Daddy, are you awake?

We're a small family of four: the two of us and two kids -- four and three years old. My daughter is the older one and for the last year has had nightmares off and on. Some mornings I'll wake up with her wedged firmly in between my wife and I, which is fine. We've all been there. I have no problem with it.

What I do have a problem with is when she walks in twenty minutes after we've turned the lights off and the house is dark, just to stand next to the bed on my side and stare at me. I get the sensation that I'm not alone and wake up with a dark little silhouette right next to my face. Although at times it sends me into a slight panic or at least, leaves me with slight chills (not very manly or dad-like I'll admit), I'll break the silence. "Yes, sweetie?" She'll usually ask me if I'm awake and tell me she had bad dreams. I'll let her climb into bed with us at that point and that's the end of it.

Well, last night, the same thing happened. I got the uneasy feeling I wasn't alone, my eyelids opened and there she was again -- a dark little silhouette mere inches from my face.

"What is it, sweetie?" I asked.

No response. Just silence. Then it clicked that both my kids were staying with my in-laws for the night.

I no longer wonder why my daughter wants to sleep in our bed. I was able to reach up and flip on the light, but of course there was no one there. However, I looked down the hallway and into my daughter's room and the silhouette is standing in the door way and hasn't moved for the last hour.

I think it's waiting for my daughter to come home.