Maria Hagan walks down the stairs.
She moves quietly through the end-of-day stillness of her busy home. She passes by the empty living room, collects a forgotten sock off the hall floor. She continues to the kitchen where she walks softly to the table.
She crouches down, "Hello."
"Oh. Hi, Mrs Ha- Maria," greets the five year old under her table. "How are you tonight?"
She put this kid to bed two hours ago so, "Pretty tired. I’m about to go to bed."
"Okay," He says. "Goodnight."
"Thanks," She smiles, making herself more comfortable on the floor.
Maria doesn’t know Steve well - this is only the second time he's stayed over - but he's not the first of her four sons' friends to stay over. She's well-versed in sleepovers and the troubles that arise during them so.
She leaves the barrier of chairs between them when she asks, "What's going on, hon? Why aren't you in bed?"
"I was," He insists. "You were there. You sawed me. Do you a'member?"
"I do remember that," She nods. "That was a while ago. Did something happen? Did you get scared?"
"A ninja doesn't get scared."
"Right," She says. "Were you not able to fall asleep?"
Steve pulls his blanket tighter around himself, "I’m gonna sleep here, Miss Maria."
"It's okay 'cause sometimes I watch tv and I sit on the floor, and I falls asleep."
"Well, that's a little different than sleeping on my kitchen tiles, don't ya think?" She asks. "Why don't we go back upstairs and-"
"No thanks," He fusses. "Tommy went to sleep before me so he won't miss me. I don't wanna sleep in there no more."
"Stevie, do you want me to call home?"
"No!" He protests. "I don't wanna go home. I wanna stay here with Tommy, I jus' - I jus' don't wanna sleep in Tommy's room no more. It's not blue."
"At my house, it's blue at nighttime 'cause my bed is under water."
"I have a pool at my house," Steve tells her. "At nighttime, the pool is in my room. It's on the ceiling and I like it and - and you don't have a pool."
It takes Maria a second to decipher that, "The lights from the pool reflect on your ceiling."
"I like that it's blue 'cause then it's not dark...I’m not 'fraid of the dark 'cause I'm big and brave."
"I know, sweetheart, and you're right. It is a little dark in there," Maria says. Tommy gave up a night light for glow in the dark stars a year ago. "Maybe we can-"
"I can stay here," Steve insists, pointing at stove's clock glowing in the dim lighting, "It's green here. That's like my house but different."
He adds, "Then Tommy don't gotta wake up so I can go to sleep first."
"Hmm," Maria hums, stroking her chin like she's deep in thought. "I think you're right. It's too dark in this house. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to fall asleep either."
"Oh," Steve says. "You can stay here with me."
"Oh no, I can't sleep on this floor. I’m old," She says, getting a giggle out of him. "Can you come to the living room and keep me company until I fall asleep?"
"...and then I can come back?"
Steve thinks about it and nods, "Okay."
