Sunday morning dawned a little too early in the Duncan house for those who had stirred every few hours to awaken-and annoy-the youngest son. At one point, Amy had helped him change into pajamas and Bob had helped him navigate the stairs to his own bed. For the most part, he had managed to sleep soundly between interruptions.

PJ shared a bedroom with him. Although he had had plenty of arguments against sharing a room with the kid over the years, he was actually pretty grateful on this occasion. It was nice to know that he was close enough to help keep watch. He had dozed fitfully through the night, alert for every little noise, and had finally relaxed into a deep sleep shortly before sunrise.

So, of course, he was forced to wake up soon thereafter.

"PJ? PJ, are you awake? "

"What's wrong?" PJ sat straight up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "Do you need Mom or Dad?".

Gabe was sitting up in bed. He looked embarrassed. "I… um… Mom said to wake you up if I needed to go anywhere," he stammered. ""I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Where do you need to go?"

"Bathroom?"

"Why? Do you need to puke? Let me get Mom."

"PJ. It"s morning. I have to pee."

"Oh." A thought occurred to PJ, and his faced flushed as red as his brother's. "You don't—ah—need help after you get there, do you?" he asked.

"Never mind! I shouldn't have woken you up. Go back to sleep, I'll go by myself."

"Shut up," PJ told him. He helped his brother to his feet and watched him closely. "Do you feel dizzy?"

"Do you?" Gabe retorted.

"Somebody feels better," PJ said with a grin. He followed Gabe down the hallway, poised to catch him if he fell. But despite an unsteady start, the eleven-year old seemed fairly sure of his steps. He shut the door in PJ's face and emerged a few minutes later.

"Guess I didn't need to wake you up," he said, looking embarrassed again. "But Mom said—"

"Better safe than sorry."

PJ watched him crawl back into bed and then settled into his own. "Wake me up if you need me again, okay?" he murmured, already drifting off.

"I'm sorry about the ice cream truck," Gabe said sleepily.

"Huh?"

"The ice cream truck. I heard the music and turned my head to see where it was. That's why I didn't see the ball. I'm sorry."

"Oh. So you're not mad at me for knocking you on your butt?"

Gabe yawned. "You didn't do it on purpose. And it was my own fault for being stupid."

PJ smiled.

In the hallway, their mother smiled too and stepped away from the door. No need to check on Gabe this time, she realized. Or on PJ for that matter. As a nurse and as a mother, she knew that everything was going to be all right.

She tiptoed back to her own room and slipped back under the covers. "Everybody okay?" Bob whispered.

"Fine," Amy assured him. She snuggled against his warmth. "We've probably got about an hour before Charlie wakes up, and I'm sure the rest of the kids will sleep late today."

"An hour, huh?" Bob wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I've got a few ideas on how to spend the time."

"Really? Do any of those ideas involve sleep?"

"Eventually."

"I see. Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Duncan? Because if you are, it's working."

"Glad to hear it, Mrs. Duncan. Glad to hear it."