My Little Girl

I pull her close, spooning her against my chest and stomach. She can’t sleep. She is anxious and scared. I don’t mind that she can’t sleep. That I am used to. But I do not want her to be scared or anxious, though. She’s had enough of that in her life. I kiss the back of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair, fresh and clean. I stroked her hair, cooing into her ear. “You are safe here. No one can hurt you now. You have nothing to fear or worry about here. I’m here to protect you and together we can get through anything. I understand it is hard. It’s a big world and sometimes it can just seem like too much. But we are big girls now and we can handle whatever is thrown at us, with each other, with our friends, with our family.” She is quiet and still. I’m not sure if she feels better or not, but I’ll continue to hold her, hold myself, the part of myself that is still a scared, anxious little girl, unable to cope. Hopefully, that will be enough for this morning.