When The House is Quiet

Everyone is fast asleep in the house. Only the ticking of the clock breaks the silence. Usually I am in bed by this hour, but tonight, tonight I wanted a few moments to myself to soak in the precious memories of the day.
Early on in the day I busied myself with cleaning. Fresh linens on the beds, vacuumed and dusted as if Hyacinth Bucket was coming over for tea. Checked and rechecked the items on the changing table as if Melanie and Casi lived miles away and could not get their own things for the baby.
I hoped they would arrive around noon, and when they didn't I held off on calling them. They would come when they could. No need for me to telephone them like a worried mother hen.
When my work was done, I felt uneasy, restless. Should I work on the bassinet liner, no that will take too much time and make a mess of sewing things here and there.
Should I peel off the wallpaper border in the grandbaby guest room. No, too much of a project to start when they might arrive at any moment. So went my wait.
Now, as the day is looked back upon, as if leafing through a new book, going over the pages you read and finding more delight in seeing things in retrospect, I can only feel a bit of that same joy I felt so many years ago when my own babies came home from the hospital, only this is better. I am going to go to bed, sleep all night long and know that Mei-Ling is being well cared for by her very loving parents.
I look around the living room. A pram in one corner, a car seat on the floor in front of the coffee table, a soft pink blanket over the arm of a chair. New things, new beginnings. In the other corners of the room, old things, a spinning wheel, a rocker, baskets of spun wool and knitting projects, a ladder back chair with a rush seat.
Familiar things too. The peg board, home to worn hats and hand dipped candles waiting their turn to be used. The past, present and the future all together. It feels good. It feels right and it feels so simple in this complex world. The balance of everyday life in the slow lane.