A Walk to Eden

8

"Mama." Eden whispered. "Mama." She shook my arm.

"Mph. Yes Eden?" I said rubbing my eyes and sitting up.

"I can't sleep." She said.

"And why is that?" I asked. This girl. Didn't she know people were supposed to sleep and stay asleep until the sun came up?

"I miss Sam." She said looking down. Awe.

"Come here." I said. She crawled up and laid her head on my lap. I remembered Josh giving me his number. I looked at the time. 1:34 a.m. Jesus. I dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

A muffled grunt answer the phone. "Josh?" I asked.

"Hello?" He groaned.

"Hi. Sorry it's really late." I said.

"No no. It's fine." He sighed. "What's up?"

"Well, Eden can't sleep. So i was wondering if you can talk to her for a minute?" I asked.

"Yeah. Is she there?" He asked.

"Hi Josh!" Eden yelled. I heard his chuckle.

"What's going on little bird?" He asked.

"I can't sleep." She pouted.

"And why's that?" He asked. He knew why, but wanted to hear her say it.

"Uhm." She peaked at me.

"It's okay. You can tell him." I said.

"I'm just missing you guys." She sighed.

"Well. That's no good. What can I do to help?" He asked. He was seriously the sweetest.

"Could you talk to me?" She asked.

"Of course." He said. "Get covered up and snuggle up to mama." He laughed. My cheeks burned. I never thought that this would be my nickname. Eden was the only one to ever call me that. But now Josh did. And it just made my insides so a little dance. And the way he said it...

"You all snuggled in?" He asked.

"Yep!" Eden giggled. She was laying next to me with her head on the same pillow as mine.

"Good." He said. "Now. What do you want to talk about little bird?" He asked. She laid there and thought for a moment.

"Can you sing to me?" She asked. What?

"Eden." I said looking down at her.

"No no. It's alright. What would you like to hear?" He asked.

"Black bird! By the Beatles!" She laughed.

"Okay." He chuckled. I heard shuffling and then the sound of a guitar. "Now forgive me little bird, I'm no Jake when it comes to guitar." He laughed.

"It's okay." She said.

He started to strumming along and started singing. It was quiet, but loud enough to hear. And it sounded beautiful. He didn't do any fancy vocals, he just sung it. And he whistled along at some parts. By the time the song was done I looked at Eden. She was softly snoring. Sweet thing.

"She out?" He asked.

"Yep." I whispered. "Thank you."

"Of course." He said. "Now do I have to sing to you too?" He chucked. I giggled.

"No. But, I won't decline the offer." We laughed. "You need to go back to sleep." I said.

"Yeah." He sighed. I didn't want him to go. I heard him shuffle back into bed. "What if we stayed on the phone?" He asked.

"Stay on the phone? Like fall asleep on the call?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said. I smiled.

"Okay." I said.

"Awesome." He said. I heard his sigh. "Thank you for calling me."

"Are you used to getting disturbed while you sleep?" I asked.

"Not usually. But it made me feel important. So thank you." He said.

"Of course. This probably won't be the last time we call." I giggled.

"I hope not." He chuckled. "Goodnight." He whispered.

"Goodnight Josh." I smiled. I sat my phone on the other side of the pillow. If i listened closely, I could hear soft snores coming from the phone. Pfft. This man.