You Belong to Me

You press your nose against my cheek, and I smell peanut butter. It must be lingering from this morning's breakfast. I nuzzle in close to your neck, and I smell your dip from lunch. I inhale and breathe you in, the little boy scent that's kind of like dirt mixed with sugar.

You wrap your arms around my neck, and tell me you want to listen to a different song before nap time. I ask which one and you reply, "Oh Danny Boy." I start that song, and then you say, "No. I want Mommy's favorite song." So I skip to number seven on your CD, and you lean in close again. You are in motion even when you're laying quietly against my chest. Some part of your body is always moving, and it makes me think of how much you moved when you were still inside me.

We whisper-sing the lyrics of the song to each other, and your voice elevates a little on the line, "Fly the ocean in a silver plane." My mind forwards to years from now, when I imagine you traveling the world as a middle-aged man who is taking a business trip, or maybe just 15 years from now when you are leaving for college. Will you still be in love with me then like you are now?

You sing the last lyrics to me, in a declaration that quiets my worries. No longer whispering, you say, "You belong to me, Mommy." Yes, sweet Jackson, I belong to you!

You Belong to Me
See the pyramids along the Nile. Watch the sunset from a tropic isle. Just remember darlin' all the while,
You belong to me.
See the marketplace in Old Algiers.
Send me photographs and souvenirs.
Just remember when a dream appears,
You belong to me.
I'll be so lonesome without you.
Maybe you'll be lonesome too, and blue.
Fly the ocean in a silver plane.
See the jungle when it's wet with rain.
Just remember 'til you're home again,
You belong to me.
Lyrics by Pee Wee King, Chilton Price and Redd Stewart