The door slid open and the children came bounding out, exploring this new place, going from zero to 150 miles an hour in a second. She bent down to Mordechai Shalom and kissed him. In response, he gently nuzzled against her. How she loved him! “Come,” she urged him, carefully holding out her arms. “A new diaper, then potty?”

He shook his head. He hated potty training and was resisting it with all the cunning and stubborn will of his terrible twos. She laughed. “You are going to have to learn someday, young man, or no pretty girl will agree to a shidduch date with you!” She tousled his bright, golden curls, then tickled his little round stomach as he giggled uncontrollably. It was so infectious she found herself laughing, too, until tears ran down her cheeks.

Chasya, who had also been laughing, stopped. “Why are you crying, Mommy?”

“I’m not. I’m laughing.” But then, suddenly, it wasn’t true. She wiped her eyes with her uninjured hand. “Come sit down on the potty for a little while, and then I’ll put you in a clean diaper,” she cajoled.

But he wasn’t having any of it. He shook his head vigorously. “No potty. Diaper!” he demanded firmly like some dictatorial potentate.

Chasya went over to him and whispered something in his ear. Without a word, he slipped out of his diaper and held his arms up docilely for Leah to help him onto the toilet. To her shock, for the first time, he waited patiently until something actually happened. It was a first. Even those times he’d reluctantly agreed to sit, he’d absconded long before anything could be accomplished.

“Such a good boy! He went potty!” She praised him to the skies, with the enthusiasm reserved for heroic war acts and sports victories. “What did you say to him, Chasya?” she asked as she wiped him clean.

“That Mommy has a lot of boo-boos and he shouldn’t make her cry.”

She felt her eyes tear up again as she hugged the little girl. “You are a sweetie, and I love you to the moon and back.”

“I’m a tzadakis,” the child intoned solemnly.

Leah nodded at her, making a tremendous effort to keep a straight face. “Absolutely, without a doubt!”

Then she took the baby in her arms, laying him flat and putting him on a fresh diaper.

“Kiss boo-boos and make all better!” Mordechai Shalom said enthusiastically, hugging her dangerously close to her bandages and trying with all his might to kiss her hand. “Gently!” she told him, allowing him to place his soft little lips on her wrist.

“Wow, that’s amazing. All better now!” she told him. “What a great little kisser!”

He was absolutely thrilled, filled with pride in the potency of his boo-boo-healing powers.

“Are you hungry?” They both nodded.