My 10 year old nephew is my baby. I have another nephew and niece, but there's a special connection with him because he was my first nephew that made me an aunt. When he was about 3 months old, his parents dropped him at our family home to take a weekend off. We all welcomed this as there was me, my two sisters, younger brother and parents. But my older sister and I decided to take the bigger responsibility and so we agreed on shifts; he would sleep with me and my sister would have the day shift, from 8am. During the day, everyone would help out.
The first time
On that first night, I prepared for him a mattress on the floor and I built a fortress wall out of pillows - just in case. I am super protective (sometimes over!), but as my family were making fun of me, I told them that he was a precious thing that I have been entrusted with, and I would not take any chances. The night started off well, but I decided that I would monitor the patterns of his breath by closely listening as I lay in my bed. But soon enough, the pattern changed, so I jumped out of bed, kneeled next to him, but found nothing was wrong. Phew! I went back to bed, closed my eyes for few minutes, but heard my nephew making strange sounds. Again, I checked but there was nothing wrong. To keep it short, I didn't sleep a wink that whole night. I spent it listening to his breathing pattern and checking on him every time he made what I considered 'strange' sounds. What if he was slowly and audibly dying? I couldn't take any chances. I impatiently waited for morning to come, and after feeding him (he didn't wake up at night for milk), I dropped him at my sister's bedroom and rushed off to mine to get well deserved sleep!
My brother and his theories
The second night was a little better, but I was still on guard lest one of these changes in the pattern was something more serious. On Sunday when my brother and his wife came, my family recounted the story and they were both on the floor. My brother said that I was naive for "falling" for one of my nephew's tricks. I asked him what he meant as a 3 month old baby can't have any tricks up his sleeves! So my brother's theory of his baby's night episodes were as a result of his love for attention, and because he loves attention, he wants to get it even while he sleeps! According to them, he made these strange sounds with them too, but they ignored him! I thought they were terrible parents for doing that! Of course the problem wasn't them, but me!
The second time
Few months later, his parents dropped him off again for the weekend. This time I was mentally more prepared, and I decided to again (and naively!) do the graveyard shift. Like before, I built a fortress wall out of pillows, but this times more because he was a little older and could (maybe) move around. The night started off well, and fortunately for me, he wasn't making too many strange sounds. Feeling relaxed and less anxious, I closed my eyes (I don't know for how long) before I was awoken by my nephew's piercing shrieks and then wailing. I didn't know what happened, but I jumped out of bed (still half asleep) and turned on the light. To my horror, my nephew wasn't on the mattress, and I couldn't see him anywhere.
Panic suddenly turned to fear, and I told myself to calm down. Surely he was in the room because I could hear him wailing. After regaining my sanity, I got down on my knees to follow where the crying was coming from. And lo and behold, my nephew was under my bed! He had managed to somehow go over the fortress wall of pillows I had built and find himself under my bed!!! I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. He wasn't hurt but just uncomfortable as he was lying on the carpet with no covering. I still don't know how he managed to do that or how long he was there for before he raised the alarm. What did my brother say after I recounted the story? "See? He took you for a ride again!"