Amanda was sitting in the den, the makeshift home office, working at the computer, when suddenly she heard Matthew’s voice. 

“Mommy, I counted the stairs; there are fifteen.”

She answered him distractedly, her attention still mostly on the puzzle in front of her.  “That’s good, sweetie.”

“See, Mommy?  I’m going to do it again.”

“Okay, sweetheart.”

A tiny voice in the back of Amanda’s mind whispered that something odd was going on, but since there was a strong voice in the front of her mind shouting that something very odd was going on with the facts on the screen before her, it got drowned out.

She stared at the monitor for another second before the shouting finally made sense.  “Ah-ha!” she announced to the empty room, scribbling a few words on a notepad beside her.  She grinned, then cocked her head and tried to identify the strange sound she only now was paying attention to.

Thud-“fourteen,” thud-“fifteen.”

She got up from her chair and headed toward the stairs, but the counting–and the sound—had already stopped.  In fact, Matthew was skipping toward her, a proud, dimpled grin on his face.

“See, Mommy, see?”  He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the base of the stairs, releasing his grip once he reached it.  He made a ‘stay there’ gesture.  “Watch.”  He climbed back up to the top of the stairs.

Amanda wondered why he didn’t count them on the way up.  After all, there were fifteen going up, too, right?  What could her mischievous son be up to now?

When Matthew made it up to the top, he turned around and looked down at her.  “Okay, Mommy, ready?”

She nodded, bemused, as she saw her youngest son sit down on the top step.  He gave a happy smile, then slid down to the next step.  Thud-“one,” thud-“two,” thud-“three…”

Amanda just shook her head and laughed silently to herself, watching as he made his way down the stairs on his bottom. 

…Thud-“fourteen.” Amanda heard the door open and shut and the unmistakable sound of her husband’s keys jingling as he hung them up on the hook beside the door.          

 …Thud-“fifteen!”  Matthew grinned proudly at his mom once again. 

Trying not to laugh at her son, who was so happy that he had figured it out all on his own, she smiled at him, then glanced over her shoulder at her husband.

“Mattie, why don’t you count the stairs for Daddy?”

Matthew smiled happily, glad to have more of an audience for his newly-acquired skill.

“Daddy, Daddy, watch!”

He climbed back up to the top of the stairs, his little legs pumping sturdily.  Lee watched, a puzzled expression in his eyes.

Amanda walked away, sure that Matthew would be quite content with his new-found audience.

Thud-“one,” thud-“two,” thud-“three…”