Wake up Daddy

By Trish Hubschman

October 2021

It’s between four and six in the morning. Henry is on his pillow on the floor. He’s restless. I can hear him jingling the tags on his collar. “Hey, boy, what’s up? “I whisper as he jumps on our bed. He wants attention from his daddy. That will relax him, so he can go back to sleep.

He walks up to the top of the bed and plops down between me and Kevin. Kevin is on his side facing away from me. Henry isn’t sure what to do. Should he bother his daddy or not? Kevin is snoozing comfortably. Henry looks at me for an answer. I shrug in response. Sometimes, he decides not to bother Kevin and instead, climbs onto me, paws on my shoulder and licks my face a few times. “I love you too,” I tell him, hugging and kissing him back.
Then he turns, climbs off me and plops down between us on the bed. He goes to sleep in a flash.

Other times, he decides he needs his Daddy and climbs onto Kevin’s side. Kevin rolls onto his back and hugs, kisses and pet’s Henry until he is content again.

“Does he want to go out?” I ask Kevin. I’m awake at this point. If it’s four in the morning, Kevin replies, “No, he doesn’t.” If it’s six, Kevin says, “I’m sure he does.” If it’s four, I roll over and try to go back to sleep. If it’s six, I pull the blanket back and get out of bed. “Okay, let’s go downstairs, boy.” I lead the way and Henry follows.

I turn on the living room light, the den light. I go into the kitchen, which is still dark, and open the sliding glass door. Henry goes out. I sit on the floor and wait for him to come back. He does. Once inside again, he heads straight for the stairs and races up. I take my time in following. By the time I get back into the bedroom, Henry is tucked up against my pillows. He’s not asleep. His eyes are open and he’s staring at me, daring me. I’m only going to do this once. “Are you going to get out of my seat?” I ask him. He doesn’t budge, so I just plop myself down on the floor and will sit there until the two of them get up.

But in a blink of the eye, Kevin’s arm comes out and he sweeps Henry off my pillow and tucks him up against his side. There’s not a peep of protest from Hennery. He’s happy. I get back into bed too. “Wake me up when it’s Christmas,” I said and roll onto my side, pulling my blanket up to my chin. I love having Henry wedged against my back. I feel safe and comfortable. Now we could all go back to sleep till seven-thirty.

Trish Hubschman is the author of the Tracy Gayle mystery series: Tidalwave, Stiff Competition, Ratings Game and Uneasy Tides. Tracy is a Long Island private detective. Her sidekick, Danny Tide, is the leader of the rock band, Tidalweav. Tracy is hired to find out who set fire to Danny’s tour bus. While doing this, more dangerous things develop.

Trish is a graduate of Long Island University’s Southampton Campus and has a bachelor’s degree in English-Writing. She is deafblind and lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, author Kevin Hubschman, and their dog, henry.

Her website is www.dldbooks.com/Hubschman/