I had just tucked my son into his cradle in the nursery and returned to my own bed. My wife was asleep beside me, and the house was quiet. Then, a woman’s voice came clearly through the baby monitor. “Such a sweet child,” it said.
My heart jumped. Everyone else in the house was accounted for and sleeping. My own grandmother, who had always loved children, had passed on just a few months before. I liked to think it was her, coming to give her blessing.
Still, a chill ran down my spine. I rushed to the nursery and gathered my sleeping boy into my arms. For a long time after that, he slept only in our room, close by my side.