The Jig is Up

Trey came bursting into the bathroom mid-knock as I was finishing up my bath.

"Mom, Mom!" he shouted, holding something small and white between his thumb and first finger.

"What is it?" I inquired, hastily yanking a towel around my dripping body.

"I finally lost that tooth! I was watching TV and moving it around and it finally came out! I was bleeding for SO LONG!" he chattered excitedly, as I took note of the drying droplets of blood on his chest and tummy.

I had him come closer and did the requisite admiring of the lost tooth, as well as the new gap in his upper jaw. Surprisingly, there was no gap there to see as his new tooth was almost fully in place.

That baby tooth had really held on. Far longer than it needed to.

As Trey prepared to leave the bathroom, I told him to put the tooth on his nightstand for tonight.

Then, after a moment of thought, I added, "Hey Trey, maybe you should give me a little reminder about that lost tooth when I tuck you in tonight. Sometimes tooth fairies get busy and they can accidentally forget."

He turned back to me and grinned widely, conspiratorially.
"Yeah, sometimes they get busy or forgetful, or old.. like.. 43?"

With a laugh and a wink, he turned and left the bathroom, off to his room to leave the tooth on the nightstand.

The tooth that held on too long.
And the Tooth Fairy..or the Mom..who did too.