A Little Piece Of Andley

Treehouse

Looking outside, I see my son and his friends building a treehouse. Well - Ashley is doing the actual work, Andy's bossing him around, and Christian: he's just being him, whacking two sticks on the trunk of the tree in some sort of rhythm. He head bangs in time to his drumming; so cute!

What's cuter, though, is Ashley and Andy's friendship. I remember one day when Andy came home from school saying that he'd met Ashley, and that they'd be best friends forever.

I decide to take a drink and snacks out for each of them, and as soon as I step outside I can hear the wonderful sound of children's laughter.

Wide-eyed, they devour my cookies and slurp up the kool-aid.

"Thanks, mom!" Andy exclaims.

"No problem." I laugh, ruffling his hair.

"Hey, look at the treehouse we made!"

"That's so good! You should make it like a den inside."

"Awesome idea!" He rushes off and starts telling the others what to do once more.

Chuckling, I walk back inside and sit at the kitchen window with a coffee.

I hear Andy's energetic footsteps run up to his room and back again a few times, and then the other kids have returned from their homes too.

They're each clutching a stuffed toy: Andy, his batman one, Ashley has a Hello Kitty, and Christian holds a stuffed zombie.

Following Andy, they climb up to the treehouse, and I guess they put them down inside, because they return outside, picking up some cushions that Andy had got earlier. They do this some more, until everything is safely inside the treehouse.

At that point, Christian's mom arrives. I get her son out of the yard for her.

"Aw, mom! We'd just made the best den!"

"You can always come back tomorrow if you want." I suggest.

"I think he'd love that." She replies, smiling warmly at me.

Saying goodbye, they go back home. I start to wonder what happened to Andy and Ashley.

It turns out they've been sitting in the treehouse and talking for all that time.

"You boys okay in there?"

"Yeah, I love this!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying it." I wink at them.

As I go back through the door, the phone rings. It's Ashley's granddad.

"I was just wondering if Ashley could walk back home, because my car isn't working."

"Sure, I can get Andy to walk him down if you want."

He agrees and I hang up. Going outside, I tell the boys my plan.

"Sure, mom."

"Good boy." I love my son.

I wave goodbye as they wander off down the street, hand in hand. They're so cute.