The rest of the evening went as planned. Bubble baths were enjoyed. Pajamas were put on. Beds were turned down. Spaghetti and garlic bread filled our tummies. Backpacks were by the door for a fast getaway in the morning. And a whole new world was opened up to them through the ingenious work of Steve Kroft, Lesley Stahl, and others.

I followed them upstairs to supervise teeth brushing and tuck-ins.

“This was a great day,” Tyler said, as I helped him comb his damp hair.

“Yes, it was. I had lots of fun, too,” I said and meant it.

“Are we gonna get a bedtime story?” Hunter said.

“Sure! Do y’all say prayers before sleep?” I asked.

“We used to say prayers with our momma,” Tyler said.

“Would you like to say some with me?” I asked.

“Sure!” Hunter said and launched into “Now I lay me down to sleep” followed by a litany of people to bless.

I made the list. Sharon did not. I didn’t mention it. I should’ve, I know I should’ve, but I didn’t. I just wanted that moment for myself. Was that so wrong?

I told them a story about the American Revolution and the Battle of Sullivan’s Island.

“Try to imagine how brave the soldiers were!”

Then we said good night, and I left the door slightly ajar so I could hear them.

My cell phone rang around ten o’clock that night, and I remembered I’d left it in the kitchen. I jumped up from the sofa to answer it, hoping not to wake the boys. Who would be calling at this hour? It was Archie.

“Hi,” he said. “Sorry to call so late. I just wanted to be sure everything was okay.”

“Oh! Everything here is just perfect. The boys are fast asleep. How’s it going there?”

“Not so great,” he said.

“Why? What’s happened?”

“Well, it turns out that Sharon didn’t know that she had a terrible allergy to a certain strain of strawberries. She ate a ton of them and blew up like a blowfish. She’s okay, but she’s in the hospital. But she could’ve died. They had to give her a trach.”

“Oh, my God! That’s terrible!”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.”

“Are you okay?”

“Who, me? Oh, yeah, I’m perfectly fine.”

There was a very pregnant pause. He was not perfectly fine. But I wasn’t going to ask why. I knew why, and I didn’t want to hear it.

“Okay, then, I’m going to go to bed now. Early call in the morning, you know.”

“Where are you sleeping?”