really, really weird

Last night I went out with some other girls for birthday dessert, so Nathan put the kids down for bed. It hit me at about 11:45, right when I was just about to turn out the light, that I hadn't gone up to see the girls or Graham. It felt weird not kissing them and tucking them in, so I went up and tiptoed in their rooms and saw all three sleeping as peacefully as three little gooselings. All was well, so I went back down to my room and fell promptly to sleep.

A little over an hour later, we (and I really mean me, because Nathan hears nothing in his sleep) were awakened by a very loud pounding on our door. Adrienne. The knock is a dead give away, because for some reason she won't just open the door and come in. We have to get up and open it. Nathan almost always handles nighttime incidents because it doesn't really wake him up. As soon as his head hits the pillow, he is back out. So he took her up, and I began the try to sleep process once again.

I'm just drifting off when I get that weird sense that there are a few extra bodies in the room. I open my eyes, and standing just a foot from my head are both girls. Marianna says, in a voice way too alert for the hour, "We aren't tired, Mom. And we're thirsty." I get up, get the drink, deposit them back in bed, and stumble back downstairs, not feeling very good at all about the scenario that is brewing. First, I've never seen them both up at the same time at night. Second, if either of them ever happens to wake up, they usually look as sleepy and disoriented as I do. Third, if a child ever gets up, they never get up twice. So things just weren't looking good.

I go back to bed, unable to sleep because I'm listening for the telltale creak on the stairs that would signal a return to our bedroom. After 15 minutes of silence, I let out a big breath, pray a little thank you, and begin trying to relax and sleep once again. This time after I've been asleep 15 minutes or so, I heart a series of far away sounding thuds. That was enough to startle me into instant alert because nothing about those sounds was typical of two little girls coming downstairs again. This time I'm up for awhile, listening intently, trying to decide whether to wake Nathan up, until finally, I decide I must have dreamed it, and I try to sleep again.

45 minutes later, I hear giggles next to my head. I open my eyes, and two big eyed girls are smiling down at me. "What are y'all doing!?" I asked, stunned.

"We just finished our movie!"

"WHAT?!" I look at the clock, and sure enough, it's now nearly 4:00 am.

I can't remember the rest of that conversation, but I do remember the distinct impression that Marianna felt like she was describing the most natural thing in the world. Almost like, "Well of course we were watching a movie. We weren't sleepy. What did you expect?"

Nathan was still sleeping, oblivious that anyone had ever woken up again after the initial Adrienne incident, and I felt unequal to handling it any other way than to put them on the floor, one on each side of the room, and tuck them in. Both tried to carry on conversations, and both were swiftly cut off. They are still sleeping now, but I look forward to asking some more probing questions after they get up.

Maybe I should stop being surprised by weird, but I kind of doubt I ever will ;)