together.
Their faces were so close that it seemed they might kiss at any moment. But they didn’t. Instead, they both sang about wishing on the moon and stars.
Daddy reached his hand up and held Mama’s neck, pulling her head near to rest on his chest. He had his eyes shut and I saw how he had tears on his face. But he wore a smile.
Ray took my hand and the two of us went back to our rooms, shutting our doors.
I slept better than I had in a real long time.