On My Side

It had been a really long day.
So even though it was hours from most normal people's bedtime, I was ensconced in my king-sized nest, kindle in hand, planning to stay there til morning.
Parker sauntered in, took one look at me, and said, "Oh man..you are totally in my spot."
What?!
Apparently, Hubby had taken over the big screen tv downstairs, forcing Parker to retreat to his second favorite spot in the house...my bed with my tv and my remote control.  Normally, I don't care that he is keeping my side of the bed warm while I am flitting about doing laundry, grading spelling tests, or blogging.  When I'm ready to retire, I boot him out, turn off the tv, and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
But tonight I had to give him a hard time.
"This is MY side of the bed, buster.  And MY room and MY tv!"
He just laughed at me from the corner of his eyes and wormed under the covers in the middle of the bed and launched into a long story about how I used to sleep on the OTHER side of the bed and he remembers because he used to come in at night when he was scared and have to walk all the way around the bed to get to DAD'S side because I was too hard hearted to let him in bed with us.
He turned on some reality show about men who build guns and I rolled my eyes and went back to my novel.  But I smiled inside because I had totally forgotten how he used to come climb in our bed at night.  It's been so long ago and he seems so grown up now.  But I cherish that memory now, like I'll cherish the memory of this moment some day in the future when I have the bed and the house all to myself.
I'm happy that, for now, he's still on my side.