He turned his head to the phone with a smile that equally matched their momma B’s, “Yo, sis”

She waved as he made his way over and rested his arms on the back of the couch behind his mothers. Bette held up the phone high and far enough away to capture all three of them in the camera.

“Oh hey, I was gonna ask you” Malcolm jutted his chin in the direction of the phone, “Have you seen your old nightlight? Momma said it should have been in the garage but I couldn’t find it. I wanna put it in my man cave”

“Man cave?” Angie raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk spreading across her face. Tina couldn’t help but roll her eyes with a smile of her own.

“Don’t ask”

Angie chuckled as she glanced at the light sitting atop her nightstand. She had downplayed its importance to her over the years, wanting to appear as mature as she had always set out to be. She had left it behind when she left for college but made sure to return for it before she made the big move to New York.

“Sorry little bro, haven’t seen it”

A flash of disappointment washed over his hazel eyes before it disappeared, his shoulders lifting in a shrug. Malcolm rarely moped over anything for long.

“It’s cool. I’ll just have momma B take me to the mall tomorrow and buy my own”

“Yeah, with what money?” Bette teased as she reached behind to playfully grab her son. Malcolm leaped out of the way before reaching around and stealing a handful of popcorn that must have been in a bowl between his mothers. “Get a job”

Angie laughed as Malcolm smirked at his popcorn stealing success before turning to make his way toward the staircase. He raised an arm in the air and waved, his back to the phone screen.

“Later, sis”

Angie laughed before resuming her conversation with her mothers until at last a yawn overcame her.

Tina chuckled, “Looks like someone’s sleepy”

Angie laughed through her yawn, “Yeah, it’s been a long day. I have an even longer one tomorrow”

Tina smiled as she laid her head on Bette’s shoulder, “Alright sweetie. Get some sleep, we’ll talk some more tomorrow”

“We love you” Bette chimes in.

“Love you both” Angie smiled despite the way her heart clenched. She felt a lump from in her throat, ending the call with her mothers was harder than she would have thought.

She said her goodbyes and quickly ended the call just as her eyes began to well up with tears, a wave of homesickness overtaking her.

Having lived in a dorm during her college years, Angie was surprised she was so affected by living away from her family. It was a far worse sense of longing than she had felt during her first semester at Stanford, memories of the nights she had wished she was back home filled her mind.

Angie knew those nights were inevitable, that she would spend a handful of nights feeling the same as she had in the past. Life was hard and though Angie had spent a great deal of her childhood wishing she could just hurry and be an adult, she knew that regret would set in on some nights.

Its funny how when you’re small you can’t wait to grow older and once you do, you spend your time wishing you were younger. Angie knew that feeling all too well but despite it all, somehow managed to keep things on a positive note.

Being a kid was fun but as an adult she would be able to experience a whole new world, a fact that managed to comfort Angie more than she thought possible.

Countless adventures awaited her. She just had to go to sleep first.

Angie wiggled back under the quilt, the memory of her FaceTime session with her mothers fresh in her mind. She closed her eyes with a smile for a moment before opening them as she blindly reached for the nightstand.

She flicked on the nightlight and sighed contentedly as she rolled onto her side, her eyes closing to welcome a blissful sleep.

Maybe she didn’t have to grow up all the way just yet.

Oh, don’t you ever grow up

Oh, never grow up

Just never grow up