Waking in the night.

Janet was always dreaming of Olive. She would wake up in the quiet of the night, sure that she had heard her little cry, run down the hall, fumble with the doorknob, burst into the bedroom to find that her noisy entrance had roused Olive from a sound sleep. Her whitened knuckles gripping the crib rail, the baby's cry filling the room.

"Janet, if you think you hear her, why don't you wait a minute to be sure before you run to her?" Seth was always the voice of reason. He was also hoping that this would end soon so that he would stop being woken up all hours of the night.

"I don't know... I'm always panicked when it happens. My mind is convinced that something terrible is happening." But nothing terrible ever happened.  

Janet would go to baby groups and listen while sleep-deprived mothers lamented their baby's complete resistance to sleeping at night. She didn't know what to say, so she said that she was up with Olive at least once, maybe twice a night, but that she was a good baby and went straight back to sleep once she was settled. The other mothers sighed and told her how lucky she was. One mother named Marie looked near her breaking point; frazzled red hair, black circles under her eyes, she had made it out of the house that day driven purely by caffeine. She said she couldn't bear to stay at home with her bed mocking her. She laughed, but she sounded on the verge of crying. Marie's son had not slept more that three consecutive hours since his birth eight-months ago.

How could she tell them the truth? How could she say that nine-month-old Olive would easily sleep ten to twelve hours a night, if only she would stop waking her? It was embarrassing, really. Olive had always been easy-going, even during periods of teething. She had been sleeping through the night for months. Well, almost.

"Exactly what does your brain think is happening when you race in there, anyway?" Seth asked. She could tell he was frustrated.

"I'm not sure. I can never remember. By the time I'm thinking clearly, I'm always looking into the crib as Olive rolls over, sees me and starts crying." She had tried many times to pinpoint what her mind had been imagining. Once she thought she recalled smelling smoke as she threw open Olive's bedroom door, but as Olive starting sobbing, the scent disappeared. She picked up her daughter and soothed her, all the while smelling Olive's head. All she could smell was lavender bath soap.

Things continued until one night when Janet was throwing off the covers and making to leap from the bed, Seth rolled over and grabbed her. Her wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back into the bed. They both bounced on the mattress with the force of the fall and Seth smacked his head on the head board. 

"Damn it!" he groaned. Janet pushed against him, trying to get out of the bed. 

"What the hell are you doing, Seth?" she hissed. "Olive can't breathe!" Seth brought his hand up to rub the bump on his head and Janet bolted from the room.

Janet was wrong. Olive was breathing just fine. In fact, she didn't even wake up when Janet barrelled into the room with Seth following close behind. They both looked into the crib in alarm. 

"Wait. Don't." Seth caught Janet's hand before she could reach into the crib. With his other hand, he gently touched Olive's pudgy little arm. Olive was sleeping on her side, with her arm flung over her ear. Between her arm and her ear was her favourite plush toy, a pink rabbit. Seth gave Janet a stern look, covered her mouth with his hand, then steered her out of the room. Once they were down the hall, he removed his hand and starting laughing softly.

"What is it, Seth? And what the hell is so funny?" Janet was livid.

"She had her bunny over her ear. I might be crazy, but it looked like she was using her bunny as some sort of earplug." He stopped laughing and looked at her. "You know, the same way you would throw a pillow over your head to block out noise..?" He was smiling like an idiot, and Janet wanted to tell him so. And then she thought about what had just happened: Olive had not woken up. She looked at Seth again and started to smile. 

"Do you think she's trying to tell me something?" Now Janet was starting to laugh.

"Uh, yeah. Wouldn't you if some crazed woman woke you up every night?" They hung on to each other, laughing quietly in the dark. "Looks like Olive's decided you need to be sleep-trained, my Dear." Seth kissed her forehead and led her back to bed.