When They're Together

Something I like:
  Last night the girls skipped up to their bedtime routine, arm in arm.

"Mommy?" came the quiet voice of my 'oldest', (by 6 very crucial minutes), "Can I sleep with my twin tonight?"

In that moment, my heart did a double thump in its cage.

Something I remember:
When the girls were younger, they were all about co-sleeping, and we had every arrangement in their bedrooms that can be imagined. When they had cribs, they were forever flip-flopping over from one crib to another; much to their mutual delight and our complete and utter horror. So we took off the front rails and turned the cribs in towards each other, creating one ginormous crib. Every morning I'd awaken to find them laying nearly atop one another. Arms linked, legs entangled; peaceful.
When they moved up to the toddler beds, we put them side by side, against each other. Despite the narrow gap and the short rails between the beds, they'd manage to attach some appendage or another together in their sleep.

Something I don't like:
We now have bunk beds, making that innate closeness utterly impossible. They sleep separate. Starkly unattached. I know it's just the way of things, but when you have two individuals (and yes, they are individuals) who are connected by a bond that defies explanation, it seems almost stunting in a way.

Something I love:
Last night we tucked both the girls in on the bottom bunk. Caedance snuggled at the head of the bed, while Ashlyn cozied up at the foot. They giggled at the renewed closeness, wiggling around to get a feel for each one's territory, memorizing the boundaries that would be kept, (almost certainly) even in sleep.
This morning I crept in to see them a few minutes before I had to wake them. Their sleeping forms created a nearly perfect Yin & Yang symbol, their wispy legs curled within each other. Their breathing was simultaneous, reaching my ears in short, gentle puffs. Their closed eyes were each twitching in the final moments of a REM cycle. The vision made me wonder if they were together in their dreams too.
When I woke them up, they sat up and smiled at each other; each girl happy to look at the other girl's face.

And I smiled too. (You know I did.)

"Mommy?" asked the still groggy voice of Ashlyn, "Can I sleep with twin again tonight?"

Oh, yes. I think so, my love. I do most certainly think so.