Ready with the Grapes

Right before bed, baby had fifteen or twenty grape halves. In between doing the dishes, I cleaned my hands of soap, pulled a grape from the bunch, bit it in two, and gave half to my beloved child (and ate the other half). She made her I-love-grapes-sound, walked out of the kitchen to enjoy mom’s company for eight or ten seconds, and then came back for more. She didn’t mind when I had been distracted by the work I was doing. She just made the more-grapes-now sound, an unmistakable, high-pitched hum and grunt blended in her tiny vocal cords. As I say, she didn’t mind. But when I was waiting with a half grape in my hand, before she turned the corner from the living room, and proffered it to her the moment she saw me, she liked it immensely, smiling and shining her eyes bright.