Zengu sleeping short story

Cecilia rolled over again, hoping she'd drift off to sleep. One of the drawbacks of long ears and the sensitive hearing they brought with them was that sleeping on one's side wasn't quite as easy, and an awkward position on her ear had woken her up. Though such occurrences were common, she didn't just fall asleep again immediately as usual.

While Khujand laid motionless next to her, she rolled over and shifted Tiondel, her fifth youngest, from the spot where she'd been holding him. Despite the size of their home - she almost felt extravagant living in such a large dwelling - her bedroom often ended up as the most crowded place. Irien's bedroom was also on the top floor, and Cecilia's two oldest children took Issinia, Zengu's twin, down to the children's bedroom with them.

Zengu was a different case, however. At four years old, he still couldn't sleep unless he was in the bedroom with both of his parents, just like the two infants sharing the bed with Cecilia and Khujand. Although she never felt the need to explain her family to others, it was a fact she generally didn't share. The little cot next to their bed that Zengu slept on might be taken as a token of his late development. Unlike elven children who often developed slowly, troll children usually grew up quickly; since Zengu was half and half, that he hadn't yet spoken at the age of four might have seemed odd to those outside the family. Coupled with his inability to sleep without them, and the way the family allowed him to develop at his own pace might be blamed by strangers.

That was what bothered her...not Zengu's development, but how people would react. However quickly or slowly he grew up was fine by her, but she knew not by everybody in the world. As she laid there thinking, she heard someone else shifting, and Zengu exhaled the way he did when rolling over in his sleep.

"Mama, can I do this?"

Cecilia froze. The way he pronounced the words was so...well, so much like a regular four year old. She peered at him from the corner of her eye and noticed that he was still sleeping, and wasn't actually expecting a response. After a few seconds his hand slipped from his big belly to the sheets next to him, confirming that he had spoken in his sleep.

Grinning like a fool, she found herself asleep again sooner than was fair. She was still grinning when she woke up.