For Warren

When I picked up the monkeys from school yesterday Satchel was distraught. "I had a special surprise for Daddy's birthday but now it's gone!"

"What was it?" I asked sympathetically.

"A snake!" he pouted.

"What happened to it?" I asked, remembering the small garden snake he had shown me under a patch of sod a few weeks ago.

"Mr. Aaron took it across the street and let it go!" he whined.

"That's okay," I said. "Remember how we talked about letting snakes and lizards and bugs stay in their homes? They don't really want to live in a tiny little box."

"I wasn't going to put it in a box!" he protested.

"What were you going to do with it?" I asked.

"I was going to hold it!"

"You were going to hold it until Friday when Daddy comes home?"

"Yes!"

"You were going to hold it while you ate dinner?" I asked.

His mouth started to turn up into a half smile.

"You were going to hold it while you ate dinner?"

Three-quarters of a smile.

"You were going to hold it while you slept?"

A giggle.

"Daddy will understand," I said.

"Can we get him another surprise?" he asked.

"Of course," I said.