"Mommy, mommy, can you please tell me the story again?" 

"Honey, you heard it a million times. Aren't you sick and tired of it?"

"But Mommy, even if I'm 300 years old, I'll never get sick of the story." Maria looks up at me while she is brushing her teeth. I'm doing what I do every night after her shower and combing her dark brown, curly hair. Unfortunately, she was cursed with my crazy curls that take forever to comb through. She is lucky that I know how bad it hurts when others pull on them. She is looking at me through the mirror wanting to hear the bedtime story I have told her since she was very little. She used to need a step stool just to be able to reach the sink. Man, where did my baby go?

"Okay, fine, but you have to lay out your clothes for tomorrow. You know it is a big day for you." She turns around and gives me that famous eye roll. I can't believe that tomorrow is her 12th birthday party. As we walk into her bedroom adjacent to the bathroom, she heads to her closet finding her birthday outfit that we bought last week for her. She lays the outfit on her little chair by the bed and gets right into her Shopkins matching covers. I make sure all the lights are out in the upstairs rooms, getting ready for the night. It feels like yesterday that she had her little toddler bed in here with her light green color walls that were covered in her Scooby Doo stickers and her Barbie collection over in the corner. Now, her room is covered with boy band posters with Christmas lights over the windows because she saw that one of her favorite YouTubers had them the same way.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Okay, I'm ready mommy." She is always so excited to hear this story. I give her a smile, walk over to her bed, and lay on the other side. I get into the covers, pull her to me, and cuddle her like I always do.

"Alright my baby girl, here is the story."